Sunday, March 11, 2012

Next to Vatican City

Hello my blogger friends! I haven't updated my blog since February 20th, although I have been following your blogs and have left comments. I'm sorry for that, but I've been crazy busy and I'm still working in Rome and Viterbo. That's why two weeks ago I couldn't run the Rome-Ostia 21 km, which is the main important half marathon here in Italy. Stefano didn't run it because, as he mentioned on his blog,  he has got problems with his knee and I hope to hear good news soon. As above mentioned, since about three weeks I have been working in Rome, and the office is near Saint Peter's Square, which is located directly in front of St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City, the papal enclave within Rome. On Friday, 9th, While I was in Rome for job, I took these two photos. The first one shows a Swiss soldier on guard at the gates of Vatican City. Schweizergarde is the name given to the  Pontifical Swiss soldiers of Vatican City.
The second photo shows the Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in Vatican City.http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/swiss_guard/swissguard/storia_en.htm


On the economic front, although unemployment in America is almost back to pre-recession levels, showing more improvement in the labor market, in Europe there’s still an economic contraction: Italian and Spanish GDP is still decreasing and Europe's politicians are dealing with  Greece’s debt restructuring. In the meanwhile, young people are afraid they can't find full-time employment at the moment.  On the other hand,  I'm glad to hear good news about  the  U.S. strongest demand for automobiles since 2008 and the increase of retail sales overseas.

Nice week to all my blogger friends!

10 comments:

ajh said...

That is an exciting place to go to work!

Good luck to all those anywhere looking for employment.

Thomas Bussiere said...

What an awesome place to work. Love the pics. Now, if we can just get the price of gasoline under control. It's been going crazy here across the pond, but still not as much compared to the price per gallion in Europe.
Should be more jobs available with the recovering economy - Always a lag factor.

Amy said...

That is neat that you get to work right outside Vatican city for a short time!
Let's keep our fingers crossed that the economic upturn will spread all over Europe very soon - we really need it!

Char said...

Interesting outfit that the Swiss guard has to wear. I wonder if he feels embarrassed going to work to act like a soldier but look a bit like a clown. They're certainly very colourful uniforms.

Ewa said...

It is so amazing that you work where we love to visit. I am trying to picture from my memory where you work could be located.
The world economy is in total mess. Unemployed numbers in the US are not very accurate as they do not account for those who got discouraged in their job search and does not account for those who are underemployed. :( Another thing is that here, we have very few social nets. It is still a pretty grim picture and improvement is very, very slow. The big problem is that in this election year, one party is not interested very much in helping the economy so the president would not get any credit for improvement. In the meantime people are suffering. Shall I continue?

Black Knight said...

Thanks for the mention but for me the way is long again.
Beautiful place to work, have you run in Rome? You could follow the Lungotevere path or join the other runners at the "Biscotto" near the "Stadio delle Terme".

Fran said...

I loved visiting the Vatican when we were in Rome.

My country is still in a recession too. Everything gets more expensive but salary's don't grow with it. Especially the prices for gas are insane. I'm happy my husband and I both got a job at companies that perform pretty well considering the circumstances.

Johann said...

Sorry that you had to miss the race but it is also good to be so busy with work. Here in South Africa young people can't find jobs. The economy in Africa is always a huge challenge.

martin briars said...

Hey Giorgio - i visited Rome many years ago and would love to return one day :)
all the best
martin

Unknown said...

What a great view although it is a pity that you are so busy and unable to get in enough running.

I will keep posting light and amusing posts to add humor to your busy days :-)

Have a wonderful weekend!