So here I am, happily installed in a delightful Bed & Breakfast in beautiful Ferrara, Italy. And when I say beautiful, I mean bee-yootiful. And so far I’ve only seen a fraction of the place.
It was a long hard day of travelling, though, which began at 4 this morning [all of you who have ever travelled from Iceland to Europe will be familiar with that ungodly hour]. Flew to Frankfurt where there was a four-hour layover, so I did what anyone in their right mind would do: put my bags in storage and took the S-Bahn into town, ate a Bratwurst, drank a glass of fresh apple juice, then took the S-Bahn back to the airport.
From Frankfurt there was a flight to Bologna which got in at around 6.30 pm. A car came to pick up myself and Andri Snær, who will also be on the panel tomorrow, and on the way to Ferrara our driver [who was very cool - a med student helping out with the festival] told us that the festival this year would have some “very important guests – including yourselves” [wot?]. One of those important guests, he informed us, is Roberto Saviano, who wrote a book called Gomorra. A film was made from the book [EPI and I went to see it and came out with our chins dragging on the ground, it was that depressing] and both film and book are based on one of Italy’s main crime families [Comorra]. Apparently this author is one of the most haunted men in Italy and is under constant police protection since the mafia has a price on his head. He’s going to be under heavy protection here, as well, and the festival organizers aren’t permitted to know anything about his comings-and-goings, much less drive him around.
Now I’ll have to go check the programme to see if he’s giving a talk around the same time as we are … hmm … hmm … clearly they’re not revealing when he’s going to talk either, because there is no mention of him in the programme. Which you’d kind of think defeats the purpose, no?
Anyway, I think I’m starting to blather nonsense from sleep deprivation. The weather here in Ferrara is delightful, currently 19°C, the sun here came up at 7.11 and set at 18.54.
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Pictures? Tomorrow, maybe? (Please.)
Cassie – would you believe that I brought my camera but not the connecting cord for the computer? *slaps forehead*
So pics will have to wait until I’m back, unfortunately.
Alda Italy ??? I am off to Lisbon , Lisbon Portugal ? naw “Lisbon The treaty of” to vote Ja ,otherwise they will be so upset they wont let Iceland into the EU and you will be paying off tons and tons of debt for years and years in Krona that keeps sinking,when you could have the lovely Euro. I love the euro I wish someone would give me 10 million of them to me.
Alda
In case you haven’t picked this up, Iceland has just won an “award” – see 2009 -”Economics”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Ig_Nobel_Prize_winners#2009
Enjoy Bella Italia
Deezed
Have a great time! In Reykjavik, it´s on the edge to snowing – brrrrrr.
Re: the award “Deezed” mentioned, isn´t it about time the Icelandic bankers got the international recognition they so richly deserve?:)
Hmmm, real Italian shoes.
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