Holidayers

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere we go.....
It's a fact! And this does not relates only to the street decorations, or the shops going crazy with Xmas in November, or with the Xmas shopping lists and the never ending Xmas cards!
No, this is also noted at the airports! Same like Easter holidays, or mid term holidays and mainly the summer holidays!!
At these times airports are over filled with people! I would say they are running at their capacity if not at over capacity!
People from everywhere, going everywhere! People that don't really go anywhere, but have to work to keep the flow going! People with different agendas and objectives!
Mainly we can reduce these to two very different group of people: the business travellers and, how I like to call them the "holidayers"!! :)

Business travellers and holidayers don't go well together! :)
Me, belonging to the group of the business travellers, dread the holidays season! The long queues, the noisy crowds, the long delays.... Ay trip during the holidays is an adventure!

There are obvious differences between these groups. And is not just the grey suits against the relaxed dressing! No, there is more to it!
Business travellers pack light with only their hand luggage! When they get to security they have the laptop and the liquids bag out to the luggage, they have undressed their coats and jackets, the belt, watch and anything else that can make the alarm go on is ready to be put on a tray! And off we go!!! It's like a Swiss clock! It never fails!

Holidayers? Oh ... They wait to be at the security belt to start to unpack everything! Despite the continuos warnings when they are queuing! Despite the security guy, that is shouting from the bottom of his lungs, advising people: REMOVE YOUR JACKETS, COATS, BELTS, LIQUIDS, LAPTOPS AND BE READY FOR INSPECTION! Despite the fact that you listen to this around the airport in every possible language!!!

Funny is, when you are in a queue and start to follow the process, the holidayers look at you like you are an alien! Or you must be crazy! WHAT THE HELL ARE OU DOING?
Let me tell you what I am doing! I am keeping the flow! I am doing what everyone should be doing to avoid the queue that is closer to the main entrance of the airport! I am trying to avoid loosing my flight and make other people loose theirs!!

But this is inevitable! Holidayers don't go by the system, they actually try to cheat the system! 1 bag rule on cheap airlines,  no, this doesn't happen! More delays when getting to boarding time!
Weight restrictions? Of course not! Holidayers think they can get away because they are on holidays! Ad then you see them trying to work out the correct weight in between bags, on the floor of the airport! Sitting on luggage trying to squeeze as most as possible! Dressing 5 coats just to have space on the luggage or control the weight!
The end result is, people very upset either before they go on holidays or on their return home!

Then, try to walk in an airport during holidays! It's worst than driving in a big city! Holidayers walk slow, nothing wrong here as they have no rush, but they walk in packs, in a way that you cannot move anywhere! They stop looking at a screen waiting for a door to open! They can stay there for hours! I think they are afraid to, when its clearly stating that the door will open at a define time, the door will open and they will loose the flight! People grab a coffee! Sit, relax! Ad get out of the way!!!

You look around and you see the business travellers rolling their eyes, taking deep breaths! Shaking their heads! Praying to the holidays season to be over soon!
No need to say that I also do this a lot! :)
And when I sit waiting for a flight and I look around I giggle to myself watching all of this happening over and over again!! :)

Holidayers of this world: enjoy your holidays, have a great time on vacation with your friends and family, but please, PLEASE, be a bit more considered of the other people around you! Not everyone is on holidays!!!

A big thank you! :)

Never Lost in Milan!

My journey to Italy has reached an end! Four days of meetings, four long and exhausting days... But it’s not about my meetings that I want to write about. It’s about the journeys in between meetings.

Got to Milan Monday morning and collected my car from Hertz. I’m not sure I can call it a car!! It took me from A to B!! Slowly and painfully from A to B! In Portugal we call it “CANGALLHO”!!!  It took ages to get to 100km/hour! When I reached the 110 km/h it started to shake like it was having an epileptic attack!! God help me if I gone to 120km/h! I can assure you it would have disintegrated itself in pieces and I would have ended up asking for a lift!!!!

 Along with my super car came my super sat nav, named NEVER LOST!! Hahahahahahaha! I’m laughing now! Believe me! At some point I wanted to cry!!!

NEVER LOST did not recognize any, and I mean ANY of the numbers I had on my addresses! I had always to find something close (if there was anything close!!) and then drive up and down the road or around the block for at least 4 times (and this really happened!) and hope to finally find the right place!!!

NEVER LOST is also needing some serious updates!!! At some point I couldn’t even found the name of a street!!!!!!!!! HEEEELLLPPPP!!!! It took me 3 hours to get to a place that supposedly should only be 1 hour away!! Why???? Because I GOT LOST!!!!!!!!!! My bloody sat nav, which is named NEVER LOST took me to the wrong city! Same post code, with the correct street, but wrong city!!!! For God sake! What is wrong with this sat nav people??? Seriously? Wrong post code???

NEVER LOST also has an option called “DETOUR” which is suppose to give you an alternative route when you need one! Well, not this one!! “in 150m turn right”, well I cannot go right! Road close (no need to say that NEVER LOST does not recognize closed roads!) so I use DETOUR, “re calculating”.... “in 200 m turn right, and then turn left... and then when I realized I am back again to the bloody same place! THE ROAD IS CLOSED!!! I cannot go that way!!! DETOUR again “in 150m turn right”!!!  OH FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!!! I CANNOT GO THAT WAY!!! I WANT ANOTHER WAY!!!!!! So again, I don’t know where to go, I keep coming back to where I started, I AM LOST!!! With my NEVER LOST sat nav!!!

In the end, I started to get in and out of motorways trying to avoid any possible road construction! Lucky me, in case of doubt you always follow the sign MILAN!! One way or another it took me where I needed to be! And believe me it was never in MILAN! J

When I look back to these four days, I see myself hitting my steering wheel and shouting at a sat nav that should have never allowed me to get lost! But it did!! Every single day of my four days in Milan!! Thank God I am in Italy! No one can really see the difference between me and them!! Latins!!!!

I also see myself trying to move fast in a bloody car that didn’t move! Milan’s motorways are a jungle! A metal jungle!! It’s the law of the fastest! And most of the times the stupidest! Please imagine driving a car that purely does not respond to your feet!! It starts to shake like a washing machine!! Noisy like a washing machine!! But at least my washing machine works at 1200rpm!! Faster than my “CANGALHO”! Trying to overcome trucks, slower drives (if there was any) and take ages to do this!! AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH! Worst than this is to be overcome by yellow fiat 500, pandas, micras!! The smallest and slowest cars on earth did overtake me this week!!!!

At some point I just wanted my car!! If this is possible! I missed my car like I miss my bed when I am away!!!

Anyhow, this is just one of the croks adventures!! Thank you NEVER LOST to make this post possible!!

Ready to go home now!!

Love always

Dani @ Milan

xxxxxx

Dear Madam...

Here it is my first trip of the year! This time off to Antwerp just for a couple of days to visit my company’s offices... I have just started my new job (I will tell you all about it any time soon!) and it’s time to meet the rest of the team!

Today, at the airport, I realized that I was being called Madam by everyone and for any reason possible...This isn’t supposed to be a surprise however today, I found it annoyingly funny!

I know that calling someone Madam is one of the first rules of “good education”, of being raised properly (like my Mum and Dad did to me), of good manners and obviously of being polite! This is not rocket science! I think we are all in agreement that calling someone Madam (or Sir) when appropriate is as important as saying “please” or “thank you”...

So why am I finding this so amusing today?? J well... I have this strange feeling that this doesn’t happen every time I travel... and I do travel a lot! For some reason I think that I am being treated accordingly to what I am wearing today!

Let me explain you my line of thought: every time I have the opportunity I wear a pair of jeans, a jumper and my red All Star trainers during my flights – it’s like I am wearing my flight equipment! I usually go make-up free and my hair tight on a pony tail! This is the way I feel more comfortable, more cosy... ready for any situation that may happen during my journey no matter where I’m coming from or what is my final destination! On these days I don’t recall being called Madam that often... I don’t recall being called Madam at all!

Now, today it was different! I had a meeting in Northamptonshire in the morning and I left straight to the airport! Let me tell you that the only reason I am not wearing jeans it’s because I didn’t pack any at this time as I am running on a tight schedule, so I will not be having any time to change in a toilet of the airport! Anyway, so here I am... dress, coat, high heels, make up on and hair straightened... definitely not my flight wearing gear of preference!!!!  And as soon as I arrive it starts...

At the Valet parking: “Can I take the mileage and the petrol level of your car Madam? ... Thanks Madam... we will have you car at Terminal 1 Madam.... have a safe flight Madam...”

Ok! At this point I think: very polite gentlemen but far too many “Madams”!

Make my way to security and at passport checks: “Good Morning Madam... oh actually is afternoon Madam... Have a good flight Madam...”

Oh God! Is today the Madam Day??? J

Going through security check and it continues... “Any liquids Madam? Your laptop on this tray Madam! Your coat on this one Madam... oh, and I will also need your shoes Madam!!”

This cannot be normal.... I am seriously getting fed up!!

Went for lunch and again... “I will show you to your table Madam; what would you like to drink Madam, have a nice meal Madam...” and so on, and so on.......

Just a quick stop at Harrods to check on the new sunglasses... and again we go!! “Do you need any help Madam? Do you have any preference for a brand Madam? What type of style are you looking for Madam?”

At this point I want to scream and therefore I didn’t buy a very nice pair of new sunglasses and went straight to my boarding gate!!!!

Although I was a little irritated I couldn’t stop smiling... Suddenly everyone at Heathrow Terminal 5 was extremely polite and made me feel like... well like a Madam really! JJJ

xxx

Dani @ Antwerp

PS: I will check next time I am travelling with my flight gear if this will happen!! 

Speak Soon!

Love
Dani