Tell Me: Griffo Info

We toured Italy in the summer of 2008 with some friends Bill and Sandra. We all enjoyed the trip very much, apart from the flights to and from Italy on Alitalia.
The food in Italy was great everywhere. Lots of Pasta and Pizza and a great variety of fresh local foods everywhere we went. We did not notice an over-use of garlic as we had expected. In Australia and USA Italian cooking usually has a great deal of garlic.

And now for a few pictures….

Above shows a shot of the Grand Canal in Venice.

Here I am standing on a bridge across the Grand Canal in Venice.

Here we are on the Gondola ride. We named the oarsman “Charles Manson”. We were treated to a bottle of Italian Spumante served in lovely plastic cups!

Not a cheap ride along the canals of Venice, but hey, we had gone all that way to see what there was to see!

We later visited the Isle of Capri. It was a great day, and the water really does look like this there…

John

We have again survived the long trip between our Northern Summer home and our Southern Summer home. Now to endure a few days with jet-lag and get back into some real work.

The trans-Pacific flight with Qantas leaving LAX late on last Thursday was a lot more turbulent than in the past. This was probably due to the effects of “Gullible Warming”

John

We have just returned from a road trip to the Denver area. It is very impressive to see the Rocky Mountains up close. We drove up to the Rocky Mountain National Park and would recommend the drive to anyone. I will add a photo or two here as soon as I get time.

Denver is a nice clean city, and there is a lot to do in the area. This was my first visit there and I will surely return again.

Here is a photo of me at about 12000 ft. in mid summer at the top of Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.-

John Griffiths

It continues. The debate about air fares and viability of airline because of the increasing fuel prices.

On the one hand, there is much criticism of airline management. And the other, the rising cost of airfares. Well people, get a grip!

My big gripe is that airlines charge a Fuel Levy on flights. This tends to be a flat amount. Hardly fair to charge $65 for a flight LAX (Los Angeles) to SFO (San Francisco) and the same $65 for a flight LAX to JFK (New York). But they do! Also, $15 for your checked in bag. Crazy!

John Griffiths says to airline managers:

• Charge enough IN the FARE to recoup your fuel costs
• Charge a proportionate amount for extras based on flight distance
• Take a long term view, forget about this year’s annual bonus
• Start to really MANAGE you airlines finances

If the business were a single owner/driver Cab, then I am sure that the manager would either up the fares, or park the cab. The other alternative is to go bust.

And, John Griffiths says to airline managers:

• When/If the price of fuel drops, then you can drop your fares and look great.
• OR… Just maintain a management position if fuel prices continue to rise.

If your aircraft leasing rates went to 20% p.a. and state taxes rose, would you not raise fares?

If passenger loads drop because of fare increase, then curtail a few flights.

If too many segments are dropped, and the service is desirable/critical, then hold your hand out for some government funding. – Just like all those old rice farmers and tobacco farmers who are PAID not to produce. Crazy situation!

If bookings fall, and you order less new planes, will not Mr Boeing drop his price?

John Griffiths, trying to solve the world’s problems

OK, here is a link to our photos of Italy. The link will open in a fresh page/tab.

I built this photo album using JALBUM which works great, especially if you have your own hosted site.

Photos follow the sequence Lake Como Region, Milano, Venice, Bologna, Florence, Assisi, Pompei, Sorrento/Capri and finally Rome/Vatican City. We were away 15 days. to May 10 2008.

John

We have just returned from our recent trip to Italy alive and well.

We went on a two week tour organised by GoAheadTours.com and had a fabulous time. Everything went according to plan, apart from two very long airport lay-overs (both in New York’s JFK – 1 of 7 hours and one of 6 hours). Go Ahead was great and we would not hesitate to use them again. The Atlantic crossings were flown on Alitalia. This was the first time we had ever flown Alitalia, and would try to stay away from them in the future. Service was not up to the standard we have become accustomed to with Qantas. The Boeing 767 we flew in from Rome to JFK was pretty much fitted out in a vary basic format (no in-seat video), and the most seats had broken support under whatever cushion was left. In all, a very tired plane. My wife had a broken seat. Our two fiends had broken seats. They partially overcame the problem by placing their blankets on top of the seat cushions. As the flights were all full to capacity, there was no option to switch seats.

The highlights of the trip for me were the Lake Como region of northern Italy and the isle of Capri. Also, we enjoyed a few days in Assisi.

I will post some photos in the next few days and place a link here when I get the chance.

John

Great News…

The Italian government today (April 22 2008 ) is to somehow (in contravention of EU rulings) advance Alitalia 300 Million Euros. This should keep Alitalia airborne for the next few weeks! Well, to the end of the year at least! So it looks like our trip is going to Go Ahead.

John

We have trekked back to Texas for the Northern summer but so far summer has gone missing. So much (again) for Global Warming.

In just over a week from now, we are heading to Italy to check things out there. This will be our first visit to Italy and it looks like being a lot of fun. We are touring with some friends from Texas and hope to enjoy some great wine and food there. Oh, yes, we are also going to take in some of the scenery and famous architecture.

There is one factor that may throw a spanner into the works though – The tour company have booked us on Alitalia for the flight across to Italy. Sadly Alitalia are having financial problems and it is rumoured that they may shut down whilst we are away. It is a long swim back to the US so we are hoping that this does not go wrong. Fingers crossed.

John