ahhh Pareeeee

Paris is fantastic experience readers...for those of you paying attention, I`m in France for work.

Very interesting experience thus far, and I`ve had the opportunity to talk with collegues from all over Europe about market conditions and how they are handling the current soft market, as we say in Insurance (meaning, lots of competition and well, discounts on rate.)

It has also opened my mind to the innovative side of insurance (what!!! innovation in Insurance! Surely you jest!!) I do not however, there are lots of new and exciting things going on in this industry! (Sorry about the exclamation points and grammar and spelling...this keyboard is funky)!

Allors, I am off to eat delicious food (and then maybe McDonalds...everything is light and fresh and NOT FILLING!)

Lunch time for Lydia

As we are slowly slowly approaching lunch here, I’ve decided that this weeks blog- will be a regional break down of eating in Italy- because, eating is 90% of the reason to move here of course.

1- Rome- Pasta based in eggs, good cheese & pancetta. Typical sauces include Carbonara (egg and cheese and pancetta – oh my!), Amatriciana (made with Guanciale- essentially- another type of bacon). They are also big on veal, which I enjoy immensely. For the more adventurous eaters- they are big on intestines in Rome as well. They are surprisingly delicious. Last night I was at a happy hour with my roommate who is from Viterbo- I was eating something and saying “hmmm, this is interesting.” Agnese turns to me and says “oh yes, I like nerves too.” Nerves??? Hmmmm.

2- Firenze- aka- Flo- When in Flo, it is appropriate to eat Pasta Fagioli (the word is FAGIOLI- I don’t care where your family came from- if you’re Italian-American and you say something that looks like Fajool- please correct this), and well, any beans for that matter- Funghi Porcini- Porcini Mushrooms which are delicious fried or incorporated into pasta. Additionally, there is the fantastic Florentine steak which, per regulation has to be able to “stand” on every side- which should give you an idea to how thick it is.

3- Naples- Closer to traditional Italian-American food, because the majority of Italian Americans are of southern origin. Worth of trying are Arancini (what we’d think of as rice balls) & Mozzarella di Bufala (made with Buffalo milk), although not right now because Naples is having some trouble with garbage at the moment.

4- Venice- A surprisingly interesting food area. Baccalà is big (salted cod) as well as Polenta, which is like mush that can be baked or caked, or other verbs as well.

5- Milan- Unfortunately the Milanese kitchen is a little, well, boring. Cotoletta is big- which is essentially just a cutlet (of veal). And of course- there is Risotto with saffron, which after getting really sick once on a train, I can’t really eat, although I do enjoy it. A typical Milanese dish that you don’t find all over the place is cassoeula, which I happen to love- however its also extremely heavy, because it is made with various pork parts (like tail, ribs, feet, ears) and green cabbage which is important as vegetables go.

That’s my brief summary on eating here- and unfortunately I still have 45 minutes until lunch….darn. Name some other cities- I’ll brainstorm dinner plans for you all!

I love the smell of Europe in the morning

Good morning experience readers.

Its just another manic Monday here at my desk and despite the fact that I have about 15 policy renewals to work on, I’m still mentally asleep. Not my fault though, it was an exhausting weekend.

This weekend, Milan had its sales. Essentially the entire city was up to 50% off, which brought millions of people into the city center in search of deals, despite the 100 (thousand) degree heat. I think my favorite deal was the department store giving out mini cans of Coke (coca light) at the entrance to pretty much every department. Diet Coke, being my personal kryptonite, was reason enough to run around this place for a good hour…like a fat kid at Costco. (but ohhhh do I love samples).

Anyway, I got some cool news the other day, which I’m uber- excited about. My company decided to send me on a 2 week training conference to Paris at the end of July. I obviously have to be in the office from 9 to 5 but 5 to midnight means time to enjoy myself too! I went to Paris for 3 days 4 years ago, so I’m really hoping to see some cool areas. Plus one of my old roommates from Rome lives there- so extra points for going around Paris with an actual French person.

Maybe I’ll eat some freedom fries and liberty toast. Just for fun.

Another summers day, has come and gone away- in Paris and Rome (and Milano)

Hello friendly readers! The post vacation tiredness has finally worn off in one of the worst experiences with jet lag that I have ever experienced in my life. I was going to work and trying to run my life normally- which is generally the best way to get over a long haul flight (try to keep to the local hours as much as possible)- but I was still falling asleep as soon as I got home from work around 8.

Anyway, two days into the return to the office, I got an excellent email. This email, which I repeat, was excellent, was an invite to attend my company’s 2 week Financial Lines University in Paris! It’s a great opportunity, because outside the obvious “awesome factor” being in Paris, you get to mingle with colleagues from all over the world as well as some pretty important heads in the European offices. I did something similar in New York about 3 years ago, which was interesting but overshadowed by the hour of commuting I had to do at the end of the day- and so while my colleagues were going out and getting to know each other- I was riding the Long Island Rail Road with 50 somethings.

In other news, there are some people studying abroad in Rome next semester I hear! Rome is what started my insanity for Italy so here are a few quasi-native suggestions:
DO take the number 8 tram up to the Gianicolense and have a pizza at C’era Una Volta- its fantastic.
DON’T EVER think it’s a good idea to eat in a restaurant IN the following Piazzas: Navona, Del Popolo, di Spagna. You can go a block away and eat beautiful beautiful food- but eating in the piazza means you’ll pay too much and it will NOT be good.
DO experiment with Roman dishes in Trastevere (which is the Roman’s Rome)- Carbonara, Amatriciana, Cacio e Pepe. For seconds- anything with veal- can’t go wrong!
DON’T look the Giordano Bruno statue in Campo dei Fiori in the eyes if still in school- local legend has it you will never graduate if you do!
DO go to the Drunken Ship- its an American institution
DON’T only go to the Drunken Ship- you’re in Rome- meet some Italians!
DO catch the sunset at Piazza Garibaldi- or the sunrise if you’re just getting home.
DO spend all night out when the Notte Bianca comes to town- and DON’T get frustrated by the crowds.
DO try to go for dinner in Ariccia and drink Romanello (spelling may be off)... and look for the singer who asks for a glass of wine instead of money...but first learn the words to the folk song La Società di Magnaccioni...

Alright folks- time to underwrite…

Any other Roman suggestions???