Today we visited Art Attack, an advertising agency. Originally I wasn’t very excited because I’m a journalism major, and don’t have a lot of interest in advertising. They were very engaging in their presentation and were clearly passionate about what they were doing. They explained the process behind creating advertisements for major companies and I realized how much work went into each advertisement. They were also conscious about environmental and humanistic issues as well.
Once the presentation was over they gave us snacks, and so we weren’t very hungry for lunch. I had a small cup of cinnamon gelato.
We then went to La Repubblica, one of the largest newspapers in Italy. We saw a presentation on their efforts to switch to more a digital multimedia platform. We then got a tour of the building. I was surprised at how calm everyone seemed to be.
I also had my first espresso in Italy. I thought I was prepared because I had drank black coffee back home, but this tasted nothing like coffee. It’s served in tiny cups, probably so you can drink the toxic stuff as quickly as possible. It was incredibly bitter and burnt my throat, but it did give me some energy that I desperately needed.
When we had free time we decided to try and find a Pittsburgh themed bar that we had heard about. Shortly after we stepped outside it began to pour, and the streets turned into rivers. We were lost and completely drenched until someone finally directed us to the bar, where another part of our group had already sat down. I ordered an orange drink that I had been seeing everywhere. It was some sort of spritzer and tasted like an orange popsicle.
The owner of the bar was very friendly because we told him we were from Pittsburgh, and he personally walked us to a restaurant that he said would take care of us. I ordered penne alla vodka, which was penne pasta in an orange vodka sauce with strips of bacon. It was incredible.
Then we took the tram home, still soaking wet, and called it a night.