mars and venus

and my last post before i head off to yoga is my attempt at showing how a man's mind works. above is a picture of one of our whiteboards in the office, with part of our design.

this should be self explanatory to all you ladies why there is such a large gap between how men think and how women think!

happy saturday everyone.

da boys on my side....

of the desk are shown above, hamming it up for the camera.

on the left is Nicolas, our illustrious leader. he keeps us all laughing, which is a good thing as the only other option given the amount of work facing us, is to cry. On the right is Mario -he tries to remind us all that there is life outside of the office...

da boys on da other side...

you've probably all heard by now that the team i work with is composed mainly of men. last night i took pictures of four of them that share my small office space. above is a pic taken of the guys 'on the other side' of the desk! in the background is Ermanno laughing over something funny said by someon (usually Nic!). In the foreground is Joe who is actually answering a LIVE phone call!

finally... my friends!

This is the last post in a series (so I could post multiple pictures). Start at 'weekend no. 5' and work your way up!

Here are my two friends. As they were wearing matching north face jackets, i took a picture of them shivering outside the exhibit. Maria is on the left and MariaGrazia is on the right!

the exhibit was interesting, and after we walked over to campidoglio and ate lunch at the gallery there (just sandwiches and cake). then Maria and i walked back to my car, and i drove her home!

spent the remainder of the day doing laundry, reading, and watching a movie.

it was a restful and relaxing weekend -hope you all had the same!

foro romano

then i walked down fori imperiale - the big street from the colosseo to piazza venezia where the big white typewriter-looking building sits (those of you who've been to rome will remember). i passed by the roman forum on the left, and stopped along with a gazillion tourists to take a picture.

the colosseo

above! overcast day - it poured rain while we ate lunch!

a mostra with my friends

yesterday (sunday) i walked to the centre to see an exhibition with two of my friends - maria and mariagrazia. i walked past the roman forum, and then next to the arch of constatine (it's right next to the colosseo which you can see on the right). Next blog is the colosseo as i walked by it.

weekend no. 5

well, i've now finished 5 weeks here in rome. this past weekend i took several pictures i wanted to share with everyone. the picture above is the little fountain at the end of the street where i practice yoga. it's lovely, and on saturdays when i leave it's clearly visible (hence the picture!).

i used to live just down the street from this area ... imagine how easy it would be for me just to WALK to yoga!

as far as my practice goes, there are so many people who are so much better then me here, it's both encouraging and discouraging at the same time. patience... that's the lesson i keep learning from yoga!

Happy Valentines Day!

Above is a picture taken of the colosseo on my way home from yoga monday night. Sights like this are so common here, it's easy to take them for granted. I've chosen a longer route home from yoga just so I can pass by the colosseo.

:o)

Tomorrow night I'm heading out to a quiz night with a group of girl friends. Wish me luck!

It's off to work - have a great Valentines Day everyone!

d.

saturday in rome.

I'm attaching a picture taken on my way to work last Monday. I was at the traffic light and thought the view was so beautiful i took a picture with my new phone. The view is the old wall that surrounded rome with a cemetary on the other side (where all the trees are).

It's a rainy saturday here in rome. Instead of yoga (I'll do it tomorrow!) I plan on meeting a friend at Le Pain Quotidien for a late breakfast, then we'll do a little shopping in the center. I have to buy a housewarming gift for friends who are throwing a dance party to celebrate their new apartment!

Last night I met up with a group of women at Gillian's place for a glass of wine, then headed out to a restaurant in Testaccio for dinner. The restaurant is having a tartufo week (truffles). Of course, being allergic I had fish instead! It was served with aqua pazza which translates to crazy water!

Tomorrow I am leaving open so I can go to an exhibition somewhere in the city.

Have a nice weekend everyone!

d.

Sunday in sunny Roma

Well I've done it! I have a phone with picture capability, and the software to load the pics on my laptop. This will be my first attempt at visual blogging. Bear with me!

Today I took the subway to Termini (main train station) and met my friend MariaGrazia for an exhibition of Caravaggio's work. The exhibition while tiny, was lovely. The picture above is one of the amazing pieces he did... taken with my new phone! It is a painting of the angel telling Isaac he needn't sacrifice his son (whew!). It's a beautiful piece, and was well worth the trip.

After the show, we went to a tavola caldo near piazza repubblica for lunch. This little restaurant specializes in sicilian food. I had the pasta alla norma - a lovely recipe with fusilli pasta with pine nuts and eggplant. I'll be checking out this recipe in my italian cookbook when i get home. here is a link to the recipe if you're interested!

http://ilforno.typepad.com/il_forno/2003/11/the_pasta_of_th.html

Afterwards, we had a little stroll, went into this lovely church renovated by michelangelo. It has a cool way of telling time on the floor - the angle of the sun comes in a small hole and hits a specific spot on the floor which is marked with a meridian line. Check out the following website for more into on the church http://www.answers.com/topic/santa-maria-degli-angeli-e-dei-martiri

I've realized i can only add 1 picture to each blog, so I shall have to be selective! I took two other photos today, but could only post one (the most important one... caravaggio!)

bye everyone and happy Sunday!

d.

One for Becky....

Well, while I wait for my 5:30 meeting to start (it's now 6.12pm and I'm looking at another 20 minutes before it even starts . . .) thought I'd update the blog.

I've realized that I can use a phone to take pictures which I can then upload to the blog... so I've decided that now I will buy myself a better quality phone with connection ability to the net, and then give my old (relatively new) phone to mom when i get home. This will replace my idea of purchasing a digital camera, as the phone can do double duty.

As Becky has asked for, following is a brief weather and food update for Becky's sake. . .

Last Saturday was one of those lovely days - chilly but sunny. I spent the morning doing my shopping at the commissary, getting things to populate my cupboards. Then it was home to dump off groceries, then off to the centre for a hair cut and color. I took the bus as the traffic was incredible earlier that morning. After my hair appoitnment I wandered into the center to meet up with Simone and Michelle, and we did a little shopping (I bought a suit jacket 50% off!) and then to the move 'Pursuit of Happyness' at the Metropolitan movie theatre.

After dinner we wandered over to Gusto - a very upscale eatery with amazing food in cool surroundings. The dinner was simple but very very yummy. I chose the pasta a fagioli and ate a massive plate of spinach. Both were good, but Michelle's zuppa di ceci was amazing (wish I'd chosen that). Also michelle and Simone shared a big plate of cheese... some stinky and some not. As most of you know, I'm not much of a cheese fan, so I nibbled a bit but didn't consume a lot.

As we left the osteria someone noticed a beautiful frescoe on the side of a building in the distance, lit up in the dark, and I wished I'd had a camera to post that picture for you all.

The thing that is so hard to describe, for me, is the smell that Rome has a unique quality not found anywhere else.

My meeting just called, so I'm off.

Bye!