We flew, we landed, we protested, we slept

Our flight from Boston to Paris was kind of a trial; we were squeezed in like sardines and couldn't really sleep. However, we had an interesting seat mate, a woman who lives in Boston but whose family is in Lebanon. She was going home to be with her mother who is having cancer surgery. We had a 6-hour layover in the Paris airport, then a rather nice flight to Bologna. We took the bus to a stop near our apartment and met our landlady, who immediately took us to the violin maker to rent me a viola. She then explained things in the apartment and then left to catch a train. We unpacked, went for take out pizza next door, and as we ate, we heard loud singing and commotion from the street. We followed the noise to a student protest led by Cambiare Rotta, a communist group. We found out this morning that they were protesting the lack of laboratory space at the university! Not since the 70's have I seen or heard something like this. We slept quite well, which would surprise nobody except us. Breakfast in our cozy apartment, provided by our landlady. An interesting start to our adventure.
​Paris airport below:

A random doorway seen on our walk:
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The protest, sorry I can't post how noisy it was:
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Everyone seemed to be having a good time at the protest except for the leaders, who were shouting and passionate.