Week from Hell

I want to crawl in my bed and not come out for a week. After a very busy but pleasant two weeks (Copenhagen, Amsterdam, Athens, Madrid, then back to Amsterdam for only 18 hours), all hell broke loose in Rome and I nearly lost it. The taxi's were on strike, and it took a lot of time (and money) to get from A to B to C. At one point I threatened the hotel where the conference was that I would sleep in their lobby if they didn't give me a room (to no avail). I also threatened the conference organizers that I would get on a plane and fly home before giving my presentation unless they got me sorted out (which they did their best at). In the end I went for the only sure thing I could get, which was a room at the airport hotel with guaranteed shuttle service to and from the conference. Beds were too hard, but watching World Cup games in the bar was fun (especially Italy-Germany - the Italian crowd went nuts!).

My saving grace and calm in the storm for the whole thing was my colleague Nadra, who kept me sane and was an excellent travel companion for the second week in a row. She's going with me to Prague next week as well. It's a good thing I'm gay, or people would start to talk!

I have done enough trade shows to last me for a year, but at least I get a break until September and can just work. Will be nice to be at home for a while with Wilbert and the kitties. Just one more short trip to Prague on Monday, then I hope to stay put for the rest of the summer!

No additional restaurants of note to report. Rome's Airport Hilton is a comfortable, modern facility if you ever need to stay there, but like all airport hotels, you pay about a 25% premium. Nice business hotel, decent buffet, but get there before 22.00 and pay €30 instead of €37. A small bottle of Coke is around €5! Outrageous! In the Executive Lounge on the 5th floor, the exact same bottles are free!