Day 8 – IPMM Day 3

Day three is always a little long, but today’s meetings were good. My presentation went ok. If anyone has additional recommendation on how to become more comfy in front of a crowd…let me know! Anyway, we wrapped up the day with a slide show from the event. Fun memories!

As soon as we wrapped, 12 of us went to a Tuscan cooking class! This was the beautiful view on our walk! Life is so tough!

Alison’s boyfriend Oscar had come into town too to join us for the rest of our European adventure. The cooking class was really fun and we had great hosts. Even though one of the chefs was a little touchy even for me!! He was funny though!

Here's all of of our food, before we got ahold of it.

And all the chefs!

We made an artichoke soufflé, spinach crepes, rosemary chicken and a chocolate cake dessert.

We all laughed and had a nice time decompressing from a long week…some of us longer than others!

And here's our fun chef friend with the team...

After dinner, we went back to the hotel and chilled at the bar again as everyone trickling in from their dinners and we chatted the night away. Jacob, Andre, Edgar and I stuck it out to the end and laughed a lot! On to Lake Como tomorrow!

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.