Escape from Malta

So, coming to you after the end of a fantastic sales conference in Malta, you would expect to hear tales of how my flight to Rome was GREAT and I had a wonderful time there, and it was all smooth saling getting home. 

We’re going to have to settle for 2 out of 3.

On the morning after the conference closing “gala” dinner, 2 colleagues and I were taken to the Malta airport to await our 11am flight from Malta to Rome on Air Malta.

So we thought.

We got to the airport at 8:20, and check in for the flight didn’t open till 9:00.  We sat, had a cappucino, and then queued up to check in.  There, we learned our 11am flight was now taking off at 1150am.  Not a crisis for 2 of us, but for the third colleague, @chriswebb, it was turning into one.  You see, he had 2 hours to change planes in Rome, heading off to JFK and then on to IND.  His connections were getting a bit tight.

After getting our boarding passes, we marched through security and took up residence in a cafeteria near the gates (there were about 12 total in the Malta airport).  Peacefully watching an episode of “Miami Vice” dubbed into German, we sat, patiently awaiting our ride to Rome.  Then, colleague #3, Robert, came bolting over to us.  “The board is showing 4pm for our flight!!!” 

We stormed over to a boarding gate to learn our flight had indeed been moved.  A pain in the ass for me and Robert.  For Chris, it meant no hope of getting home to Indy that day.  The Air Malta staff were very concerned.  Concerned about getting us refreshment vouchers, but could not answer any questions about why the flight was delayed and what was really going on.

At that moment, I got a text from my boss saying that his flight to Munich was returning to the boarding gate due to mechanical difficulties.  I’m not sure if his was an Air Malta plane as well, but it didn’t matter.  His plane containing 4 more stranded Wiley people were heading back to sit in the airport. 

Malta = the roach motel of Europe.  You can check in, but you can’t check out. 

Eventually, we all got out of there.   Peter and Larry were due to spend the night in Munich, then go on to NYC the next day.  But not before they were held up at the gate in Malta:

The Maltese flight delays

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Can you feel the love?  Check out the other passengers sitting there - the Maltese airport was nun-tastic!

Meanwhile, despite our best efforts, Robert and I could not get on the Alitalia flight leaving for Rome at 2pm.  Instead, Robert bought a ticket on the flight and made it out, getting into Rome at 5pm.  I stuck it out (I had checked a bag and did not have Robert’s carry on flexiblity) and evenually made it on a flight to Rome, via Naples, that arrived into Rome at 10pm.  I’ve never been so happy to be at my destination.  I almost got on my knees and kissed the Roman tarmac, a la the Pope.

Chris was rebooked on a flight to Frankfurt with the expectation of spend the night and get off to Chicago and Indy the next day.  When I landed in Rome, I texted him in Malta.  He was STILL there, and didn’t leave till 11pm or so (I don’t think he has blogged this experience, but he really should).  Apparently, his flight was diverted from Frankfurt (after hours, in the vein of Regan National and their noise restrictions, I hear) and he had to take a 2 hour bus ride from wherever he was to Frankfurt.  I’m not sure I would have gotten on the bus.  I probably would have settled in whatever town I landed in at that point and sent for my family.  He made it back late the next night, in time for a late July 4th celebration. 

Who ever said business travel was glamorous?

 

required readings for summer travel

The website Delicious Baby just posted a great article on traveling with a food allergic child.  It’s one of the few sources I’ve found for information that gives you the feeling that “yes I can travel on an airplane and my child will survive.”  I remember reading something on a Disney-related site (written by a parent and not affiliated with Disney) that pretended to give info about how to handle food allergies at Disney, and it started out by saying “of course, with a food allergy you can’t fly…”  Not true, and Delicious Baby gives you great advice on how to do it successfully. 

In full disclosure, I am credited with contributing to the piece, but that doesn’t make it any less accurate. 

 

On the road again

More travel is in store for me in July.  BlogHer is the middle of the month, and that’s in San Francisco, thankfully.  Next Saturday, I leave for the Wiley EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) sales meeting.  It’s being held in Malta.  I’m flying through Rome, and on the way home, I’m going to stop and spend 4th of July weekend there.  I’ve never been, and I am quite excited.

I’ve got this fantasy of going with a tiny carry-on, but that’s not going to happen.  I’m probably going to take my small black rolling suitcase and call it a day.

Mr. IT has spent a bit of time in Malta for his prior job with Cunard.  When I asked him what there is to do on Malta, he said something about the sets from “Popeye” which are there.  When I asked what else there was, he reminded me about “Popeye”.  So if anyone has good hints for Malta, please let me know.  I won’t have much free time, but who knows.

Rome, on the other hand, I’m all about.  If you have any suggestions for cheap eats or ways to beat the tourists, bring it.

 

Health Foods

Texas…where a man’s a man, and a vegetable is an extra slice of bread, washed down by a Bud Light.  Or two.

 

 

When Less = More, and even Less = Less

Less = More - Before I went on spring break, I blogged about how IT Boy’s service providers were using the dreaded “P” word - Plateau.  He wasn’t regressing, but he wasn’t progressing either.

So, we came back from vacation, and every one of them has marveled about what progress he’s made.  FROM THE WEEK WHERE HE DIDN’T SEE ANY OF THEM.  He’s played around with his balance, started taking side steps, pointing a ton more, saying “a ball” instead of just “ball”…oh I could go on. 

But what does this mean?  Is my theory that he may be getting too much therapy for real?  Did he need a break, or was he just ready to progress at that moment in time?  Did so much contact with his family bring this out of him?  I may never know, but it’s going to be something that I watch closely.

On a related note….less = less.  I didn’t workout at all during vacation, despite my best intentions and a cute running outfit in my suitcase.  When I got back to the gym, I had lost weight.  A good amount of it, even.  I tried 3 scales at the gym, and all verified the results. 

So, no workouts, Dairy Queen, and mega BBQ = a healthy lifestyle?  Or is Texas just filled with magic healing powers?  You can imagine how stumped and confused I am now. 

 

Words of vacation wisdom

The IT family has returned from spring break.  We visited my dad and stepmother in Texas, spending time in both Houston and San Antonio.  While it seemed at times like the entire vacation was being spent in a mini-van, that wasn’t really the case.  We hit Kemah, the Riverwalk in San Antonio, SeaWorld, and a whole lot of food.   We even had the classic QAP moment of walking through a crowd at Market Square celebrating fiesta with a baby stroller in tow.   Reminded me of my prior scorn of parents strolling around Bourbon Street with toddlers and infants.  “What the hell is wrong with those people?” I would say to myself.  Hmm.  What goes around, comes around, they always say.

Spending time with my dad brought a whole lot of wisdom with it.  For instance, I bring to you some classic bon mots…

“You can’t trust a Mexican restaurant unless it’s open for breakfast.”

“There’s no such thing as bad bacon.”

Or what about this classic exchange?

Dad: “I’m having a buzzard attack!”

Me: “Something on the windshield?”

Mr IT: “No, he’s talking about BLIZZARDS.  He wants to go to Dairy Queen.”

Me: “Where in the world are we going to find a DQ?”

Dad: “The next exit.  This is Texas.  Every town in Texas has a DQ.  It’s like the law or something.”

He was right.  The next exit, Flatonia TX, had a DQ.  So we stopped.  I had some horribly huge waffle bowl sundae (what was I thinking?) and the kids had small dishes of vanilla.  Mr. IT tried to order a chocolate cone, which was met with a “we don’t sell chocolate” response.  Stunned, he just stood there for a while, and eventually ordered a turtle blizzard.  Dad said that he’s never seen a Dairy Queen that sells chocolate soft serve, while Mr IT insisted he ordered it in Stamford, CT, which is the only DQ I know of near us.  This led to some spirited discussions and the desperate use of brainpower that could have been occupied elsewhere to figure out who was right.  Thanks to Sarabakescakes, via Twitter, we discovered they were both right, in a way…

11. Why are there variations in product from one store to another?

The majority of Dairy Queen restaurants throughout the United States are individually owned and operated franchises. While there are some products, like our soft serve, that you can find in every Dairy Queen location, there are other products, like chocolate soft serve and butterscotch or crunch toppings for dipped cones, that you may not find in every store. Ultimately, the decision whether or not to carry a particular product rests with the independent franchise operator of that particular store.

Well, who knew?  Thanks Sara!  It’s good to be home!

 

It’s all about conversations

Isn’t that the truth?  That’s what we always talk about in the social media space.  But what about face to face meetings?  In our new Web 2.0, should we ever need to leave our physical comfort zones. 

I have to say YES.  If anything, seeing people meet face to face at SXSW earlier in the month told me that there will never be any substitute for real human contact.  Greeting @newmediajim outside of the Starbucks in Austin was more exciting than reading about his adventures filming POTUS (and believe me, those are interesting).  Meeting @Pistachio and having her give me a big hug DIDN’T freak me out - instead I found it warm and caring, just like she presents herself online. 

So what did I do when I was trying to arrange a meeting between 3 locations and couldn’t get a video room for my locale?  I hopped on a plane and moved to the location with the most people to work the meeting live.  Despite writing this email from the departure gate of a delayed plane, it was one of the best decisions I could have made.  Yes, you can function on meetings over audio and video connections.  Sometimes though you just have to be there.  We spent 2 productive hours forming a plan for increasing sales through one of our key accounts.  We made connections, laid out plans to be followed through on, and generally got inspired.  Would that meeting have gone that way if I stayed at home and sat on the phone?  Not saying that, but I was more involved and attached to the project, and in the long run, that’s what matters. 

Here’s to remembering that there is no substitute for old school human interaction.  And to my flight taking off sometime tonight. 

 

A New Favorite Guidebook Series

I’m the kind of person who reads travel guides when I am not traveling, and cookbooks when I have no intention of cooking anything.  That makes me pretty opinionated when I look for a book to guide me on a trip.  I used a Moon guidebook to plan my honeymoon, as well as to guide me on some trips to Canada.  Those were great, as they talked about much that was more local and not so touristy.  To be honest, I never really used the ”classic” Frommer’s guides all that much.  They are a good basic references, but I didn’t always feel that they speak to me.  I used to pick Fodor’s guides over Frommer’s (that’s our little secret) when Moon didn’t have a book for my destination.  Sometimes I used Rough Guides, but only when I found them at the library, because they really weren’t my thing. 

I picked up a bunch of Las Vegas guides for my recent trip.  Some were ok.  Some were not.  But one was outstanding.  It was Pauline Frommer’s Las Vegas.  Full disclosure - I work for the company that publishes the Frommer’s guidebooks.  But even if I didn’t, I would still buy this book.  Note, I said BUY, not borrow from the library.  It’s that good.  I read her NY and Walt Disney World books.  Not because I needed the info, but more because they were good reads.  I knew that the Vegas would not let me down.

What makes it so good, or more accurately so good for me?  It talks about the big touristy things that everyone does, but it prioritizes what is worth seeing and what isn’t, and gives equal coverage to things that are bit more off the beaten path, things that not everyone is doing.  It has a voice, and a very opinionated and funny one at that.  At one point, she’s talking about a half price ticket service and how it split off from the other one in town, and are now competitors, and refers to them as the Jessica, to Tickets 2 Nite’s Nick.  I didn’t realize how much a voice in a tour guide works for me. 

Here are a couple of great things from the book that helped on my vacation:

1. We (all right, me) wanted to go to the Star Trek Experience.  Pauline’s guidebook told me that the half price ticket booth carried Experience tickets.   All the better to get Mr. IT on board with going!  As a side note, when we got to the front of the ticket line, and Mr. IT asked for the ST tickets, the woman behind the counter exclaimed, “Now how did I know that was what you were here for!”  Mr. IT, who is SO not a geek, put on his best Fuqua MBA glare and just handed over his credit card.  I don’t know that I have ever been so amused.

2. Lotus of Siam - one of the best meals of my life, period.  Pauline says it’s her favorite restaurant in Vegas.  I didn’t learn about it from her, rather from the posters on Chowhound.  But Pauline echoed their comments, and even mentioned in the “If you have one day, two days, three days, to spend in Vegas second” that if you have one day, eat at LoS.  Totally on the money, and I will spend many a day fantasizing about the food there.

There are other great calls in the book, but I’m going to save them for another post.  Or rather, if you are heading to Vegas, get yourself a copy.  Next year, my other favorite series is coming out with a Vegas book.  Can’t wait to check that one out. 

 

Viva Las Vegas - the departure

Tonight, Mr. IT and I leave on the well-deserved long weekend trip to Vegas.  I’m not going to be blogging during the trip - time with your mate is way too important to spend feeding the blog.  I may try Twittering here and there, as that’s just a quick text message for me, but we’ll see.  I can’t decide whether it’s just a geeky time suck or there might be some value to it.  All part of the experiment, I suppose. 

You’ll find me in Quark’s bar at some point this weekend, surely. 

 

The *BIG* Birthday - Destination Revealed

Sometime ago I blogged about a certain numerically significant birthday that I am staring down, and my desire to have a weekend away to wallow/revel in it.  After surprisingly (for me) little thought, I suggested Vegas to Mr. IT and he bit.  So now we’re going.  It’s with only a teeny tiny little bit of regret that I say that.  I’m really thrilled that we’re getting away together for the first time since the kids came along.  He picked a great hotel, and we’re seeing a great show and planning for .  I tend to over-think things, so it’s good that we didn’t ponder too much and just went for it.  At the same time, there are places that I think would have been fun too.  Now that we have purchased our vacation package, here are the places that didn’t get thought of, but could make the grade again someday for a long weekend out of NYC:

1. Malahat, Vancouver Island BC - Years ago, between business trips in Seattle and Vancouver, I spend at weekend on Vancouver Island staying at the Aerie resort.  This was a place that I always thought Mr. IT and I would come back to, and we still might. It’s an incredibly beautiful and relaxing place. A little prohibitive now with the US-Canadian currency exchange rate (when I went it $1 US was $2 Canadian - now they’re close to parity). Also, early December is probably not the best time to be up there, but it’s still on the list. I stayed for 2 nights, at the cost of $100 US per night. I toured the lovely town of Victoria and went on a mushroom hunt with other resort guests, which culminated in a mushroom dinner (far more exciting in real life than it reads, I assure you).  Also, hello, the idea of going across the continent doesn’t exactly say “relaxing long weekend”.  I’ll have to keep it in mind for the family vacation I am thinking of to Seattle and points north.   

2. New Orleans - I’ve been here tons of times for business trips, but Mr. IT and I visited once, albeit on overlapping business trips. He was working for a cruise line that was refitting a ship here, so he spent a couple of weeks supervising the refit from a financial sense (be sure to ask him about that at our next get together - party on, finance boy!). I was coming into town for an IBM meeting at the end of his trip. My dad was there as well, visiting a friend who was turning a mansion on St. Charles Avenue into a B&B. It was a blast for all of us, but I still don’t think of the Big Easy as a vacation destination post-Katrina. Everything is as up and running as it probably ever will be, but it will take some time to change that perception with me.

3. Orlando - if Mr. IT is reading this, he’s bowled over with laughter at the idea of setting foot in one of his least favorite places. If IT Girl is reading this, the idea of having her mom and dad visit her personal Mecca without her is causing her blood pressure to hit the roof. ‘Nuff said.

4. Iceland - this was considered, but in the time we had to book something, I couldn’t do enough research to convince Mr. IT that Reykjavik was indeed party central.  I’m still going to work on that idea to have it ready to whip out at a moment’s notice, the NEXT time he suggests we get away for a long weekend.  Strangely, while I was considering traveling to, but not blogging about Iceland, I noticed on my blog stats that I was getting reader traffic from Reykjavik.  So it *must* be a cool place if people there were finding my blog without being drawn to it by tag words!