It has been one of the longest days I ever had. To start off
such an exciting, as well as exhausting, day, I met up with my cohorts before the sun even rose. It was colder than I thought at 3 AM, and as Don was talking about
the trip to Pennsylvania, I could feel myself shivering a little. It felt much warmer in the
van on the way to the airport. Since the van came early, we had plenty of time
at the airport with around 2 hours. At the airport, we bought the biggest
burritos ever. They were huge and, best of all, filled with bacon. They were much preferred over airplane food, but a little too big. They were a little bigger than the size of my foot. After we finished our meal, the
dreaded airplane trip arrived.
No matter how long a flight is, whether it is 13 hours to China
or just 5 hours to Pennsylvania, I always hated them. As soon as we enter the plane, the smell just makes me nauseous. My ears would soon be popping
every other minute once in the air, and there were only beverages served on the plane. Most of the time, I had to
read the book Cornell assigned. Once the flight was over with, the day would gradually become better.
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| Hotel Lobby |
Finally arriving to the hotel, we had to wait at the lobby because there was some confusion because the rooms weren’t
paid. In most hotels, it would be a pain to wait, but in The Inn at Penn, the interior was well designed, which made the wait enjoyable. However, it was quickly resolved and Eric Wilson and I went to our room while the
others went to theirs. Since we had plenty of time to spend before our
dinner we went walking and just viewing this unfamiliar territory. After
going to CVS, we came back, with 2 hours to relax. During this entire time, I
was too tired to really do anything due to that flight and the time difference.
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| Ceiling of Del Frisco Steakhouse |
Finally, it came time for the big dinner. I was looking forward to this because I haven't eaten since we left the airport. We arrived, and I was flabbergasted by the incredible interior. There were huge columns, as well as a magnificent staircase of wine. We ordered our steak, which what I thought took quite some time (maybe because I was hungry.) However, when the steaks finally arrived, they looked fantastic, and the time we waited for the steak was worth it. Everyone just devoured their steaks partly because we hadn't really eaten lunch, and also, because it was so good.
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| Biggest steak I ever ate |
This day has been a great start to what will be a fabulous experience. Today's activities were fun, but the next few days would be even funner.
Frank,
ReplyDeleteSome people have terminal cases of “foot in mouth disease” so devouring those big as your foot” burritos might not have been much of a challenge.
I know you’ve all heard the explanation but for our readers in Whatchamacallitstan that are reading your blogs, I need to clear the air: We paid for your rooms by check on May 16th and the hotel promptly cashed our check. What they failed to do, though, was credit us with that payment. You need to thank your chaperone Mr. Chan-Law for his quick action to resolve the problem. He made the appropriate calls and we got the right people back here on top of things to square you all away.
I find it interesting that amongst the 22 ILCers and chaperones we’ve sent east so far, not a one of you as written anything really nice about your airline experiences. You may not be writing really negative comments but what we’re not seeing are glowing recommendations that you would suggest to everyone that you meet that they had to fly with whatever airline you flew with.
What does that say about the hospitality industry? Considering the course you’re taking at Cornell, these are the kinds of questions you need to be asking. Even though we’re talking about airlines, the questions are the same for hotels and restaurants, too. [And don’t forget that cruise lines are just ships with huge hotels on them.]