The Curse of the Slow Resaurant

Here is my team at dinner in Eindhoven, Holland.Enrico, Mark, Jan, Tom (our manager), Bernadette, Me, Dean

I've decided that if you want to eat in Europe either you get fast food (ie McDonalds) or you have to schedule 4 1/2 hours just to eat. Honestly, most nights we had dinner plans for 7pm and weren't done until after 11. Not to mention that you wreek of smoke after the ordeal too. Anyway, I am not trying to complain but more just state my gratitude for living in the United States. And I LOVE being home! I am glad to be home! I cried this morning when KLM told me I might not get to come home due to overbooking on their end. But I am here - YEAH!!!

The Amalfi Coast and Rome Highlights

Okay, so here are a few highlights from my recent trip to Italy. It was so nice to be able to spend a few days traveling around after the conference was over. And of course it was fantastic to see my good friend Bridget and meet her fun roommate Caley!

This is from our boat ride around the Island of Capri. So fun! (Sarah, Bridget, Caley)


This is a view of Positano, a small town tucked away along the Amalfi Coast. The road was quite windy and I got car sick. However, we rode there with Greg and Marleena, a couple from our B&B, and they were so sweet and it all turned out okay.

Lemon groves are all over the Amalfi Coast so these fun aprons ended up to be a great souvineer. And the pictures to go with it are a fun memory. (Sarah, Marleena, Caley, Bridget)

Pompeii was absolutely amazing! Those three statues you might recognize :-)
This is just a fun self portrait of Caley, Sarah, and Bridget on the Spanish Steps. It is odd because they were funded by the French, designed by Italians, and called Spanish . . . but I guess that is because they are near the Spanish Embassy.



Caley, Sarah, and Bridget in front of the Trevi Fountain. It took us FOREVER to find this little treasure. Rome is confusing and we got turned around quite a bit but most times were able to find what we were looking for. This fountain on the other hand always seemed SO CLOSE and yet we almost didn't find it. But we did and we all through coins in to ensure that we will return to Rome one day.

Bridget, Caley, and Sarah in front of the Pantheon. It was raining and yes it rained right through the 9m hole in the dome! We all really liked this building and found it far more impressive than the Vatican. Honestly the Pantheon is literally 50 times older!!!


Sarah, Caley, and Bridget all visiting the Mamertime Prison where Paul wrote many of his letters. This was a site we couldn't locate on the map and was called something different in my book so we literally stumbled upon it one day! And whats left of it is quite small.

Bridget, Caley, Sarah in Piazza della Repubblica. So pretty at night huh?

Ahhhh - last but certainly not least. The Colesseum! Spectacular in design and custruction but also quite sad to know that so many Christian Martyrs died there while Roman citizens thirsted for blood as entertainment.

So overall the trip was a blast and we all got along great. We appreciated traveling in Winter to avoid crowds and were only soaked to the skin from rain 1 day. We missed out on seeing the Catacombs where the early Christian church met in hiding. I was sad but we also didn't want to get sick from being so cold and wet.

SPQR

Okay so SPQR happens to stand for "Senatus Populus Que Romanus" which means "The Senate and People of Rome". I saw these all over Rome. And then in the Roman Forum where the center of politcal life took place we saw the Arch of Titus and it has the inscription on it! One of my favorite series is the SPQR series by John Maddox Robberts. It was great to be able to picture the actual places where these events were written about!

"What do you do anyway?"

Yes, I know my job sounds weird and some people question how much I actually work if I am traveling all over the world. But I can assure you that it is hard work! Okay, so this is at the conference. We have a booth where I help answer questions. (It opens at 7am!)
And I sit in on lectures. I learn a lot but a lot is still a bit over my head! (Okay, so you try sitting in a dark room with jet lag. I HAVE to take notes.)And then we had a customer dinner last night and we didn't get back to the hotel until 1am!! Long day.

When in Rome

Rome looks kind of like Peru to me . . . then again I haven't seen much other than my hotel and the view from the top of it.


Tonight we have an authentic Roman Dinner so that will be fun.

And I took a few pictures of what exactly I am doing here in Rome (the conference) but I can't get this hotel computer to get the pictures off my camera!! I'll figure it out someday.

Okay, gotta run! My toga needs draping :-)