Our Italian Vacation Part 1

One of our customers specifically requested my presence in a meeting in Italy to discuss some various issues they were having that we have been working on for some time. The meeting was kind of a face to face setting to get all the work that has been done and all the work that needs to be done out in the open. This was my first time to Italy and the Chief got to go along. It was also her first trip to Italy.

The day we arrived, Wednesday, I went cycling with a colleague form the Italian company. He has not ridden for a long distance for quite a while, but we rode for a little over 2 hours and had a good time out in the countryside. We were in the area around Turin.

The meeting was the following day was the all day meeting, roughly 9:00am to 7:00pm with about a 30 minute lunch in the company cafeteria. It was Italy, so what did we eat... pizza and pasta. We actually finished the meetings on Thursday. We were not sure if we would need to continue on Friday or not, but it was not necessary. My boss had meetings elsewhere in Europe the following week so she stayed in Italy with the Chief and I.

Friday, we take the train from Turin to Rome. It is about a 4 hour ride but it is very uneventful. Rome is obviously very old. We have never been there before and we are told some things to check out. Pepe and his wife recommended we go to the Colosseum. So we did. We were not the only ones there.

A coworker recommended we see the Pantheon. So we did. We were not the only ones there.

Another coworker, or maybe a friend, or maybe both recommended we visit the Trevi Fountain. So we did. Again, we were not even close to the only ones there...

I actually did take some pictures of the fountain itself, not just the people visiting it. Here is one.

It is a little distorted because it is multiple pictures taken and then stitched together. I have not had a lot of time to play with the pictures to make it look better yet. This was just a quick and dirty run...

Also, I can't help myself when I'm in a foreign country, I have to take pictures of signs and English mistranslations. It makes me laugh... besides, this blog is all about things that make me laugh. Speaking of things that make me laugh, did you notice the picture of the Pantheon. The guy in the foreground is finishing up picking his nose. He was really digging for gold, I didn't plan on that being in the picture, but sometimes you just get lucky.

The first picture below is not doctored and I did not take it though a mirror. I don't know either...

Subway pictures are some of my favorites. Let's go through this diagram one picture at a time...

Top Left: When you are doing wall sits, don't push the door open
Top Right: Don't use your super strong grip to bend the door frame
Bottom Right: Always mind your junk and your butt when straddling the door
Bottom Left: Be cautious, our trains are not afraid to sodomize you

And finally, I think I figured out where the Smurfs got those stupid hats.

I guess the Ancient Romans used Smurf style hats at one point. 

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