View from the R.A.C. campus, 30 January 2010
Ever since I moved to the UK 6 months ago, weekends have almost always been nothing but rainy, gloomy days. You’d say: what did you expect in Great Britain?? Well, that is true… but sometimes we’ve been surprised. Pleasantly surprised, I might say. This morning it is quite chilly, but the sky is clear and we can actually see the sun! Wow! 
A very icy Serpentine in Hyde Park, London
Just a couple of weeks ago I took this photo of the Serpentine in Hyde Park. It was very cold and not even the ducks dared try to ice-skate on its surface. It was a beautiful sight, though. Some really heavy snows challenged the British islands. I had never seen London with that much snow. I was here last year in February and, same thing, a lot of unexpected snow in the country, but London seemed snow-proof.
Snowy Cirencester, 2 weeks ago
Now, today in Cirencester we could experience the ultimate All-in-One climate change. This morning the sky wasn’t too promising, but still, no rain. Then before lunch, a rain shower, quickly followed by a beautiful open sky. Nice, a couple of hours of warm sunshine right before going back to work. It was much appreciated, given the cold temperatures we’ve been having for about 2 months now. But it was too much hoping the sun would keep shining a little longer. In the afternoon we had some hail, followed by some heavy snow. So now we are covered again. Luckily it snowed for only about an hour or so, not much is left in the street, just a little bit in the fields. But temperatures are, once again, below zero and the freezing wind isn’t helping. It was fun though, seeing the weather change so quickly within minutes! Next time I’ll take some photos of each ‘phase’. I guess climate is really changing after all.
“Climate chief Lord Stern: give up meat to save the planet”
Click here to read The Times article.
How about giving up meat 5 days a week? Thank could be a nice step too, I guess.
Sunset over the Cotswolds, Gloucestershire, UK
I am now settled down in Gloucestershire and I am absolutely loving it. The college campus is great and my course is very interesting, interactive and international. I I I. My classmates come from UK, Australia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Swaziland, Kenya, Nigeria, Afghanistan, India, Malaysia and myself from Italy. We are a very diverse group and it is so much more exciting. Sharing our experiences will sure help us enrich our knowledge and have a more open mind. I wish I had the time to write more about this first week, but unfortunately, or fortunately, depends on how you see it, it’s been very busy already. I just wanted to share this photo I took last night, going out for dinner. Alas, it really doesn’t do any justice to the actual colors and shades. I’m sure I’ll have other chances to practice my photography skills here in the near future.
I like reading online newspapers, not only the Italian ones, but also some overseas. Visiting the websites, it often seems to me there are much more news on each website than on the actual newspapers. Plus, I can look for the same news or op-eds in different newspapers, which gives a wider perspective and even some interesting insight on facts and opinions circulating in more than just one country. I’m an avid reader of the New York Times, but I also read the Huffington Post, the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Independent, The Times, The Guardian, BBC online, La Repubblica, L’Unità, La Stampa and some times Le Monde and El País. But I generally stick to English or Italian websites.
It is disheartening to see how the majority of Italians don’t seem to care where and how the country is going, or even how other countries see us and what they think of us. Italians have always been selfishly easygoing, to a certain extent. Of course I am generalizing. But the overall impress I have is that no one really pays attention to Italy, just as Italy doesn’t care at all about the rest of the world. Many countries are changing politics, especially concerning the environment and new building strategies, energy saving, industrial policies. Italy, as a whole, doesn’t seem to care, although I am sure there are smart and willing entrepeneurs who are taking the new challenge, moving forward to new directions which will be equally profitable on the long run.
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