February 2026. Pavia.
A day trip from Genoa to Pavia, an unsung but beautiful University town of 70,000, nearly 40% of them students.
Not that you’d know it’s student-dominated; a bit like Cambridge they must all stay within the ancient cloisters,
and all drink at the distinctly untrendy student bar.
Mrs RM and I brought some hipster edge to “Bar” (crazy name), and I’d have loved an NBSS score, or at least an Untappd Check-in, but NO-ONE else was drinkng so we stuck to 1,20 euro espressos.
These are gorgeous buildings, accessed from the main drag through town without the sort of restrictions you get at Kings College,
and particularly impressive in Piazza Leonardo da Vinci.
There isn’t a Piazza Retired Martin, but I did give a lecture on NHS reforms here in 2014; there’s a contemporaneous sculpture of the event on the wall;
“They all look so bored !” squeals Mrs RM, delightedly.
How did I get this prize lig prestigious speaking opportunity, hobnobbing with lecturers from Vienna ? Why, I put my hand up, the life advice I gave to a p***d racegoer at Uttoxter Station recently (she wasn’t convinced).
As I was just telling my mate ChatGPT, I always had the opposite of Imposter Syndrome, always believing myself capable of things I probably wasn’t.
I’d been wanting to come back to Pavia ever since, to admire the stone, to see if I could find the entrance first time (I’d had to ask two English medical students last time as I was lost with no pubs to guide me), to see the Ponte Vechhio,
and to make one last visit to the Black Bull.
retiredmartin 
“Poster syndrome”, I suppose, Martin?
Nah, it’s the Dunning-Krüger Syndrome – beloved of karaoke singers and Reform councillors – isn’t it?
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Yes ! Always wanted to be compared to a Reform councillor.
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But your arms aren’t long enough, and the palms of your hands don’t face backwards when you walk, Martin..
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Oh no, ‘Uttoxeter racegoers’ reminds me of two scary mature women from Oldham in the Bank House a few weeks ago, and it wasn’t even a race day !
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“Not that you’d know it’s student-dominated; a bit like Cambridge they must all stay within the ancient cloisters,”
(slow golf clap)
“but NO-ONE else was drinkng so we stuck to 1,20 euro espressos.”
Blimey! I guess the ‘bar’ means that they bar alcohol? 😏
Also, probably no one was ‘drinkng’ as no one knows what that means. 😉
“and particularly impressive in Piazza Leonardo da Vinci.”
(looks down)
I think those two tall towers are where da Vinci tried out his flying machine attempts.
“There isn’t a Piazza Retired Martin, but I did give a lecture on NHS reforms here in 2014; there’s a contemporaneous sculpture of the event on the wall;”
(looks down)
If you squint, the last bit on the last line on the left could read as ‘positive Martin habit’.
“Why, I put my hand up, the life advice I gave to a p***d racegoer at Uttoxter Station recently (she wasn’t convinced).”
Half of being successful is being confident. 😉
“As I was just telling my mate ChatGPT, I always had the opposite of Imposter Syndrome, always believing myself capable of things I probably wasn’t.”
See above.
Also, did you know that you can now check for scams in ChatGPT?
https://www.malwarebytes.com/blog/product/2026/02/scam-checking-just-got-easier-malwarebytes-is-now-in-chatgpt
“(I’d had to ask two English medical students last time as I was lost with no pubs to guide me)”
(slow golf clap)
“and to make one last visit to the Black Bull.”
You seem to be ending with a cliff hanger lately.
Cheers
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A cliff hanger where the cliff is 6 inches above the ground !
When I mentioned students all staying “within the ancient cloisters”, it’s a reality. In Cambridge, the undergrads have their own kitchens, own bars and beds, so you don’t tend to see them in the pubs (except at the giant annual CAMRA beer festival on the green). It was really noticeable that Pavia, similarly, didn’t really feel like a young person’s city in the way that, say, Bristol or Sheffield do.
Thanks for reading and commenting. And the other blogs. Can’t say that enough.
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Blimey! I never knew that about the students. I thought it was one of your, um, semi-sarcastic thingies (which you do so well). 😉
As for my commenting… pshaw! 😎
You have a definite style of posting; which works well with my definite style of commenting. ☺️
Love the other guys but, pretty sure I found you first (don’t tell them!), and you are prolific enough to keep me busy!
And, I’ll leave it at that. 😏
Cheers 🍻
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Self help experts say to say yes to everything then figure it all out / learn it afterwards. I never took that advice.
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