Just read your post, and I think that your grudge is probably more with the Italian way of doing things than the European way. I'm from Denmark, which of course

Just read your post, and I think that your grudge is probably more with the Italian way of doing things than the European way. I'm from Denmark, which of course is at the other end of EU, but here things are very different. Not all that much politics, and you get credit for being smart and getting things done. And meetings are primarily for making decisions. If you ever come to Copenhagen I'll buy you a coffee, there are some pretty decent places here :-)