Blogs from Europe - page 12078

Sicily may as well be its own country. People here are Sicilian first and Italian second. They are fiercely proud of their culture, food and traditions. If you say to them that you love Sicily, thay arent the least surprised as they love it too. However, if you are after an experience that is unforgettable, head to Palermo, Sicily. **** Have you ever been in Italy in the summer months of June, July or August?? For those who have, including me, you will know that it is full of tourists. Places such as Florence, Rome, Venice and the Amalfi coast are just packed. Dont get me wrong, its impossible to not enjoy Italy, but there are a lot of people sharing the country with you!! Thats what great about Sicily. Yes, its still busier than ... read more

Well, luck tracked me down again. I caught the bus in front of the hotel, thinking it was heading for the Old train station where I'd have to take a shuttle to the New train station to catch a 10:20 train. I went real early and got two surprises: 1) the bus went to the New train station so I didn't have to shuttle to get there, and 2) my train was at 9:22--the agent at the station who sold me the ticket yesterday gave a ticket a different train than the one I asked for. Anyway, I had time for a coffee and pastry before catching the train. Luck also led me to a stroll across the 16th century aqueduct here. I followed the map to get a look at it, then I heard a ... read more

S odstupom par dni musim uznat, ze napriek akokolvek 'jedinecnym' zazitkom, som si uz stihla vybudovat k Plevenu isty citovy vztah. No vazne :-). Myslim, ze k tomu prispel hlavne: - Risov prichod (od ktoreho vlastne vsetok cas travim v praci a tak moznosti zazit dalsie BG prekvapenia sa minimalizovali) - Doniesla som si svoje vlastne uteraky, zehlicku a prestala som chodit na hotelove ranajky - takze som minimalizovala vsekty potencialne problematicke oblasti. No a co noveho? Yo, este pred odchodom na velku noc som mala unikatne prekvapko v hoteli. Tesila som sa na nenarocny oddych na izbe - sprchu a knizku v posteli, ale: - prestala tiect voda (do rana) - pokazilo sa jedno z dvoch svetiel v izbe, takze ani z citania nic nebolo - moj pokus dozvediet sa na recepcii co sa ... read more

Greetings friends, We awoke at 4am PST and headed for the airport. All filghts went smoothly, although the restaurant in JFK was pretty slow so we did not get our entire meal before we had to leave to catch the leg to Budapest. Once we landed, getting through immigration was a breeze, however, I misplaced my travel guide on the plane (so like me.) We waited in the airport a bit until the employees brought it out to me. A loooong taxi ride to the hotel and waiting while they prepared our room. We are now headed out to do the real fun things. More later!... read more

Tuesday we visited the Agencia Portuguesa para o Investimento (API), a government organization responsible for investment promotion, and ICEP Portugal, a government organization responsible for export promotion. Wednesday we visited Mota-Engil (a construction company), had lunch with MBA students from the University of Porto, and had two lectures at the university (acquisition strategies by Portuguese companies and inward & outward investment in Portugal). I was looking forward to getting a little bit of introduction on the Portuguese economy and initiatives since joining the EU (like we did in Dublin), but things here don't seem to be nearly as organized as in they are in Ireland. Portugal just doesn't quite seem to have their act together when it comes to advancing its economy and making itself competitive within the EU. Granted, they started out pretty low and ... read more