Well, today I went on Italian television and shot a video in an old temple that used to be Marlin Brando’s apartment.
We went to Enel headquarters, which is the largest energy company in the world. It’s also the exclusive energy provider in Italy.
The company employees nearly 63,000 people worldwide and has a large internal communications department. At their Rome headquarters, they have a television studio, radio studio, and an entire newsroom. Their communication efforts are focused on intranet, video, email, radio, magazine, and their website.
The head of internet media and global internal communications gave us a presentation on Enel’s goals and operations before shipping us off for some interactive activities.
One group was interviewed live on Enel Radio about their experiences in Rome so far. A few other groups, myself included, went to record a segment at their television studio.
I acted as the host and interviewed Allison about her experience in Rome now compared to her trip in 2015.
I’m told that we’ll eventually get the clip of the interview, which would be fun to watch back.
We went back to the hotel to rest for a couple hours before a small group of us took taxis to go to one of the best restaurants in Rome.
Fabious Cooking Day is located on an island that provides a hands-on cooking experience in a historic apartment built on ancient ruins. We arranged a deal with the place to shoot videos for its website while our group cooked in exchange for a cheap meal.
Everyone had a great time cooking the pasta and the chefs were fantastic. I interviewed the owner and one of the chefs for these videos that we’re producing.
The restaurant is located on the Tiber island beside the oldest bridge in Rome. It is built on top of what was once an ancient temple to the Greek god of medicine and healing, Aesculapius. It was built in 293 BC.
That alone is cool. Going down into the basement of the restaurant was even cooler. That’s where the cooking happened, and it also included a room that had thick glass overlooking the dirt and rocks left from the temple. The chef took me and the crew down underneath the floor to explore the tunnel in the temple. That was incredible.
Upstairs, we ate the food that the students prepared (the real chefs finished them and used their own sauces…and made dessert). The place where we ate was once the apartment of Marlon Brando. The first scene of a famous Italian movie was also shot there.
Holy history. What an incredible night. This was my favorite day so far for so many reasons that I can’t begin to describe. Pictures won’t do this city, and my experience, justice.
