Friday, July 22, 2011

Huntin' some treasure in Rome!

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Friday was probably one of the most exciting days of this summer. It all began a few days ago when I was contacted by one my mother's client who needed help in organizing a surprise for her husband. She invited me for an apéritif at Hotel Eden, a five-star hotel just next to Villa Borghese and five minutes from Via Veneto and Piazza di Spagna. The restaurant and the bar is on the roof, with a breath-taking view on Rome.

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Now this is a Royal entrance!

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This is only a 1/6 of the whole view!!!

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This is how the aperitif looks like. Delicious! For some more click on Le Meridien Hotels's flickr photostreaming here. So, back to the business. Here's what it was all about. Every year she has prepared something special for his birthday and this year wasn't an exception. She had a clever yet a risky idea to make a treasure-hunt in Rome. Everything was already planned , the only problem (due to the language) was to convince the people to play along to the game. That's where I came in. Additionally she asked me to be one of the treasures! So this is how I found myself at four o'clock in the afternoon at the Bar Brasile in piazza Venezia, swiping some champagne and waiting for the birthday-boy to show up with his friends.

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L'Altare della Patria - a monument to Vittorio Emanuele II, the first king of unified Italy, on piazza Venezia. This was the view from the bar (below) where I had to wait. Not bad, huh?

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This picture is taken from Google maps, thank God for Google!

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Right after it I ran in Fontana di Trevi to leave a map in one of the oldest pharmacies in Rome called "Antica Farmacia Pesci"(click to see a picture of the interior). (This is the only public pharmacy which has conserved its original characteristics since Ancient Rome. The interiors are basically the same since 1552, the year in which it was established. The walls are probably covered by serpentinite, a type of green marble, and furniture in mahogany, I guess).

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Anyways the phramacists were so excited to participate and couldn't wait to hear the four russian men pronounce a non-sense phrase - "I cavalli non sono animali pericolosi" (horses are unharmful animals) their joke of the year! Soon after my boyfriend walked me to my final spot - on Via Delle Quattro Fontane - to keep an eye on the "clue", which was sticked on the pale and to take care the boys head on in the right direction. I hid myself in the bar and Luca took care of everything. Their next stop was at Babington's Tea Room, just next to the Spanish Steps.

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My final assignment was to make sure the chauffeur picked up the guys on time for a ride on a vintage car just before the dinner.

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It' was fun, especially because I got to share it with my boyfriend. Soon it will be his birthday, I was thinking of doing something similar to him too (he won't read it because it's in english, no worries!). What has been the best surprise someone has ever organized for you on your birthday or for some other special occasion?!



4 comments:

kadri-ann said...

väga lahe!!:D

Café Naïveté said...

oli kùll jaa!! :) tahaks kohe veelmidagi taolist organiseerida. aga minu meelest tàna òhtusel sùnnipàeva peol on ka meile korraldatud ùks treasure-hunting!

Julia, the Thanksgiving Girl said...

I want to visit badly!

Café Naïveté said...

JULIA, COME!!! :)