A new series based on my cuisine experiences in Italy. The title comes from a conversation about who prepares the food in the kitchen. The guy replied, “My Mother Made It”. I had no more to say.
Of course pasta plays a role in the story. How much?
Bauhaus Museum Weimar opened in April 2019. Its collection houses pieces from the 1920’s to the present. Focusing on design, art, dance, and architecture, the Museum narrates the history of Bauhaus over 3 floors.
#Museum Report from Weimar #Germany #Culture #Art #travel #traveller #staycation #ttot #newnormal #culturalheritage #creative #photography #MuseumsUnlocked pic.twitter.com/NJUc1Ys11l
— BlackandPaper (@BlackandPaper1) May 24, 2020
Side Note: The Black and Paper logo was influenced by the Bauhaus movement. We incorporated some of the graphics in our face shield design.
In Weimar. All the details coming soon.
When I was a kid I loved plane spotting at airports. Granted I am from a second tier city with an airport capacity of a few flights a day. Delta Airlines controlled the region. All the liveries were usually Boeing 727’s. I could look up in the sky and knew the time by a passing plane.
During the time I lived in London, Heathrow airport flights dominated the sky. Planes from around the world coming and going at one of the busiest airports in the world. While jogging I would look up to see an A380 from a Middle East Carrier.
While traveling on the autobahn through Southern Germany I saw the tail wing of a Lufthansa 747. Why is that there? Perhaps we missed a signed saying “airport”. Sinsheim is a small a town. The population stands at 35.000. I reasoned there could not be an airport with size to accommodate big planes.
The Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum opened in 1981. For aviation enthusiasts, a must stop. The dramatic sight of an Air France Concorde and Tupolev 144 side by side made me feel like a kid again. I had a model Concorde. Using my hyper imagination to fly from New York to Paris.
According to the website, there are over 3,000 exhibits including cars and tanks.
As I did not have time to enter the museum, I just took pictures from the parking lot. Then walked inside to the gift shop and cafe. No worries. I plan on returning.
In part 2 of our interview with Alitalia Customer Care Head we learned the airline’s definitions of hospitality and customer care.
Do you think people are tiring of being treated like non-customers on airlines?
Alitalia is transforming its guest travel experience embodying a concept of Italian hospitality, thanks to a combination of new service enhancements and an accelerated programme of cultural and operational change at every level within the airline. To date, over 8,000 Alitalia cabin crew and front line airport teams have completed Customer Excellence training workshops dedicated to service excellence, image, style, and in-flight dining service inspired by the world’s best restaurants. On the ground and in the air, Alitalia is empowering its customer-facing staff, placing them at the heart of this transformation process and the response from our guests is extremely positive
What is the definition of hospitable to you?
Hospitality for us is a warm welcome with attention to details which makes our guests from all over the world feel as they were in a typical Italian home. We aim to become the best airline in Europe, and to achieve this we must ensure excellent hospitality and service for our passengers before, during and after their flights. Our new airport lounges “Casa Alitalia” perfectly reflect our idea of hospitality: an environment that combines emotion with efficiency.
In the age of discount airlines why choose Alitalia to fly to Rome or Milan?
Alitalia represents the best Italy has to offer. Our guests will feel a sense of Italy upon boarding the airline’s newly designed planes, equipped with exclusive ‘Made in Italy’ amenities, products and services for customers. Business Class passengers can relax in luxurious Italian-brand Poltrona Frau Leather seats that recline fully to a comfortable flatbed position and enjoy award-winning onboard dining featuring the best of Italian regional food and wine. Alitalia’s new ‘dine anytime’ meal service allows customers to decide when they prefer to eat on board. All classes of travel – business, premium economy and economy – feature newly renovated cabins. We are showing our customers that Alitalia stands for great service and our product and punctuality have changed to best-in-class.
As for the connection opportunities, from Alitalia’s hub at Rome Alitalia passengers can connect to 24 cities in Italy and 53 cities in the rest of the world, including Europe, Middle East, the Americas, Cuba, Far East and North Africa.
Furthermore, the flights departing from Rome and from Milan allow our passengers to reach not only the United Arab Emirates, but continue, thanks to our partner Etihad Airways’ extensive global connections, to many destinations in the Middle East, Africa, the Indian Subcontinent, Asia and Australia
Is it true you sent a newlywed couple a bottle of Champagne because of lost luggage?
Yes, it is. Recently we’ve made a surprise to two guests in honeymoon by delivering them a gift at their arrival in Naples, as a special care to improve their experience. Their response was extremely positive.
Where do you like to travel to relax?
New York is my favorite city in the world as there is just so much choice and you can never get bored from great hotels, culinary delights, theatre, shopping but most of all just walking around exploring. Living in Italy now for 18 months, my second favorite is “Italy”: it has everything to offer and choice from great locations in the South on the Mediterranean but especially the mountains of Tuscany and Umbria whereby the silence is just perfect, the fresh air, the calming surroundings and its lake getting back to basics by experiencing the olive harvest, the truffle hunting, the exquisite vineyards. The peace and quiet for me is a luxury.
For Alitalia Destinations go to:www.alitalia.com
Part 1 of the Black and Paper Feature
The Glamorous spirit of Italy is being recaptured by Alitalia. The flagship carriers renaissance begins with the style and chic looks of new crew uniforms.
Why the new uniforms after so many years?
Renovating a company must include the renewal of its image. And what is more distinctive for an airline than its uniform? This is especially true for Alitalia, which globally represents Italy, something that throughout the world is synonymous with style and timeless elegance.
Our aim was to create a new look of our people which would capture the spirit of Alitalia today as it continues on its journey of renewal and growth. Our new stylish collection of uniforms emulates the beauty of Italy and represents Italian excellence around the world. We want our customers to experience the best of Italy in everything that we do, and there is no better way of highlighting our desire than with new uniforms.
Who is the designer of the new looks?
The new Alitalia Collection was created by Italian haute couturier designer Ettore Bilotta. All of his creation matches the best of Italian tailoring tradition and the luxury textiles highlighting the purely formal linearity characterizing its design. He studied at IED in Rome. He started his career in high-fashion with Radiosa, a bridal fashion house then moved to fashion house Lella Curiel. In the mid-1990s he collaborated with the iconic Italian label Lancetti. After this he worked he designed Etihad Airways in 2003.
Alitalia’s brief to the designer was to create a new style which would be timeless and enduring, by using classic Italian elements combined with everyday practicality for both male and female Alitalia team. Bilotta used red to symbolize Italian passion, and green to represent the best of Italy, its countryside, and the richness of its culture and history. The female cabin crew uniforms are a burgundy that slowly changes to a lighter red. This effect was achieved by using a chevron print design. For the female ground crew, a charcoal grey gradually changing to green was also realized using the same print design. This design process is utilized on each garment, including a white blouse featuring tapering chevron print columns in red for cabin crew and green for ground crew.
All female crew members receive three options: a one piece dress, a two piece jacket and skirt and a trouser option, including shirt and cardigan. As for the accessories, they receive high or low heel shoes, overcoat, foulard, winter scarf, belt, stockings, handbag, hat, gloves, make up kits and bag with buttons.
All male crew members receive a collection composed by jacket, shirt, tie, waistcoat (for male cabin crew and male airport lounges team) or pullover (for male ground team), pochette, trousers, belt, gloves, handbag, shoes, overcoat, winter scarf, bags with buttons and make up kits for male.
Why the La Dolce Vita references of Chic?
The collection takes inspiration from the glamorous Golden Days of Italian fashion in the 1950s and 1960s – when women always were very elegant, wearing beautiful hats and gloves – and Italy’s rich heritage, culture and national identity. To represent the essence of Italy in the new collection, the designer studied Italian architecture, monuments, and everyday lifestyles but elected to draw inspiration from the country’s landscapes, eventually focusing on the terraces of Cinque Terre on the Italian Riviera. These terraces were the inspiration for the hat design.
The new uniform also celebrates the people of Alitalia, their professionalism, style and passion for the airline.
Even the accessories are unusual and distinctive. The bags of the female uniforms are elegant and refined. For cabin crew are in wood green, and for ground staff are in burgundy such as all the leather accessories. The shoes worn by the personnel are handmade in the historic workshops of the Marche. The gloves that accompany the new Alitalia uniforms come from the heart of Naples, famous throughout the world for its tradition of leather craftsmanship.
For accessory lovers, tell us about the new crew bags and other details.
The bags for the male uniform and other accessories are more formal, from the shoes to the waistcoats, cardigans, scarves and overcoat that showcase the typical Italian male elegance. The design on the pouchette and on the ties are perfectly balance the uniform using modern Italian contemporary and classic design elements to create items which are in vogue.
Both the foulards of the female uniform and the ties for male are made from the finest silk selected from the best supplier in Como.
Part 2 of this article will be on line soon.
By Breck Graham