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Latest update says they found another body tonight, but couldn't manage to actually get the man that's still within an empty hallway, on the other hand they managed to save 3 others, that were trapped but still alive. Still 16 people missing. Apparently the crew was not trained to handle that kind of situation. First aid and help to disembark people came first from kitchen staff. The ship is sliding along the rocks, and the sea is getting stormy, so they can't really keep up with the salvage. The captain is held in a local prison waiting for interrogation. The charges should be multiple manslaughter, shipwreck and ship abandonment. One of the concern now, besides all the casualties of course, is the potential environmental impact due to the fuel leaking into the sea. If I'm not mistaken a Swedish society is supposed to take care of the ship, that should be removed from the coastline, but this could be just a rumor. I highly doubt they're willing to let the ship sinks because it's barely 200ft. deep and because Lily's Island is within the Ligurian Sea Cetacean Sanctuary. Yesterday has come to public attention an exchange of letters between the mayor of the city and the captains of the ships following that route. Apparently a "close passage" by the coast line during the evening was a distinctive trait of the cruise itself, which usually slows down to greet the island with its horn and all the lights on. It's undefined what does "close" mean, but from the beginning they said straight away that the boat was 4 miles out of its route, so they're investigating in that direction too.

I was looking forward for another Europe Trip since I couldn't take part in the last one, but once again it takes places in a time span that's completely off-limits because of finals and thesis/internship. I guess I'll have to wait a little bit more...

I've spent only a day in Munich and all I can say is that it was amazing. This was my first time there and it won't be the last, that's for sure. Despite being Saturday we luckily found a table in the Bräurosl tent, and met with random German/Swiss people that really made our day. They even wrote down the songs words for us to sing along. I couldn't expect such a welcoming environment and how friendly everyone was. Within 5 minutes we felt like we were at home, with just a bunch of really really good friends! About it being too commercialized, I don't really know what to say. Being Italian myself I could spot them everywhere, whilst I barely heard someone speaking English. I believe is just some sort of perception-thing (I hope that it makes sense, somehow)... Nevertheless, commercial or not, I'm already looking forward for next year event.

I graduated in computer engineering in July, and now I'm enrolling for a master's degree in software applications...

First three letters of my last name. No thinking involved!

I'm studying to become a Computer Science Engineer, and so far the hardest course has been 'Signal Theory and Processing' (if you don't know what I'm talking about take a look on wiki for signal processing, and you'll find out...). Too much stuff to know with little to no meaning at all, at least at the sight of the humble human being I am... I passed the course with a pitiful mark (should be something close to a C in the US scale) and swore to never ever have to do with it again!

Well, summer holidays are almost over so you may find it a little less busy, but I'm not that sure about it. Matteo, when I was there it was down because of the launch. People on the train before mine said they felt the launch getting weaker and then they were back into the station. The same happened in the morning and keep it down for the whole afternoon. Luckily in the evening it took less than half an hour, but you could see during test launches that it struggled to pass the top hat, at first. It was even slower than the first videos of iSpeed testing. I guess it was just the wrong day...

I was in the last row, and I spent the whole camelback pushed against the OTSR. How could it be any stronger than that??? It will take another year before I can find out what is the front seat like... Anyway, it's a great ride, but I found the launch a bit weak. I thought it was more aggressive, instead it's really soft and fluid. Not bad, of course, but I was expecting something different. Still, it's a really enjoyable coaster, I really loved it. A bit short, but long enough to give you goose bump... The downside, so far, it's the reliability. It gets stuck, a lot. The day I was there it opened 8.15 PM, worked 20 minutes and went down again when I was at the loading platform (almost cried). Luckily it took only 20 minutes to reopen. That day was a really bad day for iSpeed, but 15mins breaks happen almost every day, as far as I know. Q line is almost always full. It may be because low capacity (there's an issue with the third train) or breaks, but it sure attracts people, too!

It's a scintillating grid, a typical optical illusion.

Mirabilandia within a couple of weeks

1. Reached national selection for International Olympiad in Informatics and totally screwed up 2. Used to sleep facing the door because I was afraid of vampires... 3. I won a Tennis tournament, then I quit 4. People laugh at me because of weird ice-cream tastes mixes 5. I've lost 45 pounds because I was ashamed of my body (5 foot 7 inches for 132 pounds right now)

Age: 21 Middle Name: ...no mid name for me... Pet Peeve: People acting like idiots Color of your bathroom: some sort of orange-yellowish mix Best Movie of ALL time: What dreams may come Best Song of ALL time: Memento Mori (Kamelot) Best TV Shows: Supernatural, Mythbuster Favorite Band/Artist: Kamelot, at the moment Favorite Ride at Disney Parks: Tower of Terror Yummiest Ice Cream: Mint with chocolate chip If you could eat lunch with one person, who would it be: This may sounds dumb, but I'd like to eat with Nigella Lawson if she's cooking... Morning Person or Night Person: Night Person Pets: A dog, named York Favorite Color: Black Where you would go for fun (not an amusement park): Anywhere with a bunch of good friends! Coke or Pepsi: Neither Opinion about Peanut Butter and Jelly: Never tried peanut butter Best Vacation Spot: Greece Cook or Go Out: Go out Beach, Desert, or Mountains: Beach

Yahoo! Answer I can browse through stupid question all day long!

I was there in June and stayed at Santa Fe, too. Seeing the pattern on the bed made me sad... I need another ride on Buzz!

I read about Beverly (and how bad it is) a lot in this forum, and everytime it's said to be sold in Italy. I've never seen that drink in my whole life, unless it has a different name which I'm unaware of. I'm still wondering if they do really sell it, or it's just some sort of urban legend...

I wasn't complaining about getting my degree, of course, but I've been reading TR for years, and the UK trip seemed a good one to start with. I don't mind (well, not too much) about waiting some more, but that's a missed chance...

I was looking forward to hear about a new UK trip (I'd like to stay at least on the same continent, as first time), but I should get my bachelor in CS engineering between April and July, so I guess I'll have to skip it... That's unfair...

I guess the extra B is for BYOBB...

At the moment there's nothing sure about the future of the park. It may open again (I don't think so...), but it would take a lot of money to literally resurrect the park. Local newspapers wrote about a 'new' park themed after the Ancient Rome, but no one mentioned Luneur anymore, so this is everything I know. Probably Rome is not going to get a real theme park until the opening of Valmontone (and this is going to take forever...).

Here comes the truth. I've never been to Rome before, so I don't know well the area, thus the little park of the city are unknown to me. The park that will be built is in stand-by, because it's from the same company of Terra dei Giganti, and they're focusing on only a task at the moment. When the first park will be almost complete, they will switch to the other. The ride in Mirabilandia has been announced too early, and so it looks like it has been ages since the first news. They didn't want to disappoint guests taking down Sierra Tonante without a substitute, so they announced their plan for the 2009 season way too early. The park is now giving out clues about the ride, which will be themed to the world of motors, with a color pattern lead by red. In these day they are looking for a name. In the italian board the most common opinion, since the theme, is that it will be an intamin accelerator, but this is still not confirmed.

You're still talking about Rome, right? If yes, there are 2 parks you may reach from there. Near Napoli there's Magic World (the right town is Licola) while near Firenze there's Cavallino Matto (located in Livorno). I've never been there so I can't give any advice about these ones, but both are at least 100 miles away from Roma, so if you want to keep the city on you're trip, maybe you should just see the city and forget the hunt for a while. The theme park that will be built near Roma won't see the light probably for at least a couple of years more. If you weren't talking about this, then I didn't get what you were referring to. Since you're planning this for 2009 I'd suggest you to hit Gardaland, Movieland, maybe Leolandia (10 miles from Milano) while staying north. Since Gardaland is in Veneto you may keep going until Venezia, then move south along the Adriatic Coast to see Mirabilandia (2009 will bring us a new coaster!!!) and if you can Fiabilandia, as it's on the road, then keep going south till Bari for Terra dei Giganti (should open during next Spring) and Fasanolandia. All together you should find 20something credits. Unfortunately the Thyrrenic coast does not offer the same choice of parks, and so, unless you'll have a lot of money to spend, you'll have to choose wisely what you want. You may always come back to Italy again when Terra Magica (Roma) and Mediapolis (Torino) will be open.

Public transport in Italy is not really reliable, but with a bit of patience you can see almost everything you want to. I’ll use the Italian name for cities/places as I think it’s gonna be more useful. For Gardaland/Movieland you can take the Train that follows the line Milano – Venezia Santa Lucia and take off at the stop of Peschiera del Garda. Right out of the station you’ll find free shuttle for both Gardaland and Movieland Studios. They usually leave every 30 minutes or so, starting from 9 – 9.30 until 19.30. From the parks the last shuttle will leave half an hour after the closing time. For Mirabilandia you can take off at the station of Ravenna Lido di Savio. It’s a stop you can reach from almost every big city of the Adriatic Coast in Emilia Romagna, and then take a shuttle out of the station, but probably you’ll have to pay a fee for this one. They will operate as the ones above. While there, if you’re in ‘Credit Mode’ you can find some at Fiabilandia which is found in Rimini (40km – 30 miles or so) from Ravenna/Mirabilandia. From Rimini (easy to reach by train following the line Milano -> Bologna -> Rimini) it’s possible to reach Mirabilandia by bus, that leaves daily with a combo of return ticket + admission ticket for less than 30 €. Any travel agency of the city will promote this. Terra dei Giganti it’s gonna be in Puglia. You’ll have to take a train till Bari or Foggia, and then move to Molfetta. Since it’s still under construction I can’t add anything to this, but if you head to Bari, you’ll be closer to Fasanolandia, near the city of Fasano (they have an Eurofighter waiting to be built since 2007, but nobody knows when they’ll finally have it operates, plus some minor coasters). Roma is getting a new park, for the moment without an official name (Terra Magica?), but this is another ‘only God knows when...’, and the park you’ve mentioned in your post (Luneur) is gone, at least for the moment. I’ve never took a taxi in Italy in 20 years, but I would’t reccomend it. I think it could costs as much as an intercontinental flight. The best time to do this, is probably from mid May to mid June or September. The weather will be fine and you won't be lead to suicide by the crowds of the July-August period. The queue in those months may get really, really, long, and just ruin a day. Since this is probably you're first time (I'm guessing), you'd better avoid them. Side note: Italy is a ‘not English-speaking country’ (you’ll notice this starting from my post, and I’m sorry) so you’ll have to learn something that may help you in the most common situation (buy water, ask directions, etc) and rely on the universal language of sign. Point whatever you’ll need and an answer will come!