Bella Roma

Finally I have made it to Europe......

I hadn't set foot in 'Continental Europe' for 2 1/2 years..... after living in Brussels for 2years I somehow needed a does of European lifestyle.... the green parks, orderly queues, wine and pork, cafe's and beer, impressive monuments and buildings, orderly traffic, Metros where you don't have to push you way to go in or get out.... etc etc....

enjoying the tranquility of European Parks...

European way of life....

A workshop on an new Leadership framework whisked me off to Italy.... to be precise, the little village of Frascati... about 1hr out of Rome....

a couple of us dared venture out in the cold for a stroll around the park

It was actually my first big international work meeting.... usually the HR meetings I attend consist of the HR managers in our region - north Africa, however this time there were managers from Europe (France, the Netherlands, Sweden, UK, Italy, Turkey, Russia, Ukraine etc etc), Africa (South Africa and me - almost Libyan) and the Middle East (Israel, Dubai, Lebanon)...... wonderful smart people, a couple of years ago, while going through my years in AIESEC and listening to the multinational companies making their presentation of their organization, I had only dreamt of meeting corporate HR people like these......now they are my friends and buddies who inspire and support my development....

enjoying a coffee in a typical Roman cafe with the Ukrainian HR Manager and the Regional HR Manager of Turkey and Israel

Three days in Rome were great.... apart from meeting wonderful HR people from all over the 3 regions, I got to reuse my Italian, chat with the locals, shop till I had no money left.... meet up with Veronica, and Maria, two Maltese living in Rome..... drink good cappuccino and amazingly good wine, eat loads of Parma ham and home made pasta, and throw my coin in the Trevi Fountain.....

... throwing my 20 euro cents into the fountain.... when will I be back in Rome? Hope it won't take me another 15yrs...

Bye Bye Europe.... see you in June, where a trip to Sweden and possibly Belgium is on the Agenda....

Fontana Dei Trevi.. surrounded with amazing ice-cream shops... how to not have an Italian Ice-Cream although the temperature is almost 0 and your hands are purple...

Piazza di Venezia