Trip log - Rome - August 29-30

This is my second trip to Italy in the last 18 months. Although I do love the architecture and history that Rome has to offer, I haven't been a big fan of Southern Europe until recently. Eventually, everything grows on you - and it's Rome's turn now. Rizwan and I landed just before mid-night. From the moment I got on the Alitalia aircraft, I got flashbacks of Pakistan and India. The Italian demeanor, body language, facial expressions, usually aggressive tone is very reminiscent of the sub-continent culture. Perhaps it is the hot-blooded middle-eastern streak that is common between Southern Europe and the Middle East/Sub-Continent that results in such similarities.

Our taxi driver from the airport to the Marriott Hotel, Via Veneto, may as well have been a Grand Prix driver. Both Riz and I were quick to put on our seat belts. He was friendly and courteous, much like most of the Italians we have dealt with so far. And he was playing 80's tunes on the Radio - even played "It's just an Illusion" - the first album that I ever purchased. The Marriott - Flora on Via Veneto, is right next to the American Consulate. Here's the view from my room:


After checking in, we decided to walk to the Pizza Espania. To my surprise, at 1:00 am, the place was still hopping with people just hanging out, drinking and playing music.




We woke up early and headed to our meetings. After a grueling schedule, we raced to catch our flight at 5:00 pm back to Heathrow. I had enough time to grab Mikaeel a Ferrari bag and a I treated myself to a few shirts as well.

Trip log - London - August 27-29, 2007

Landed in London Monday morning August 27, 2007. Virgin Atlantic flight was fairly uneventful. The lines at Heathrow immigration were just out of control. Over 1.5 hours of waiting. Of all my travel in the Western World, this has to be the worst wait time ever. Nothing like immigration in Zurich or Boston - even Parague and Rome are quicker in immigration processing.

Monday was rest and recovery day. Caught up on emails and calls. Met with friends later that evening.

Tuesday was Reading Office review day - what a pathetic business decision. Past management had no idea on how to control costs and run an efficient and effective business. Well, that is rectified now. It is a simple cost-benefit analysis that my 9 year-old can understand, but somehow grown seemingly mature executives ignore or can't comprehend.



Wednesday, August 29, we reviewed our status with BT in London. It is always great to engage customers that have invested heavily in your technology. Providing direct, verifiable information is again a simple enough task, yet past management failed to deliver on such simple tasks. It's thrilling and humbling to meet customers that rely on your product for their core corporate strategy. It puts tremendous responsibility on products and companies that large enterprises have made such heavy bets on. It is this sense of responsibility that keeps one grounded in the most challenging of times.

Rizwan and I departed for Italy late that day on Alitalia. To Rizwan's shock, I chose to eat London style, Chicken Tikka Masala at Heathow. I did follow up with a half dozen Altoid chasers. Whether that helped or not, I will never find out. The passengers next to me didn't seem to frown or hold their noses.

Arrived in Rome, Italy at 11:30 pm