Bologna 2000 Team Handbook

Bologna, Italy, 9th-10th September 2000

Where

Airport: Aeroporto G. Marconi di Bologna S.p.a., Via Triumvirato, 84, 40132 Bologna. International airport code BLQ. Tel. +39 (0)51 647.96.15 or 81; tourist information: +39 (0)51 647.20.36.
Pool: Piscina "Carmen Longo" - Stadio, Via dello Sport no 4, Bologna. Tel. +39 (0)51 6152520.
Accommodation: Campsite Centro Europa Uno, Via Emilia 297, Cicogna, 40068 Santo Lazzaro di Savena, Bologna. Tel./Fax: +39 (0)51 6258352.

What

Tournament: The third annual "Citta di Bologna" invitation underwater hockey tournament. Teams from GB, Belgium, France, Hungary, Italy and Slovenia.
Party: No costumes required for this one - just a high level of alcohol tolerance. Music, dancing, pint-snorkelling, party games with lots of forfeits . . . come prepared!

Contacts

Schedule

Travel details (in approximate chronological order of arrival in Bologna)

LHR London Heathrow, UK; STN London Stansted, UK; BLQ: Bologna

All arrivals should aim to make their way to the campsite. Travel details are shown below; maps are shown at the end of this document. In previous years we were collected from the airport by Max and Leone, two of our hosts. However, please note that this year this will not be possible, so arrivals should be prepared to get to the campsite under their own steam.

Accommodation

In tents and bungalows at the "Centro Europa Uno" campsite in Cicogna, south-east of Bologna.
10 people sharing:

Notes

• the tent will be brought to Bologna by Martin Reed
• the campsite is 7km from the centre of Bologna, 5km from the railway station and 10km from the airport Borgo Panigale

Expenses

"Merchandise"

Costumes: please contact Martin. Only limited sizes and quantities still available
Caps: please contact Martin if any are required.
T-Shirts: We have ordered ?? shirts - ?? XL, ?? L and ?? M - which will be coming out with us. As usual, the colours and logo will reflect the country we are visiting, and also the theme of the tour, and there will be the usual commemorative blurb on the back. Wear them, swap them, honour them, they're achieving cult status everywhere.

Tournament

Teams: 1 x CTDC, 1 x Puckaholics, 2 x France (Men & Women), 6 x Italy (2 Women), 1 x Hungary, 1 x Slovenia, 1 x Belgium. Most of the non women-only teams will have mixed players.
Pool: Outdoor, 25m long, 2m deep, large tiles
Puck: Gillespie Australian "Worlds 2000" orange puck, slightly different to the conventional orange puck
Rules and regulations: Round robin and play offs following CMAS international rules with the following exceptions:
        1. Game duration: 10 minutes continuous play, with a 2-minute interval between games. If a team is not ready, the game starts and if after 3 minutes there are less than 3 players in the water, the team loses the game.
        2. Substitutions: Since the pool is 30m long, it was decided to have 2.5m behind each goal to make a field length of 25m. Therefore substitutes have to remain and wait in the water, behind the lane for field delimitation (since it’s an outdoor pool it will also be warmer).

Referees: The organisers will be providing three second-degree referees. Teams will be requested to provide a player as second referee for the game following each of their own games. A tentative schedule with the referees names will be written down at the captain meeting to avoid losing time during the tournament.

Caps: In Italian pools caps are compulsory, for public swimming as well as for Octopush. The organisers strongly recommend the use of the Hockey (water polo) cap to reduce the risk of injuries.

Food and drink: Food (sandwiches and fruits) and drink (water, coca-cola and beer) will be available at low prices at the pool. No glass is allowed in the pool, and a specific eating area with tables and chairs will be provided beside the pool, "so as to avoid throwing waste into the pool". Quote from the organisers: "It could result in confusing the players..."

Further information: http://www.freeweb.org/sport/uwhockey_bologna

Local Information

Important Telephone Numbers
113 -- Police, reporting of accidents and criminal acts
+39 51 647 96 15 -- Flight information: Bologna Airport
+39 51 37 27 27 -- Taxi
+39 51 24 21 50 -- Bus information
+39 1678 68086 -- Mastercard / Access / Eurocard
+39 1678 21001 -- Visa
+39 06 72282 -- American Express

Car Rental Companies (at the airport)

Telephone calls
You can make telephone calls either from post offices or from public phone boxes. Street phones mostly take phonecards, which are sold in either 10.000 (£3.30) or 50.000 Lire (£16.50) denominations from most newsagents.
Dial 0044 + tel. number without leading zero, to make an international call to the UK from Italy.
Dial 0039 + tel. number without leading zero, to make an international call from the UK to Italy.
Note that everywhere in Italy the local area code (e.g. 051 in the case of Bologna) must still be dialled even when you are already within that area.
Important: many public telephone boxes contain adverts for services providing telephone calls that can be charged to your credit card. Do not use these services: two of our players got charges of approximately £25 applied to their credit cards for a five minute phone call. Buy a Telecom Italia phonecard or use your mobile.

Mobile phones: Italy has three major telephone networks, all of which have roaming agreements with the major UK operators. Of the three, WIND is the cheapest, followed by OMNITEL, with TIM the most expensive. However, if your mobile phone is not locked to your UK operator, TIM SIM cards are available separately. They cost 100,000 lire (about £33), all of which is calling credit, and must be recharged at least every 13 months. Each recharge costs 10,000 lire (about £3.30), so probably only worth getting if you travel to Italy fairly frequently or expect to be making a lot of calls during your time in Italy.

Buses
All bus stops are dark red in colour and marked with the name of the stop, and with the numbers of the buses that stop there. Tickets cannot be bought on the buses, and travellers are expected to have already purchased their tickets before boarding the bus. Tickets can be bought from any kiosk displaying a blue and white "T", but many sell only the tickets for their local bus routes (i.e. for the buses that pass their door). Note that being a foreigner is considered no excuse for avoiding a fine if you are caught without a ticket.

Currency
The currency is the "Lire" (Lit.). Current exchange rate is approximately as shown below:

Credit Cards
In Italy Eurocheques and all major credit cards are accepted, including Mastercard, Visa, Cirrus, American Express and Diners Club.

Working Hours
Banks: Mon-Fri: 8:30-13:00 and 15:30-16:30
Major Post Offices: Mon-Sat: 08:30-18:00 or 19:00
Shops: Mon-Fri*: 09:00-13:00, 15:30-19:30 Sat: 09:30 - 13:00
   In the summer months many shops close for longer in the afternoon and stay open longer in the evening.
   * Note that Thursday in Bologna is early closing day, and shops do not reopen in the afternoon.

Bologna: 2000 European City of Culture
As the title says, Bologna is the European City of Culture for 2000, and many arts & culture-related events are being staged throughout the year. See www.bologna2000.it for up-to-date information.

Tourist Attractions
City Centre: the twin towers, the statue of Neptune, the cathedral, the inner-city gates that date from 1000AD, the outer-city gates that date from 1500AD, the covered walkways that feature on every street in the city, and much more.
Elsewhere (requires car): the church of San Luca, the patron saint of Bologna.
Other: Tortellini! Tortelloni for vegetarians.

Tourist Information
A Tourist Information office can be found at the main rail station, and English is spoken.

Sales Tax
Nationals of countries outside the European Union are eligible for a refund of tax on the purchase of goods amounting to more than approximately 400,000 Lire, which are taken out of Italy.

Navigation around Bologna

Travel options within Bologna are bus, hire car or taxi, with a railway station just to the north of the city centre, from which it is very easy to get further afield around Italy.
All major roads in Bologna fan out from the main square in the city centre, and all road numbering starts at 1 at the square and works outwards.
Taxi ranks can be found at the airport, the railway station and in the main city square.
By bus from airport to campsite: Take the "Aerobus" to the railway station (about 5km), then bus 90 to the Centro Europa Uno campsite (bus stop "Cicogna - Santo Lazzaro" - also about 5km).
By bus from campsite to pool: Take a bus 90, 94, 916 or 918 (or nightbus 19) to the central square, then walk westwards along Via Ugo Bassi (the main road) to Via Guglielmo Marconi and take either a 14 or a 21 to the "Stadio". Walk a further 100m in the bus' direction of travel, cross the road and walk up the Via dello Sport to the pool.
By bus from pool to campsite: Walk down the Via dello Sport to the main road, turn right and walk 100m to the bus stop. Take a bus 14 or 21 to Via Guglielmo Marconi and then follow the reverse of "From campsite to pool".
By bus from campsite to airport: Take a bus 90 to the railway station, then take the "Aerobus" to the airport. Aerobuses go every twenty minutes, take 40 minutes to get to the airport and cost 7000 Lire. Tickets can be bought on the bus.

Other

Sport
Soccer: The swimming pool is situated directly next to Bologna Football Club's stadium.
Motor racing: The Italian Grand Prix is taking place at Monza near Milan (130 miles to the north-west of Bologna) on Sunday 10th September. Put on your Union Jack, go into the nearest red-decked bar and start shouting the name "David Coulthard" very loudly.
Also, just to the south-east of Bologna is the Imola motor racing circuit, which hosts the San Marino Grand Prix; there may well be racing of some sort on the Sunday afternoon. The English pages of Imola's web site can be found at http://www.circuitoimola.com/inglese/home/gb_home.htm.

Language
Add a vowel to the end of every word (an "a", in the case of anything feminine), and wave your arms around a lot, and you can speak Italian.

Important Words

International Identifier (email & web addresses)
The international country identifier for Italy is "it", so all email addresses and World Wide Web addresses end with ".it", e.g. biblio@igm.bo.cnr.it and http://www.bologna-airport.it.

Internet Resources

Maps

Italy (North)

Bologna Region (Emilia-Romagna)

Bologna area: campsite is in San Lazzaro di Savena, SE of Bologna

Bologna City Centre

Streetmap of south-western Bologna, showing location of pool (by telephone symbol in top left of square B2)

The Players

Eryl Adams	Clare Ash	Steve Ash	Paul Carpenter	Alison Collins	Julie Davis
Martin Fisher	Electra Kalaugher	Martin Reed	Bart van Campen	Kivas Waters

Our Hosts

Marco Alessandrini	Fabrizio Balboni	Michele Battaglioni	Michele Bottazzo	Giacomo Cesari	"Cillo"
Danilo Facchini	Fabrizio Fanti	Riccardo "Ric" Masetti	Giacomo "Jack" Pallotti	Gianluca Piccari	Luca Piombi
Cristiano Preto	Donato Puggioli	Moreno Sanguin	Leone Tarozzi	(Giorgio) Trotter

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