PORDENONE

26/07/08 Pordenone was founded in the High Middle Ages as a river port on the Noncello, with the name Portus Naonis. To be precise, the name comes from the Latin "Portus Naonis" meaning the port on the river Noncello (Latin Naon).
It is a cosy nice town with a nice historical centre, narrow little streets and very lively. It is an early morning but the coffee shops and bars are full of people. It goes without saying that I and my friends have to take a break and pamper ourselves with a cup of coffee and chocolate dessert which is the speciality of Pordenone:-)The dessert is even more tasty because I am in a very good company!After this we have to go on sightseeing...
To sum up, the sightseeing and shopping was great but the lunch was superb:-)Finally, I want to thank Stefania and her family for a warm and hospitable welcome in her town and a meaningful time spent there!

SISTIANA AND GRADO

19/07/08 Saturday. A beautiful sunny morning (nothing new to your ears, I guess:-)Today, instead of going to Sistiana, I decided to go to Grado. Grado is situated in the region of Friuli Venezia Giulia between Trieste and Venice, both easily reachable as other interesting cultural itineraries.
Grado stretches out the southern part of Gorizia Province, on an island between Grado Lagoon and the Adriatic Sea. In fact, there the Adriatic Sea floor is particularly flat and sandy. Grado is also called "the Island of the Sun". The main beach of Grado is considered one of the best-equipped in the region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, winning awards year after year. It offers a wide choice of sports, games, organized tournaments and entertainment, including water-skiing, wind-surfing, beach-volleyball, and beach-soccer.

The historic centre of Grado is very cosy with its restaurants, bars, taverns and green decorative plants. A nice island ...but I prefer the sea and the beach in Sistiana. The bay of Sistiana, to my mind, is more beautiful, the water is transparent and the landscape is really spectacular. Diving in the sea you can see sea horses and oher sea creatures. If you rent a rubber dinghy or a canoe you can sail along a rocky coastline and enjoy impressive views. The coastline is definitely worth seeing.
It depends on your taste! I have to admit that people living in Gorizia are lucky ones, because they can choose both holiday places due to favorable geographical position. One weekend in Grado, another one in Sistiana...

UDINE

16/07/08 I don't want to repeat myself saying that the whole Italy is very beautiful. Wherever you go, you find something precious...Today I decided to visit Udine, the town that is in the middle of the Friuli Venezia Giulia region, in a geographically privileged position, surrounded by hills, near both the sea and the mountains and not far from Austria and Slovenia. Beautiful, really beautiful town...lively, full of colours and smells. It is impossible to express the atmosphere of this town in a written form. So, let's enjoy it!

ASSEMBLY OF PARTNERS

30/07/08 Today we had the event so called the ASSEMBLY of PARTNERS that took place in the main office of MINERVA. During this event the results and achievements of Minerva were presented and social and ethics balance sheet was approved. The presentation of the president was very interesting and detailed. It is pleasant to know that Minerva is improving every year due to investment in innovation and full responsability in all levels of the sectors. After the presentation, despite a strong rain shower outside, we managed to enjoy the barbecue... People were relaxed, in a good mood and open to communication. After eating well, we could taste a typical Italian liqueur called LIMONCELLO. It is a lemon liqueur produced in Southern Italy, mainly in the region around the Gulf of Naples, the Sorrentine Peninsula and the coast of Amalfi and islands of Procida, Ischia and Capri, but also in Sicily, Sardinia, Trentino, Veneto. It is made from lemon rinds, alcohol, water, and sugar. One employee while joking said that LIMONCELLO was fresh, pure water coming from the mountains:-) What is the effect of this magic water? Try it and then you will tell me!!! :-)
To sum up, the event was informative and entertaining!

MIRAMARE

29/06/08 Have you ever had a sensation living in a fairy tale? MIRAMARE castle seems like a castle from a fairy tale. This eclectic edifice was built between 1856 and 1860 according to the wishes of Archduke Maximilian of Habsburg. It is surrounded by the extensive park (22 hectares) that is located on the seashore and was designed by the Archduke. The cliff it was built on at that time did not have any vegetation and because of that it was cultivated with numerous tropical species of trees and plants. If you want to relax, there is a nice port and beach of Grignano not far from the castle where you can bathe in the sea enjoying an amazing scenery! What can I say more...simply spectacular views that I already got used to:-) !

FILMING CREW FROM BRUSSELS

23-24/06/08 This morning I had special guests in the true sense of this word. Well, they are not guests but let's say special people. That is Stéphane and his shooting crew from Brussels. During these days I had the possibility to taste the life of a film star and to tell the truth, now I know why actors and models are so highly paid:-) You have to repeat some scenes several times and from different angles, the camera is often near your face, you have to wear a microphone that looks like a bomb and seems to explode soon, you have to wait till the barking of a dog stops and when the sound of the bells vanishes in the air, you have to prepare a cup of coffee 4 times and only then you hear the word ACTION. It sounds annoying, doesn't it? Despite that, when you make friendship with a camera, you start having fun! There was one moment during the shooting when I felt like Julia Roberts in the film " Pretty Woman" :-)Frankly speaking, Stéphane and his film crew were very nice people and it was a pleasure and honour for me to work with them. Thanks to my employer, Adriano Ruchini, and his organisational skills, the filming set was arranged in beautiful places of Gorizia, also while having lunch and dinner in the restaurants located in eye-grabbing places. As you can see, hard work was combined with pleasure, otherwise, what would be Italy without "dolce vita"?:-) The next day was dedicated to filming in MINERVA and in the castle. That day I was giving the presentation on the COMMUNICATION IN THE COMPANY and it was my first debut in public in Italy and...in Italian, of course...:-) Those two days were full of intensive work and memorable moments...The work is done and now we shall wait for the final result of this work.Good luck for you Stéphane in making an interesting video!

MY BIRTHDAY

12/06/08 This year my birthday "caught" me in Italy...In the morning I woke up and heard the sound of a delivered SMS. It was Ilaria. Her greeting reminded me that today I have to celebrate! Later followed other SMS's from my Lithuanian friends and I felt that this day they are with me wherever I am. The distance can't change the relationships if they are really strong and profound.
After entering the office, my colleagues greeted me with AUGURI (congratulations) kissing me on both cheeks, and it was pleasant to know that they are aware of the fact that today is my birthday!I was really satisfied and sat by my computer to start my work...After some time all colleagues gathered by my computer greeting me once again and gave me a beautiful orchid and a fantastic present that was a real Italian coffee machine. In addition to this, from Anna and her family I received the desired book of Susana Tamaro which I wanted to read in Italian...and... inside the envelope PER KRISTINA there was a birthday wish in Lithuanian:-) In the evening, after work, my colleagues came to me to have a toast for me and to drink CHAMPAGNE. Grazie, grazie, grazie for making my birthday a special day!