Università di Bologna

Most of it is very very ancient!!!! There is the story of a ceiling falling in on a 12th century apartment...My own personal accomodation was a bit of a concrete block and by March it was infested by ants and massive bugs of an indescribable nature??? Sharing a room was quite trying and it meant coming to terms with not being able to have one's own space...which can encourage you to climb the walls.

It depends on whether you fancy ERASMUS student nights or the all hallowed "Locals" nights. Personally after the first three months I lost my will to be a stranger among the locals and I opted for the safe haven of the other Northern European students. "jam" is where the crowd head to on a Saturday night. The Golem cafe is good for unwinding the morning after and for cosy little meetings on cold winter evenings. The Giardini Margherita has a nice little cafe and is where everyone heads to "fare la passegiata" on a Sunday. I personally enjoy the walk up to the monastery of San Luca and then having a beer in the restaurant at the top (I would only advise this for the most active of you-there's a challenge!!). There is "Soleluna" the cheesy (fake) beach disco bar and if you fancy a real cheesy disco bar head down to Rimini (apparently the new Ibiza-I never saw much evidence of this???). Also make the most of the fact that Bologna is the central rail terminal and go anywhere you feel like!!!

The first five months were an exciting and vibrant experience but when the money and your patience with the other people from your country (who you will be lumbered with-no matter how you try to blend in) may well wear out. My advice: Leave before the novelty wears off and you can't wait to feel the rain of England or wherever else you call HOME!!

Flights!! Although you can claim them back from your LEA, you do have to make the initial payment yourself first and the LEA's are not very prompt about recrediting your account. Also beware at the end of the year of excess baggage charges - they can escalate... Last Tip: Go to IKEA - it is in Casalecchio and a free bus runs from Piazza dei Martiri (I think that's the name) but do go it's great for cheap house stuff and Euromercato is just next door with lots of cheap food.

The language course offered by the ERASMUS programme left a lot to be desired academically but was a good opportunity to meet the other foreign students out there. In my first term I lived entirely with Italians and it was eventually a very alienating experience. You have to remember that no matter how fantastic your language skills are you just don't have the cultural background to be able to blend in completely- think about how many conversations you have at uni about your common experiences (ie. South Park, Bag Puss) and imagine a group of people taliking about the same sort of things but you just don't get it and that is basically the key to the reason why one can never really go native!!