Day 7 – IPMM Day 2

Thank goodness I didn’t present this day!!! I woke up still a little woozy…thankfully the feeling subsided by noon. We reviewed all of the regions updates then it was off to have some fun!

This was the day of our team building outing and it was wonderful!!! We started by taking a bus up to a small town overlooking Florence called Fiesole. It was the original “city” during the Roman times and eventually they moved down to the valley where present day Florence is located. Alison, Barry and I walked the city and got some beautiful photos and longed to live in the Italian villas we passed. They were just beautiful homes with the best views you can even imagine.

On our walk, we also saw this smart pup! The owner patted her leg to get the pup to jump on between her legs, then the pup tucked her tail in to drive off! Check out that smile!

After walking the town, we met for our guided tour of the Roman ruins. It was pretty amazing that they would just let you walk all over the grass and stairs. There was no where that was blocked off! I tried to take in as much of the stories as I could, but that darn ADD kicked in! :) Alison did fill me in on neat details (after pinching me for not listening). They talked about the 2 Roman baths and the “hot tub” that was heated by adding hot coals to the water from a nearby fire. The pools were pretty cool and innovative. It was actually a walk in pool instead of a big hole in the ground. They were so smart! This is my wonderful workstation friend Siobhain and me on the tour...
Did I mention I get a little bored on guided tours...Linda and I decided to have a little fun with the signs around the ruins...dorks, I know. :)
After the tour we sat for a little bit at an outdoor café…with another super view. The smell of the wine still wasn’t settling just right still! :)

After chilling and snacking on mini pizzas, chips and nuts, we went up the hill to take a group pic. Can I just ask, WHY OH WHY you can’t get 80 people to focus and look in one direction??? I guess I just was trained well by drill team of the logistics of lining up and smiling for pics! Cheese!

We boarded the bus and drove for about an hour through beautiful Tuscany into Chianti. We arrived at the Castello del Trebbio. We started by taking 1000 pics of the property and surround areas. It seemed unreal. You can even stay on the vineyard in one of the guest houses. Would be an incredible experience!

We were then taken on a walking tour of the area by the husband of one of the decedents that owns the castle. Their family now lives in part of the castle and they grow grapes and olives on the property. He detailed the history of the family, their castle, the groundskeeper and how they make their phenomenal wines and olive oils. Who knew so much went into the process of making these yummy treats?!

This is the awesome groundskeeper, who has been there for a very long time...60 years maybe???!?! Oh, I need to learn to focus! I'm sure Alison can comment and correct me!

From the tour, we had appetizers and dinner in their restaurant family style…trying different wines throughout the various courses. It was delightful. I could have eaten nothing but their bread with plain olive oil all night…it was beyond description!

UPDATE: Thanks to Nikki busting me on the comments, yes, this is when I busted my arse...but held on to my vino and camera!! :)

After dinner, we visited the gift shop and I picked up a 3 pack of olive oils…they are all pure varieties, each from a different olive, used for different dishes like salad, beef or chicken.

When we arrived at the hotel, everyone headed up to get some rest for day 3 of the meetings…and my day to present. EEK! I came down to the lobby to get a power adapter and a few people were in the lobby bar, so spent a little time socializing…but, did get to bed at a decent hour! :)

Day 6 – IPMM Day 1

Tuesday’s meeting sessions were all about "strategery" and planning. We heard about new concepts for the years coming up…it was fun and interesting. One new thing about this meeting was that we had no WLAN. It was so weird! We always have a way to chat with each other and be distracted by email. This time we had to resort to passing notes like high schoolers…you saw them everywhere. But, I must say it was so much more productive than past meetings and I got a lot out of it. :)

In the evening, we all went for a group dinner and had a traditional Italian meal with antipasti, pasta, chicken and dessert…and of course Chianti.
After dinner, a few of us went to an Irish pub, The Old Stove, recommended by Barry, our Irishman living in Taiwan. We didn’t stay out too late, but I did have one too many! Eek…those darn Irish! I'm not going to incriminate those of us that went out...so here's the menu from the bar!! :) hehe

Day 5 - Florence, Italy

Took another early morning train to get to Florence at a decent hour. I think I may sleep for a week when I get home...or maybe the plane home will be empty, yeah right! :) We hit the ground running as we knew this was our only opportunity to see the sights.

We did an open top bus tour and got off at the Piazza Michaelangelo at the top of the city. It provided a beautiful overlook with lots of little tourist shops and a bronze replica of David. The actual one is at a museum that was closed that day. We ran into a big group of other HP people and took a few pics in this incredible location.

We had a little time to kill before the next bus would be there, so we headed up a set of stairs and visited a very old church, founded in 1018, called the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte with a graveyard in the front and another nice panoramic view. There was also a bride and groom there taking photos. There are endless beautiful backdrops throughout Europe!

I found a kitty at the top of the hill, but you know cats...he wouldn't cooperate and look at the camera! :) And PS, what on earth is my hair doing there???

We caught the bus down the hill and walked the tourist bridge, which I was a little disappointed was all jewelry and high end stuff. I'm more of a chachke girl. :) We walked from there back through the city by the Piazza del Duomo in the center of town. Again, with beautiful mosaics, all over the entire church, but in pastels this time. There was a huge line and we had plans for have dinner that evening, so we headed to the hotel for a little R&R.

That evening, we walked the open air market and had dinner at a street side café. There we met the best waiter of the trip…at least the one with the best sense of humor! His name was Kenny G and was originally from the Dominican Republic. He messed with Jon, one of the guys from the team, rubbed his shoulders and heckled the passing tourists to get them into the restaurant. He made the night! After dinner, we turned in to prepare for 3 packed days of meetings.

Day 4 - Venice, Italy

Got to sleep in a little before our 10am train...it was nice! The train to Venice was packed...and it was full of people once we arrived in the city too! This was our first official 'tourist destination'. I can't imagine how crazy it is in the summertime. We planned to meet Joe at the station and he was a few minutes behind.

As we stood in the square, we knew this place would be a little kooky! First, a guy came up to us in the square calling us "bella" and staring oddly. Eek! Then a man seriously dig a jig and sang to us with a purse in hand. I'm not talking a "murse", but a full on blinged out Chanel purse. He was singing in Italian and in our heads he was singing "I just stole this purse and yours is next" . Then the third weirdo was a dude in a full cape. We thought, hmm kind of weird, but then he fluffed it out dramatically, it was hilarious! A few minutes later Joe arrived to meet us. We checked into the hotel then took off on our walking tour.

We stopped for pizza along the way. It was really good, but the place was a little odd...run by Turkish people, I think...with music blaring. From there, we walked through the San Marco Square then out to the water, with a brief stop to feed the pigeons...oh you know I had to do that! I don't care if people call them flying rats!! I love the ratzos too! :)

Once we got out to the water, what a beautiful view! We took pics with the bridge of sorrows. It was the link between the Doge's complex that housed the court and the prison. So, here we are being "sorrowful". Later, we found out it was the bridge of "sighs"...oops. Close enough.
From there, we went up to the top of the famous tower in the square. The views were quite incredible, and they were made even better by the fact that there was an elevator! It seems these towers usually require lots of stairs...so yea! After that we visited the San Marco Church. The mosaics inside were stunning. They were all in bright jewel tones with deep golds, blues and reds. No pics were allowed inside, but they had some of the art pieces at the entrance. We also saw St. Mark's tomb and listened to the history behind a beautiful art piece at the altar. I am so ADD though, it's terrible. I don't think I remember a thing about the audio tour...just in one ear and out the other. But, if they would let me touch it, I'd remember every detail! One very cool thing I did learn from Joe is the symbol for St. Mark is the lion. YEA! Love that!! Yippee for LEOS! Once you started to look you would notice Lions everywhere...was very neat. :)
Next, we went to the Doge's palace. We went through what felt like 500 rooms and kept hoping at every turn that we'd get to the bedroom. After visiting the first antechamber, second antechamber, the senate, the navy room, etc., we realized maybe it wasn't to be found! We did get to see walk the bridge of sighs and explore the prison...but the pinnacle was seeing the drawings that the prisoners did back in the day. We were a little delirious by the time we got there, so they were even funnier! There were a TON of naked ladies, but almost all were profiles of busts with the random boobs in the front. My stomach was hurting from laughing by the time we left. Sorry kids, no pics were allowed in the room, so you'll have to use your imagination.
Next, we decided to be the ultimate tourists and do a gondola ride. Our guide barely spoke English, but he was nice and pointed out a few things here and there. We got to see the Grand Canal, meander through the buildings and even see where Mozart had lived. I love the light in the first pic below! It was so pretty. :)
From there, we were starving, so we went to one of Joe's favorite restaurants called Al Vagon. The house wine was reasonable (as compared to everything else in Venice) and it was probably the best wine I've even had in my life! The food was phenomenal as well. I tried mussels for the first time and even those were scrumptious! This sign was hanging above the register...I wonder if the owners were really Costa Rican!? :)

After dinner, we decided to do something cultural so we went to see a chamber orchestra perform Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Wasn't sure if I'd know it, because I know very little about classical music...but I knew a bunch of the songs (probably from weddings) and it was beautiful. The main violinist and the cello player were the favorites. I picked up their CD for my padre too. I highly recommend seeing one of these performances if you're in Venice. This hall was even modeled after the same sized room as the one Vivaldi originally performed the same symphonies in, but his were inside St. Mark's next door! There was a lady there too that was very touching. She swayed and closed her eyes and moved her hands to every song. Watching her in pure bliss was fun.

We went to drinks at a local bar then to one other more chi chi place, then called it a night. We spied this in a shop window along the way...I got one for all my friends, so if a big crate with ladies shoes sticking out of the top arrives soon...Merry Christmas!Thanks Joe for being a great guide and filing us in on all the details of the city!