Going offshore

The End

2010-01-11T01:07:00.010+01:00

Probably most of you already know that we're offshore, so we moved back to Cluj/Kolozsvar/Clausenburg.
This means the end of this blog and after more then three months since I left it, a good bye from Italy.
I've spent a wonderful period of five months in this country, meeting a lot of nice people and seeing a lot of nice places. It was one of my longest and nicest "holidays" and I'm sure next summer when there will be more then 30 degrees Celsius in Cluj I will miss going to refresh myself in the Sea!

We're working on the new projects in Cluj, most of us survived the transition period we also have new guys who joined this Super team ;-). Thank you guys for the hard work you've done and thanks in advance for the hard work you will do to keep these projects alive in Cluj and further develop them!

In the future if there will be anything worth mentioning you'll find here if you're interested.

Arrivederci Italia

She "stole" my heart...

2010-01-07T22:13:00.004+01:00

... and I don't really want it back ... maybe she will want to take care of it ;-)

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

2009-12-23T14:55:00.001+01:00

I'm out of office in 5 minutes! :-)

Genova is suffering ...

2009-09-07T01:15:00.003+02:00

... I hope it doesn't get worse!

Me the driver ...

2009-08-05T21:06:00.003+02:00

Incredibil! Faci parte din specia rara de soferi care chiar stiu ce trebuie sa faca la volan. Nu iti asumi in general riscuri pe care nu le poti duce (tu sau masina), si desi esti preponderent precaut stii totusi cand trebuie sa apesi pe pedala de acceleratie.

Iei deciziile rapid si bine gandit, chiar daca unele erori de judecata s-au lasat cu mici botiri ale masinii. Stii sa te strecori prin traficul urban aglomerat, fara insa a jena pe ceilalti pasageri in trafic.

Ai respect fata de ceilalti, tot atat cat vrei ca si ei sa te respecte pe tine. Totusi, uneori iti dai drumul la adevarate torente de injuraturi si te exaspereaza nesimtitii si habarnistii din trafic.

Tu vei ajunge de multe ori mai rapid la destinatie, desi ai un ochi atintit si asupra consumului. Iar la drum lung esti cel mai bun soferi din cati exista, pentru ca stii cum sa faci din calatorie o experienta placuta si relaxanta, fara insa ca pasagerii sa adoarma de plictiseala. Nu mergi excesiv de tare, nu ajungi intotdeauna primul la destinatie, insa iti place sa o calci in zonele unde stii ca nu iti asumi riscuri inutile facand asta.

Atunci cand faci prostii in trafic iti dai seama imediat, si chiar daca ai o strangere de inima cand incalci legea stii ca uneori trebuie sa 'mergi cu traficul' si sa faci ca ceilalti. Totusi, ai vrea ca si ceilalti sa respecte legea intr-o masura mai mare, cel putin tot atat cat o respecti tu.

Au fost situatii in care ai mers 'ca nebunul' dar acestea nu te definesc catusi de putin. Pentru tine sofatul este o placere, dar nu uiti latura utilitara a acestei ocupatii. Ai fi un excelent sofer de drive-teste. Nu vrei un job?

Try yourself :-)!

29

2009-07-29T01:18:00.002+02:00

It is the tenth prime number

It is the sum of three consecutive squares, 2*2 + 3*3 + 4*4

The number of days February has in leap years

And it is my age since 27th of July

... and life goes on ;-)

(thanks wikipedia)

Holiday!?

2009-07-05T02:06:00.002+02:00

Yesterday we finally tried to discover the night life of Genova. It was my first attempt so let's not jump to conclusions, but so far, especially compared to Amsterdam the night life of Genova is poor.

Today I slept a lot so after I went to buy some stuff we went to a bath in the sea. After the bath we stopped at Senhor Do Bonfim which is a terrace where live music is played quite often.

Sitting there and thinking about our weekend I remembered that yesterday we met our Italian teacher who asked us where we will spend our Holiday.
Since usually I go to sea in Holiday I think Genova is quite good for spending a Holiday. Probably I wont take any Holiday just spend the weekends near and in the sea.

The title of the blog is really true for my situation ... "...work where others go on holiday"

...Amsterdam will be continued, I'm just too lazy to sit in front of the computer lately

The road to Amsterdam

2009-06-30T22:50:00.003+02:00

On the 24th of June is the holiday of the patron saint of Genoa San Giovanni Battista.
On this day theoretically nobody works in Genoa but as I've learned some parts of the city have other patron saints and on those parts it may happen that this holiday is on another day. If you're not lucky (or maybe you are ;-) ) it may happen that for you this day is a holiday but for your wife it isn't.

The company where we work now, is trying to do some cost cutting so since this day is free they forced their employees to take 25 and 26 off also and closed the company on this period. For us this means that we can not work so we searched for a cheap flight and went to Amsterdam.

Genoa is a big city but it is not really frequented by low cost airlines so this is what it means a cheap flight to Amsterdam:

You wake up at 4:45 and go to take the bus to the train station. There you have the pleasant surprise that the ticket machines which are supposed to make your life easier do not accept cash at this early hours and none of your credit cards is suitable for them so you have to wait while the ticket office opens.

Probably not all of you are familiar with the TV Show IT Crowd but there is a part in that show that really matches the behavior of the lady from the ticket office. Check it out to understand what I mean ... especially the first part.

OK! You have the tickets jump on the train to Milano and arrive to Milano Centrale. From there you have to take the shuttle bus to Orio al Serio airport, the base of low cost flights form Milano, which actually is a lot closer to Bergamo.
Another interesting thing is that to save money you have the possibility to make an online check-in but this doesn't mean that if you have a baggage to check in you do not have to stay in the check in line.
Finally up on the cheap plane (you see the irony in it? :) ) from where the view is fantastic as you cross the Alps.

After a smooth flight which took one and a half hour we landed in Eindhoven (still not Amsterdam). As in the joke with the old lady we weren't sure if we landed or were shut down. It was the worst landing I ever had in my life until now and although my colleague told that there was some wind during landing I really do not remember feeling it when we got off the plane.

Eindhoven.
After passing through this city twice, once when we arrived and once when we came back, it really made me curios. Your feeling at the airport, waiting some spaceship called bus over there, the luxury cars with blue plates (these are the cabs) and the buildings and streets you see on your way to the train station, is that you're on another planet. The people form Amsterdam are saying that it is not too much to visit in Eindhoven beside the city center but for me it seems that for sure worth living there. Philips has its headquarter in Eindhoven and they say that Philips made Eindhoven a big, modern, clean city since in the old times it was a small dusty town. I have to check this ... you can check the pictures.

At the train station hundreds of bikes are waiting their owner to ride them home, which gives you the feeling, which later becomes a fact that Netherlands is the country of bikes.

Buying a train ticket in Eindhoven from the ticket machines is also an adventure since those are not accepting cash by default and beside Maestro cards nothing else is good for them.
The positive thing is that in contrary to Italy where at a train station you can find very few peoples speaking English, you will learn in Netherlands, that most of the people speak English and are very helpful, so finding the ticket office and buying the tickets there is not a big issue.
Trains are going at almost every 10 minutes from Eindhoven to Amsterdam and after an hour you finally arrive in Amsterdam after more then 12 hours of travelling.

But is cheap ;-)

Confuse them ... SMILE

2009-06-29T01:31:00.004+02:00

This worths 16 minutes and 23 seconds ...
A smiley Monday to all of us!

Via Mordechai

I amsterdam

2009-06-29T00:43:00.003+02:00

I was to lazy lately to update my blog and there was nothing interesting to write about.
Now this will change. From 24th of June until today

So check back if interested ... there's a lot to say about this city and also about The Hague and Eindhoven.

A windy weekday afternoon

2009-06-20T01:48:00.003+02:00

I guess that's something you may do if you finish your work in time

Unirea Urziceni

2009-06-11T01:58:00.002+02:00

I'm speechless! Congratulations!

Azzurro

2009-06-09T03:01:00.002+02:00

Probably one of the best Italian songs and for sure one of the best Italian singers. Enjoy it :-)!

then

now

and performed by Squadra Azzura

Back in Genova

2009-06-09T01:12:00.003+02:00

I'm back after a too long travel with car, air plain, bus, train and bus again.
This should not be so complicated, I just couldn't find yet an easier way ...

The city is the same, the sea has bigger waves so no swimming today, I came to a new apartment which is ... different from the other one, my work at the company did not solve itself while I was away ... soooo no boredom here

What's up with you?

The view from Genova airport on the morning I went home

Graduation

2009-06-09T00:45:00.007+02:00

My 10 years younger brother alias "The Kid", graduated from high school so it was a good time for a family reunion.

The funny thing was that we were confounded by three persons that came to me to congratulate for my graduation.

I mean these two guys ...

I'm forever young :-)!

Anyway it was nice to see "La famiglia" together!

Good luck for the Baccalaureate Kid and the rest of you, please do not forget to keep your fingers crossed for him from the 22nd of June!

Should I laugh or cry ...

2009-06-09T00:31:00.005+02:00

Abba - Should I Laugh Or Cry
Vezi mai multe video din Muzica »

... looking the result of the European Parliament election from Romania?

It seems that you did not use the right you have or you have a strange sense of humor

You have the right ...

2009-06-04T07:00:00.003+02:00

@Home ...

2009-06-01T00:39:00.003+02:00

... life is busy too.

I arrived at the end of the yearly pilgrimage from Csiksomlyo

I just unpacked my things and went to the opening party of the Transylvania Top Ten portal organised by my friends from Living Transylvania Association.

Although it was raining and were only 4-5 degrees Celsius the party was just as usual ... awesome.

Tonight I was in Szekelyudvarhely at The Palomita Show concert

The week just started

I'll take a brake

2009-05-30T18:42:00.003+02:00

I arrived home to Miercurea-Csikszereda :-) ...

Hot days

2009-05-28T23:18:00.003+02:00

The last few days were unusually hot in Genova even for the genovese people as they told us. This is made unsupportable also by the high humidity of the air.

A solution to avoid the problem is to stay and work in the office with the air conditioning on.

The better one is what we did today after work.

We went here

And did this

I really don't blame you if you envy us, right know, as mitigating circumstances I would add that it was after 19:00 ;-)

Focaccia alla Recco

2009-05-28T22:55:00.003+02:00

After you swim all the day in the sea you'll get hungry for sure.

The best thing that can happen to you is that you run into some food festival where it seems that the food is free for everyone. It was the case at the fish festival in Camogli, this Sunday was the Focaccia festival in Recco.

Recco is another small city next to Genova. The city itself is nice and clean but for me it seems that it doesn't have the beauty of the small villages around Genova. The cause is that is a relatively new city since unfortunately it was bombed to the ground at the end of WWII.
What I just found out about the city, but if you're a Hungarian water polo fan you may already know, is that Recco has a very good water polo team where right now three important Hungarian water polo players are playing. I hope I'll have the opportunity to go to one of their game.

The other good thing is their Focaccia.

What is Focaccia after all?

It is a very popular food in Genova and in the surroundings. Besides Pesto it is considered also as a traditional genovese food. Is usually seasoned with olive oil and sometimes herbs, and may be topped with onion, cheese and meat, or flavored with a number of vegetables.

You can buy it at

The traditional one looks like this

The one in Recco which was served for free at the Focaccerias around the city on Sunday is made with cheese so it became my favorite and looks like this (unfortunately I do not know how to attach the taste of it, but come here and taste it! :-))) )

A day in the sea

2009-05-28T22:46:00.002+02:00

On Sunday for the first time this year we went to the beach and entered the sea. This happened in Camogli where is a very nice beach.

The summer just started

A day on the sea

2009-05-28T02:04:00.006+02:00

Saturday was a day on the sea.
We went to a boat trip nicknamed "Dolphin watch" to see dolphins.

Guided by one of the symbols of Genova, "La Lanterna"

We saw a lot of different type of boats

Beautiful landscape

And Portofino called "Monte Carlo" of Liguria

Dolphins? Hmmmm ... bad luck, they weren't at home although our crew tried hardly to find them

Maybe next time ... until then check my post about the Aquarium, you may find some dolphins there

Italy from the inside

2009-05-27T09:52:00.002+02:00

Last night wondering around youtube I ran into this video

and from the video into this blog

http://www.italyfromtheinside.com/

It's lot of fun :-), they surely deserve a place in my blog list!

Que Sera Sera

2009-05-27T02:10:00.004+02:00

There are a lot of questions that have no precise answers in our life. The most recent one in mine is "How long are you staying there?", "Is it true that you come home on 1st of October?".

Here is the answer to everyone :-)

Que sera sera is not in Italian ... before somebody would think of that

see more, do more, be more

2009-05-24T01:25:00.001+02:00

Do not forget that ...

2009-05-22T23:28:00.002+02:00

... The picture is from Camogli taken by Laczeee

Weekends in Genova la Superba

2009-05-22T22:50:00.006+02:00

Genova is called la Superba due to its glorious past but it has the bad luck to be in the same country with Venezia, Rome, Firenze so it is not frequented by many tourists who choose Italy as Holiday destination. Still if you come to visit it, you'll have what to see and you can't get bored.

Here's what we did in the last two weekends.

We went out to the small port of Nervi to see the fireworks from Camogli

The next day we went to the Fish Festival from Camogli a small village next to Genova.

Back in the city we saw the largest passenger ship ever constructed for a European shipowner, MSC Fantasia leaving the port of Genoa and we dreamed about being on it (It will happen once, I know! ;-) )

Visited the second largest Aquarium in Europe which by the way is (you would have never guessed :-) ) in Genova.

And finally we didn't missed the opportunity offered by the Museums Night to visit Via Garibaldi (Strada Nuova) part of the UNESCO World Heritage and its amazing palaces (Rosso, Bianco and Doria Tursi) with their impressive architecture, beautiful gardens and huge collection of art made by paintings, sculptures, clothes and Niccolo Paginin's violins (he was also born in Genova).

Busy weekends ... and the third just started, so enjoy yours and we will try to do the same here.

Buon Weekend a tutti!

Places like this do exist

2009-05-22T21:26:00.005+02:00

It wasn't a dream, it was real! Unplanned, short but we were there and we saw it. I hope I'll be back there once in the near future. Capri Island.

We wanted to stay in Napoli only until Sunday morning, but we didn't found sitting tickets for the train back to Genova so we decided to wait for the night train maybe it is easier to get tickets for that (it wasn't but that is another story).
So we had a full day and no plan for it.

From the name of the Hostel and from an earlier discussion with a friend about the summer Holiday I realized that Capri Island must be close somewhere. And it is just 40 minutes away with a boat so on Sunday morning we bought the tickets and we were one our way to it.

We found a very beautiful place, nothing was ugly on that Island! Beside the fact that one of my colleagues took a bath during the exit from Grota Azzura everything was perfect!
The history of the Island says that " In 27, Tiberius permanently moved to Capri, running the Empire from there until his death in 37". I really can understand him, and agree with his choice.

Check out the pictures and put this Island on your Bucket List if you have one!

They're right

From Capri

Who are you?

2009-05-19T20:54:00.003+02:00

I'm just curious, who reads my blog from Denmark and Argentina? Of course if this is not a secret ...

Anyway you're welcomed :-)

Let's go home

2009-05-19T20:42:00.002+02:00

It is time to finish work for today, but because I had Italian lesson today I just remembered my previous post related to it.

The comments are already accepted so you can check them (I'm really sad that only four people are reading my blog, but if this is not true you still have the opportunity to add the things what you think of, when you're thinking about Italy).

At that Italian lesson we had:
Sophia Loren, Venezia, La Squadra Azzura, Leonardo da Vinci, FIAT, pizza, capuccino, Federica Pellegrini (can you tell who she is without checking on Google? :))) ), Vespa (Krisztian knows why), Dante Alighieri, Luciano Pavarotti, Ferrari, Fabio Cannavaro, Frederico Fellini and one bad thing, The Maffia

Options for a weekend in Genova

2009-05-16T03:06:00.002+02:00

Museums night

Concerts

Extreme sports

... what would you choose?

Vesuvio

2009-05-16T02:16:00.002+02:00

Impressive, but hey ... there was no lava (probably the habitants of Napoli and surroundings don't mind it that much :-)))

Actually it wasn't the lava that killed the people from Pompei but the hot gases and ashes that were thrown over the city.

My camera can not catch the feeling of looking into a crater... I hope my professional photographer colleague will finish to edit his photos soon and then I'll be able to show you high quality pics about it.

Until then enjoy these:

Explanation

2009-05-16T02:00:00.002+02:00

... of the long pauses between posts.
First I reinstalled my notebook, now I'm a tester of Windows 7 RC1.
The other thing is that we really have a lot of work to do and I do not know about the others, but when I arrive home during the week I feel no need to continue to sit in front of the PC.
And the last but most annoying thing is the collection of Italian mobile internet options which are really bad and unstable (until now I've tested TIM and WIND) or expensive (Vodafone)

She wants to be a star

2009-05-16T01:54:00.002+02:00

... at least this was our feeling, so let's help her :-). The picture was taken in the place which once was the courtroom of Pompei

From Pompei

Back in time ... Pompei

2009-05-16T01:22:00.005+02:00

Let's go back in time two weeks. That is when on the second day in Napoli we went back in time 1930 years and visited Pompei.

Since we were short on time we took a guided tour of Pompei and Vesuvio so as we found out later we saw only let's say half of Pompei, but our guide Andreea and his explanations about the history and culture of Pompei and the Roman Empire worth it.

Since then I'm still wondering how it is possible that we needed 1930 years to reinvent some easy straightforward simple things used by the Romans at that time and ignore others that we are aware of?
When you're listening to the explanations of why things were done the way they were done you imagine that the Romans were geniuses but no, they weren't ... they simply used the knowledge they aquired from other civilizations conquered by them.

Pompei is a sad story for those who lived there on the day when the Vesuvio erupted but it should be an example for us. Unfortunately as we experienced it is not, not even for those living around it.

All of these photos have a story, I hope I'll remember it and I'll be able to tell it to everyone interested, but if you're near Napoli do not miss Pompei and if you're lucky maybe you'll meet Andrea (the guy in red shirt) who can tell the story much better then me.

Italian and Italy

2009-05-11T00:57:00.002+02:00

On Friday I also had my first Italian class. It was short but interesting and it gave me an idea to test if there is anybody reading this blog or I'm just doing it for my own entertainment (it would be sad so HELP :-)!).

Here is the idea:
Tell me (at the comments) what are the things that you think about when you hear about Italy ... positives and negatives may come...

The comments appear only after I accept them, but I do not want you to influence each other so I'll accept them only after one week.

Cooking

2009-05-11T00:48:00.001+02:00

On Friday night after work we had the Team Cooking event. It was a great way to end this week!
Afterall it seems that if we have a good Chef, (our Boss from Germany in this case) we have an alternative future.

Here are the results :-) ... Enjoy! :-)

The Beer tasting

2009-05-08T01:49:00.004+02:00

The Beers

From Collages

The Results

From 07.05.2009_BeerTasting

... and tommorow night is the team cooking night ...

...

2009-05-06T01:53:00.003+02:00

Our boss from Germany arrived

From Beer

It seems the team has some Franken beer to taste one of these evenings ;-)

Napoli - The taste of real life

2009-05-06T01:44:00.001+02:00

The bright side of Napoli

2009-05-06T01:39:00.004+02:00

Napoli

2009-05-06T01:30:00.001+02:00

Benvenuti a Napoli!

2009-05-06T01:14:00.003+02:00

We arrived to Naples at ~23:00 and since the hostel was only at ~15 minutes from the train station we decided to walk to it and get a first impression of the city.

After the quite (this is my first impression of Genoa but the colleagues agreed with it and they have more experience with it) North Italy this is really the noisy south even at this late hour.

We knew about Naples that they had really big problems with the trash and the first thing we saw was the trash from the streets, so it seems that at least in some parts they still have this problems. We even saw a small trash collector car driving with big speed dispersing the trash that was on it.

On the other side the first peoples we had contact with were really friendly. They saw our backpacks but still they stopped to ask us where is a street in Naples. We told them that we are for the first time there so one of the girls shouted really loud: Benvenuti a Napoli!

The hostel was really nice so after we found our places and took a shower we went to our well deserved sleep.

We spent the next day visiting Naples but right now I'm going to sleep and let you see some pictures from Naples and let you hope that I'll have the power to tell you more about our adventures in Naples, Pompeii, Vesuvius and our guest star that wasn't planned still we managed to visit Capri Island.

Traveling to Napoli

2009-05-06T00:16:00.004+02:00

It was so much for three days (plus almost two spent on the road), that I really don't know where and how to start but I have to ... so let the show begin

We wanted to leave Genoa on 30th of April at ~13:00 with an Intercity. One of my colleagues arrived early to the train station so he tried to buy our tickets, but surprise ... there were no more tickets for that train, only standing tickets but also only for 1st class. He checked the next train, which was two hours later and he had better results, only standing tickets but cheaper for 2nd class.
This wouldn't have been a real problem if it would have been a 2-3 hours trip but Genoa-Naples is 7.5 hours!
We really wanted to go and we really had no better choice.
After two hours spent in a park near Genoa Brignole station finally we were up on the train.

When I'm in a country where I do not understand the language and I have to travel I usually buy Financial Times to read on the road.

So we were on the train with no place to sit because the train was really full. We put my backpack down on the flour we sat together with another colleague on it, split the Financial Times and started to read ... this seemed really amusing for the lady sitting in front of us but probably by this we won her sympathy, since at the next stop she told us that she saw some free places. We couldn't enjoy them too long because the owners of the places arrived so we were on the other side of the train repeating the same story.
Until Rome (~5 hours) we traveled almost everywhere on the train, even on the place where the bags are stored together with a small kid that had no other place to sleep.

From Rome we had a lot places so exhausted I slept the rest of the road until Naples.

This works

2009-04-30T03:15:00.002+02:00

Having a nice sound. I just found the key to make it work ... it is so nice to listen :-)

Under the Tuscan Sun

2009-04-30T02:23:00.003+02:00

It is a nice movie ...

Quotation that seems true here:

"Frances: Do traffic lights mean anything around here?
Marcello: Sure. Green light - avanti, avanti. Yellow light - decoration.
Frances: What about red light?
Marcello: Just a suggestion."

Long week-end ahead

2009-04-29T23:15:00.002+02:00

Labour day is coming so why should we work? ;-)

It's not that we do not work on 1st of May, but we will not work on 30th of April and 4th of May neither. That's what I call real Labour day.

Instead with three other colleagues we will visit Naples (Napoli), what's left of Pompeii and the responsible of Pompeii's destruction the Vesuvius volcano.

I'll keep you posted if I'll have net access ... until then, a happy Labour day to all of you!

Must be good ...

2009-04-28T22:57:00.003+02:00

... based on the name ;-). Let's see!

Cin-cin!

The news

2009-04-28T15:48:00.002+02:00

I have internet access at the company!

Offside

2009-04-28T02:12:00.003+02:00

From Mordechai

Would you like to taste it?

2009-04-26T01:05:00.000+02:00

You can find it in a "Gelateria" close to Porto Antico ...

April 25

2009-04-25T23:56:00.000+02:00

Monte Carlo and Azure Coast was delayed. It happens, but probably we still have time to go there.

Nevertheless we had a busy day. It is my first week-end here so the first and most important thing was to get an affordable internet connection for myself. With help from my colleagues this is solved and now I'm using it :-)

On my way to meet with my colleagues I saw that the buses had the Italian flag on them. When we arrived to center in the bus station was a message that also one of the main streets of Genoa (Via XX Settembre) was closed for a while so we realized that probably today is a National Holiday in Italy. This is what I found on Wikipedia about it:

"1945 - The Nazi occupation army leaves Northern Italy after a general partisan insurrection by the Italian resistance movement. This day is taken as symbolic of the Liberation of Italy.

On April 19, 1945, concurrent with the renewal of the Allied offensive, the CLN called out a general insurrection. Bologna was liberated on April 21 by Polish and Brigata Maiella troops. Parma and Reggio Emilia were liberated on April 24. Milan and Turin were liberated on April 25. The last German troops left Genoa on April 26, when General Meinhold surrendered to the CLN.
Allied troops arrived in the liberated cities in the next days."

After we managed to find the right internet solution for me for the period I'll stay here we planned to walk around the city, but driven by a sudden idea we went to visit Galata, Museo del Mare.

Exhausted we still made a walk in Porto Antico

and the small mews that surround it,

made some pictures in Piazza Di Ferrari which is considered the center of the city.

We payed a visit to Christophoro Columbo

who based on some theory

lived here.

And after an expensive stop at a library we finally went home to rest so this what I'm going to do now ...

But first I'll watch how Hungary was close to make the surprise at the ice hockey world championship in Switzerland ... Well done! I hope they'll manage to achieve they goal and stay in the A group, they really deserve it!!!

How is it?

2009-04-23T02:04:00.000+02:00

A question that I got often from my relatives and friends.

It is different ... of course it is :-).
So far it is generally good, anything else is just a challenge that has to be solved. After all this is why we're here.

Sometimes seems annoying, but on the first day my boss taught me two lessons and when I remember them, I just realize it is not really annoying, it is just the way it is.
What is really important is that we are not here to change anything.

The two lessons:
1.) Keep it cool, be relaxed
2.) In a meeting our colleagues from here are always right

I still have no internet access at the company but this is no news anymore, I'll let you know when I have it, that will be the news.

So far the team is excellent, there is a really good atmosphere, everybody is willing to learn and is interested in the new project. I have to add that the subject of the project is also new and interesting for us.

Tonight we had a team event where everyone seemed to have a good time. There were a lot of discussions on a lot of different topics using five languages (mostly english but also german, italian and of course romanian and hungarian). As food we had very big fish plates so I learned how to eat different fish types but especially crabs. The cool white wine was also an excellent drink for this dinner.

As for the rest of the week ... work ... with more work, but some of the guys started to plan the weekend in Monte Carlo and Azur Coast so probably I'll join them, sounds like fun.

Riddle

2009-04-21T23:58:00.000+02:00

This is what I see at night from the window of my bathroom. I know it is a hard question, but before you get to the next post (maybe it isn't posted yet ;-) ) guess what it is?
I was really sleepy when I first saw it. I actually thought it is an UFO :-). It is not ... I hope this helps ;-)

First 24 hours in Genoa

2009-04-21T23:45:00.000+02:00

You wake up at 7 and it is heavily raining … you check your clothes, dress, than Surprise, the Sun is shining … ooooooooo … we're at the sea! This is normal … ;-)

First day was a really tough day at work, but at the end of the day the guys have a brilliant idea. They'll show me a nice place and maybe we can have some beers.

First I go home to take a shower and change (my clothes, at this age anything else is difficult).

This was the view from my apartment

My first fully Italian conversation:
Me: Un biglietto
Bus driver: (Bored he gives me a ticket and says nothing)
Me: Grazie! :-)
Same answer ...

I met with the guys in the center of the city (Piazza Di Ferrari). They know there a place, where if you drink anything (even a glass of water) you have the "appetizer" included. This means that you can eat as much as you want from the exposed food (french fries, pizza, rice with all kind of stuff, shellfish, some type of meats, … other unidentified foods). Fair business … for us … I'm not sure it is the same for the owner, but maybe I shouldn't feel bad for him/her ;-)

On my way home I learned the route of another bus, which stops closer to my home.
Full day! Going to sleep ...

Genoa – probably part 1

2009-04-21T23:33:00.000+02:00

The flat

2009-04-21T23:25:00.000+02:00

Can't tell you much about it. It is really nice, come here and check! I may not stay too long in it so hurry ;-)! One of my colleagues who lived here showed me around. It is nice for one person and now I live alone in it, so … and it is at 15 minutes of walking from the company.

This is what you can see from my balcony on a rainy day

The sea

and the mountain

I think it's ok ;-)!

Traveling

2009-04-21T23:12:00.000+02:00

4 hours to Bucharest.

1 hour of waiting till check-in.

Check-in:
Lady: Are you going to Genova?
Me: Yes (Daaaaaa … it's on the ticket!)
Lady: Are you a sailor?
Me: (WTF???) No :-))) (---for those who doesn't know this, Genoa is the biggest port in Italy from some points of view---)
Lady: You know that Alitalia has a 20kg limit for the luggage and you exceeded this limit…
Me: (Yes, I hoped that I can keep up my suitcase, but the balance was too far to do that)
Lady: ...but now Alitalia gives you 5 kg as a gift, but still you have 1 kg in plus, be more careful next time!
Me: OK, Thanks (Thank God:-))) Hopefully I'll not have to move all the time to Genoa with Alitalia ;-), am I right Boss? )

1.5 hours of further waiting …

Smooth flight to Rome

Rome Airport (8:35, Sunday):
I had to wait 2 hours till the flight to Genoa so I thought it is the right time to buy a prepaid phone card from any Italian operator to be able to call home cheaper.
Bad idea …
TIM:
The first mobile operator that you can see if you're just wondering around Rome airport as a traveler.
Me: Hello, do you speak english?
Lady: (with strong accent) a little bit
Me: I would like to buy a prepaid card
Lady: We're out … try Vodafone on the next floor
Me: (WTF? Nice advertisement) Thank you!

Vodafone:
on the next floor
Me: Hello, do you speak english?
Lady: (with strong accent) a little bit (maybe she is the same from TIM :-)))) )
Me: I would like to buy a prepaid card
Lady: Ok, just the network is busy, we can not activate it.
Me: Can I activate it?
Lady: No I can not activate it because the network is busy.
Me: Ok, can I (pointing to myself) activate it later???
Lady: No, I need a computer.
Me: Ok, Thank you! (as a colleague would say citing Borat: Great success! In the middle of EU, I would add …)

So I spent the other 1.5 half an waiting for the plane … which also had a 40 minutes delay because of the operators from Rome airport (at least this is what the pilot said), but finally we took off and after 45 minutes we were safe in Genoa.

I've heard from other peoples flying to Genoa that if you sit on the right side of the plane you get a nice view of the city … checked … it is right! … you should definitely sit in the right side if you come with a plain, it is a wonderful view.

First impression form the cab. It is a very beautiful and long city between some hills and the sea.

Benvenuto in Italia!

Internet access

2009-04-21T23:03:00.000+02:00

Hey! I haven't been online for more than 48 hours :-))) … can you believe that I'm working for a software development company, since Monday I work in Italy and I really had a two really tough days ... with no Internet access? ;-)
No? Why not? Ok, I understand you, but this is how things are going around here ;-) … get used with it, I'm trying too...

For now I just tried to connect with my prepaid phone card (see the story later) and it is working. I have no idea how much it will cost, so let's test :-)

Bungiorno Italia :-)!

I'm going offshore

2009-04-18T23:37:00.000+02:00

It's 00:42 and I'm in a car outside Brasov.

What am I doing here on the night of Orthodox Easter?
I'm going to Genova via Bucharest-Otopeni and Rome.

Why?
Because of my job. I'll work in Genova for the next half year.

This should be interesting (living and working in Italy) and maybe I'll want to share it with the world. This is the blog for.

Soon I'll fall asleep since I'm not driving, but if anything interesting happens I'll let you know.

Good night, have sweet dreams :-)!

... who am I?
My name is Victor and I work for a software development company in Romania, the rest you'll find out or you already know anyway ;-)