Work took me to Rome at the end of this week, facilitating a code retreat for some of my colleagues at the local IBM lab. The retreat itself followed a format we’ve used numerous times before with a focus on pairing and TDD although for the first time we also introduced a session on BDD. Starting with a plain English (or Italian) description really did seem to help the participants avoid starting with a focus on the details of the implementation. The experience also made me realise how much you are dependent on being able to understand the communication between a pair when trying to coach them!
I had a few hours to spare in the evening in which I seemed to manage to cover most of Rome on foot and, with the hotel being based near the Colosseum (I could see it from my room window), I managed to get a quick trip round the inside before it was time to depart for the airport. Unfortunately Fiumicino was in disarray following a fire two months ago which meant we spent around an hour sat on the tarmac. I’d certainly like to return to Rome when I have more time to explore but the trip did remind me that I should do so at a time of year when it’s a little cooler!