Day 7 started off with another mediocre breakfast at the Intercontinental De La Ville.

Our first appointment for the day was at the US Embassy in Rome. We met with Thomas Moore, the Counselor for Commercial Affairs. He brought in several of his colleagues to speak to us about U.S and Italy relations, economic and US business prospects in Italy. It was interesting to learn about how many American companies are doing business in Italy and some of the challenges and rewards of the business landscape.

In afternoon, we met with the CEO of Bvlgari, Francesco Trapani. Francesco has overseen an enormous expansion of the Bvlgari brand.

The amazing thing about Bvlgari is there attention to detail and their upper echelon line of jewelry. They have begun to branch out into handbags, perfumes, and even hotels. In 2001, they created the Bulgari Hotels and Resorts in a join venture with Marriott with locations in Bali, Milan, and Tokyo.

Has anyone stayed at these properties? I’d be interesting in knowing how they are.

During his presentation, he showed us some of their very high end pieces including a watch that sells for over 600,000 Euro.

After the presentation, we walked to Via Condotti to view their two retail stores. It is simply amazing the prices that they can command for the higher end items. They have certainly done an excellent job in brand management.

Later that night I went to Trevi Fountain and walking on the way back, discovered a pizza vending machine. This was the weirdest most disgusting idea I can imagine. Why in the world would anybody purchase a hot pizza slice from a vending machine?

If you happen to be going to Rome and are looking for authentic Gelato, I would recommend Blue Ice. You will see that there are dozens of gelato shops everywhere in Rome. Having sampled just about every single one of them as the extra 10 pounds on my frame can attest, I can recommend Blue Ice as the best tasting, most authentic Gelato.

It was all lining up to be a disaster. Volcanic ash shutting down all the European airports. Our international school trip having been planned for the past 22 months.

And somehow our flight wasn’t canceled and was basically the first flight to Budapest from the US following the reopening of the airports.

It’s been a fun time with trips to Gellert thermal bath, Szechenyi thermal bath, the solemn message of the Terror Museum, dinner at Fat Mo’s, and meeting a lot of up and coming companies.

Tomorrow it’s a very early bus to the airport for a flight to Rome. We’ll have a free day and it happens to be a national holiday as well. I wonder what will be open.

Lonely Planet is giving away their IPhone Europe Guide books for free until April 22nd.

The cities included are:

Amsterdam
Barcelona
Berlin
Budapest
Copenhagen
Istanbul
London
Moscow
Munich
Paris
Rome
Stockholm
Vienna

These are usually $10-$15 a piece.

This is perfect for my trip tomorrow to Budapest and Rome.

Last week, our international trip was finally announced! Our EMBA class is going to Budapest, Hungary and Rome, Italy!

Unfortunately, I’ve already been to both cities. Fortunately, Budapest is easily in the top 3 of all of the European cities I’ve visited. What’s not to love – the mild climate, fantastic and cheap food, and the natural hot baths. I’ve stayed at the Marriott, Intercontinental, and the Sofitel in Budapest before. Of the three, I prefer the Intercontinental. The Sofitel had one of the softest beds I have ever slept on. The Marriott was in need of a serious overhaul. I’ve heard that they have redone the hotel since I’ve been there last.

I went to Rome in 2005, but it was only for three days. I did a quick bus tour of all of the sites, it will be fun to go back there with this group. Someone in our group even speaks Italian.

It is tempting to extend on this trip, especially if Hungary is the last leg. I have wanted to go to Croatia for a long time, especially to the coastal town of Dubrovnik. This may be the perfect time.