Foro Di Cesare

Following a meeting to the south of Rome, I set about organising another to discuss a particularly tricky project. The Italian culture is in many ways difficult to understand for us Northern Europeans. We enjoy great relationships on a personal level, but our approaches to working life differ greatly and it can often lead to frustration. I was informed that this second meeting would not be possible as the head of the business area was out of the office, his whereabouts unknown to his secretary. The associated project manager was known to be in the office, but did not answer his phone and he was not around when I called by. I did reach the third and final contact, but having been in the office for the morning, he was now at the hospital due to his father-in-law's ill-health. Voicemail doesn't seem to have made the leap to Italy, so that wasn't going to bear fruit either.

By early evening, I found myself at the hotel with a wifi network steadfastly refusing to allow a connection to the office servers. I had previously suggested to my colleague that a trip into Rome shouldn't be missed if the opportunity presented itself.

So, from Laurentina, we took the heavily graffiti covered Metro train to Termini where our 'suck it and see' walking tour of Rome began. A good number of the sights were assessible within a relatively short distance and with the sat nav app in walking mode, it was perfectly straightforward.

By the way, driving in Italy is a whole tale in itself and not for the hesitant driver. I put it down to them being frustrated chariot racers.