FUN-travel: Palermo, Sicily to Heathrow Airport Hilton
December 28, 2013 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on FUN-travel: Palermo, Sicily to Heathrow Airport Hilton
Day 44 – Tuesday, October 29 – Terrasini, Sicily to Heathrow, London – full sun – high 75 – low 59
What I LIKE
- 6:28 – depart (ahead of time)
- 6:37 – cross tracks
- 6:47 – arrive Avis
- nice man gets there early and checks us out
- no garage & next to terminals – easy getting shuttle
Monreale
- 7:10 – shuttle takes us
- **7:15 – arrive
- go for a cappuccino – have to have it reheated
- 8:10 – checked in & bags are 44 lb (carry ons loaded)
- 8:20 – breeze through security – computers, shoes, liquids no problema!
- ***8:35 – boarding starts
- 9:05 – push back! only 15 mins late
- 10:50 – arrives Munich on time
- +walk to B gates – don’t have to go through security only customs
- 11:30 – hang out in airport – lunch – Caesar salad & tomato mozzarella Panini, 2 diet cokes – $18 Euro
- ++1:20 – flight on time – only 2 hrs
- 2:25 – arrive Heathrow
- 2:35 – @ passport control
Monreale
- +++3:00 – baggage claim – WATCH! Bathroom door is stuck again and won’t open!
- Nice lady hears me banging and opens it
- 3:15 – my bag shows up – Chris’s 5 mins later
- Costa Coffee cappuccino break
- #4:00 – take shuttle to Hilton Terminal 5
- 4:15 – arrive Hilton – Sunita checks us in & upgrades us to Concierge Level – WATCH! (Chris used to have platinum status when he was working)
- 6:00 – 8:00 happy hour! Appetizers, cheese, veggies, sandwiches – dinner is served!
- 11:00 – really midnight for us
Agrigento
What I DON’T LIKE
- 4:30 am wake up
- 5:20 am get up
- 6:20 – lukewarm cappuccino
- 6:33 – train coming & miss crossing tracks by nanosecond
- *they don’t open until 7 am
- have to pay Italian road tax $35.50 US
- **huge long line @ Air Berlin only 2 agents
- ***more hurry up & wait on jetway
- plane is packed full
- +have to wait 30 mins for agent to come to stamp our passports
- ++more plane packed full
- +++bags delayed because bar code scanner issue
- #this is not anywhere near terminal 5 – Terminal 4 has the Hilton
- Costs $22 for 2 rt tickets! Bus comes every 30 mins – WATT
WATCH – What Are The CHances!
WATT – What Are They Thinking!
Segesta
FUN-fact – Italy is home to the greatest number of World Heritage Sites with a total of 49.
WOW Word-Of-the-Week #490: Time
December 26, 2013 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on WOW Word-Of-the-Week #490: Time
Time – what seems to go faster the older you get; what we wish we had more of sometimes.
Do you show up for work on time? Do you feel like you always need more time to finish projects? How well do you manage your time?
This word struck me as I was reading about all of the holiday shoppers waiting until the last possible moment to do their shopping. It seems as though the majority of American’s have a tendency to put off doing things until they have no other option.
People living in the Midwest & East, and those sending gifts to those areas this week were in for a big disappointment as the weather and overloaded
systems at both UPS and FedEx caused major delays. Even parts of the West and South were affected. Lots of gifts never made it for Christmas. That would a big bummer if I had kids!
One of the things that I have diligently worked on over the past 10 years is being on time. I always think I have more time than I do or that a project will take less time than it does. Anybody else like me? Knowing that, I now “pad my time.” If I think it will take and hour I plan on two. Waiting until the last minute makes me feel more stressed out which isn’t any FUN for me.
Then there’s my dear sweet husband who I have titled, “Mr. DIN.” Mr. Do It Now. He is always ahead of the game. He doesn’t like putting anything off until the last minute. At times it’s a bit of a challenge for me. But I would take that behavior over procrastination any day of the week!
This week’s focus is time and how you feel about it. Are you habitually late? Does that cause problems at home or at work? Are you always on time and waiting your others? How does that make you feel? What could you do to better manage your time?
WOW Word-Of-the-Week #489: Attachment
December 18, 2013 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on WOW Word-Of-the-Week #489: Attachment
Attachment – believing that life is permanent and you need lots of stuff to feel complete.
Do you feel a need to accumulate possessions? Does your car, paycheck, house, etc. determine who you are? How about the people in your life? And with the Holidays how do you feel about the need to buy gifts for everyone?
This felt like a good time to revisit this WOW that I wrote back in 2006 right after my mother passed away. In the Dalai Lama’s book, “How to Expand Love,” his Holiness suggests that we might behave better if we remember that life is temporary.
“One of the chief reasons why lust and hatred arise is that we are too attached to this lifetime. We want to believe it is permanent, that it will last forever, so we concentrate too much on temporary circumstances and place too much value on material goods.”
“The only way to get around this is to reflect on the fact that all things pass – you too will pass away.”
My mother always said, “Life is short.” As I write this, I am thinking about all of my friends and family who are no longer with us, and reflecting on how short it now feels. My mom didn’t need a lot of things and could have spent a lot more money than she did. She knew that one day she would die. She just didn’t know when. As a result, she lived each day to the fullest, surrounded by family and friends.
This week’s focus is on how much you are or are not attached to possessions. Do you see everything as permanent or temporary? Can you see that if you died tomorrow none of those things would be important in your death? How would it feel to give the “gift of an experience” to a loved one this year? Do you have any fond memories of receiving an “experience gift?”
WOW Word-Of-the-Week #488: Class
December 11, 2013 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on WOW Word-Of-the-Week #488: Class
Class – of high quality; the very best.
Have you ever had “first class” treatment? Do you remember what it was that made you feel that way? Does your company strive to give your guests, customers, members or clients “the very best” service and product?
This week’s WOW is all about how you feel when you have been “obliged” beyond your wildest expectations. It’s the polar polar opposite of invisible. It’s being treated first class all the way! Class to me can be described as the “crème de la crème” as the French say or “lo mejor de lo mejor” as the Spanish say. They both mean the very best.
One of my desires for taking our last trip was to go back to Italy, (one of my favorite places in the world) to meet Chris’ sister in Trieste, and to get to see Sicily. After my speech in Rimini we drove south and ended our trip in Palermo ten days later.
Getting to the ferry landing, to go over to Sicily, was a bit tricky as the signage was not very clear. (That’s pretty much all of Italy) We had both GPS and an Italian Road Atlas which is only good for not getting lost about 95% of the time!
We did figure it out and it only took 30 minutes to cross and arrive in Messina, Sicily. We had two nights reserved at Villa Ducale in Taormina because my client
in Rimini recommended it. When we finally arrived at our hotel (after driving in what felt like circles) I was a bit frazzled to say the least! When I went to the front desk area we were greeted by Paolo the manager. I told him, “I need a cold beer.” And he immediately escorted us out to the patio area, high atop the hill overlooking the city of Taormina. The beers arrived with a plate of olives, bruschetta and cheese.
We were then greeted by Rosaria the owner (and Nico her dog) who told us, “This is the house I grew up in. We want you to feel welcome and ask for anything you want. You are like family during your stay. What can we bring for lunch? Anything you want.” That was just the beginning of two of the best days ever! The service was outstanding the entire time!
What stood out and made this feel like “first class” – Paolo came out from behind the desk, sat down with us at the couch, took out a map and explained everything about Taormina and the hotel. He gave us the “free shuttle” times to town and to the beach. If you wanted to be dropped off or picked up at a different time just tell him. They include desserts at 4 pm and appetizers at 6pm everyday at no extra charge. If you want a beverage you pay for it.
He then asked for our car keys so he could get our bags out of the car as he escorted us to our room. He then showed us how everything worked and what was included at no charge.
What made this a “first class experience” was they anticipated all of our needs up front – what a concept! We never had to ask how to get anywhere or “guess” what things were included or what they cost. When I asked if I could have eggplant parmesan that was on the breakfast buffet for dinner, they made it fresh for us that night. When we checked out there were no charges for any of the meals. All included. Nice touch! Paolo even helped us get a copy of my husband’s father’s birth certificate by calling the office to tell them the Americans were headed over.
This week’s focus is on creating a “class” act. It doesn’t matter if you work for a big company or for yourself. Do your guests, customers, members or clients have to “guess” what’s included with your product? Are your policies clear? What could you do different to create a “first class” experience? Do you ever include an item at no charge?
WOW Word-Of-the-Week #487: Obliged
December 5, 2013 by Susan Clarke · Comments Off on WOW Word-Of-the-Week #487: Obliged
Obliged – provided a service; accommodated.
Two weeks ago my WOW was Invisible, which I would say, is the polar opposite of feeling obliged. This quote from James C. Penny, the founder of the JCP stores, says it all.
“It is the service we are NOT OBLIGED to give, that customers VALUE the most.”
Can you think of a time that you gave your customer, guest, member or client something that you were not obliged to give? Do you remember how they responded to that? How about you? Do you remember that last time you got “real service” and felt you were accommodated?
One of the reasons I was in Italy in October was to speak at the TTG Incontri Travel & Tourism Industry Show on the “FUN-damentals of World Class Service.” When I used the JC Penney quote one of the audience members asked me to give them an example. So this week I am going to share my service experiences that I was “not obliged” to receive and really appreciated during my last trip.
In Salzburg, Austria they only sell stamps in 4 packs at the post office. I had 5 postcards and one was being sent to Belgium. I didn’t want or need to buy 8 stamps. So I bought the 4 stamps for the US and when I got to my hotel I asked the girl at the front desk, “Do you have a postcard stamp for Europe that I could buy from you?” She was more than happy to do that and put it in the mail for me!
In Trieste, Italy I had made reservations online to be transported to the ship in Venice. When I made the payment I needed to print my reservation. I took my laptop down to the front desk and asked if they could call the company to tell them I couldn’t print it out. He very nicely told me, “Send me the email confirmation and I will print it out for you down here.” I can’t believe I didn’t even think of that!
Now for the one situation where I was not obliged and I’m not sure who was at fault. You tell me? In Europe Daylight Savings Time ends the last Sunday in October, unlike the US, where it ends the first Sunday in November. Long story short – we got up and went for breakfast at 7:30 – there was no food or anyone to get us a cappuccino. We went downstairs and the person on duty spoke no English and could not make a decent one. Needless to say we packed up and left very unhappy at 8:30 (not knowing it was really 7:30).
It wasn’t until Monday afternoon that we realized the time had changed. After seeing the third clock with the wrong time I figured it out. I emailed the manager to tell her why I was going to give her a bad review on Trip Advisor. She was so apologetic and said they had told some of the guests. I suggested she do what the cruise ships due and print a card for the room. She liked that idea. Would you have known if you were in a foreign country and couldn’t speak or read the language about the time change?
This week is all about making your customers, guests, members and clients feel obliged. And even better than that, would be to really focus on J.C. Penney’s quote. What service could you provide that you are “NOT OBLIGED” to give? What do you VALUE most when it comes to being served?