Departure: Thursday
On March 10, 2017 I departed for London from the Atlanta
airport. I hate flying (I find it totally boring) usually and I wasn’t exactly
excited to be flying through the night. In addition, my kids were not excited
for me to be gone for so long…so that made the leaving even harder. Look at that face.
So....I have a really hard time sleeping in moving vehicles
regardless of who is in control or how tired I am. However, in an effort to
try and make myself more comfortable, I brought two pillows, one neck and one
dog bone, so that I might be more able to get some sleep during the 6-hour
flight.
I was scheduled to fly on Delta flight 0028 for a direct flight to
London at 7:05pm eastern, out of Atlanta, on a flight that was completely full with not an empty
seat. Overhead compartments were also completely full. I was flying Sky Priority, so I got to board early and get all situated before the plane got totally packed. However, there were
two couples whose connecting flight from Dallas was late and one of those
couples was sitting right in front of me. When they started looking for room to stow their carryons, one of the couples pulled my bag out of the overhead compartment and tried squeezing it in another compartment. I looked up from my phone just in time to see them breaking my glasses. What a great start!
Arrival: Friday
At 2:25am Eastern, 8:25am GMT, we arrived in London. I was
extremely tired due to the two pillows not being enough to convince me to relax
enough to fall asleep. When we arrived we hurriedly made our way to border
patrol/customs where we stood in line for an hour before making our way through
to baggage claim. I am not sure why it took so long. I literally was standing
in front of a border patrol agent for no more than 10 seconds and there were
many many agents. So I believe they may have an efficiency problem at the
London border.
Getting our bags was easy and all arrived in good shape. No one in our group of 48 had any missing luggage. I was very surprised. We
spent some time waiting for the coaches to show up and once they did we got our
luggage stowed underneath and separated into the two groups as assigned by Kim
and as designated by the EMBA agenda. While on our way to the hotel, Garry, one of the guides,
told us about some of the history of London and also read to us some
interesting facts about the areas we were driving through. I had never been to
London, so just the ride back to the hotel kept my eyes open even though my
eyelids felt completely fatigued.
Well some of us didn't stay awake. ;)
 |
| Westminster |
 |
| Westminster |
 |
| Westminster Abby & Big Ben |
 |
| Tower of London |
Checking into the hotel was no issue at all. I appreciated that, upon arrival, the hotel had us already checked into our rooms and handed us our keys as we walked in. We literally walked in the front door got a key and went straight up to
our rooms. The Tower of London was just across the bridge from our hotel. That was real nice! Now in an effort to try and get over my jetlag as quickly as
possible, I fought the overwhelming desire to lay down on the bed. I did,
however, take a shower which I found to be refreshing and awakened me enough to
enjoy the rest of the day. Not long after checking in, we were back on the bus
for a driving tour of London. My favorite thing of the day was our visit to
Buckingham palace where we interestingly enough had to
pay to use the bathroom.
 |
| Buckingham Palace |
First real full day in London: Saturday
Today we went to Canterbury, the home of Canterbury Tales. It seems we have to spend a long time in the coach to go anywhere in London. Transporting in anything other than the Tube, subway, is highly inefficient. Jet lag was still killing many of us so the travel to Canterbury gave us a great opportunity for some of us to get some additional sleep. Canterbury was pretty incredible. We visited a museum, a cathedral, several shops, and
generally just enjoyed the day in a beautiful place.
 |
| Ally way in Canterbury with Cathedral in background |
 |
| You can actually go listen to readings/performance of Canterbury Tales. Parental Advisory! |
 |
| Canal way in Canterbury |
 |
| Gate leading into Cathedral grounds |
 |
| Cathedral (repair in progress) |
 |
| Inside Cathedral at Canterbury |
Saturday was a nice relaxing day of a lot of bus travel. The Canterbury trip was followed by a dinner cruise on the Thymes river. Unfortunately the food on the dinner cruise was not very appetizing. We were served ox cheek and some veggies. Although I ate all of it, I had to remove a lot of fat jelly from the ox cheek in order to swallow it. But what the dinner lacked in appetizing goodness, the cruise, up the Thymes, made up for with beautiful city sites.
 |
| Tower Bridge |
 |
| Tower Bridge |
Second day in London: Sunday
This morning I woke up early and took my first solo
adventure on the Tube and went to church. Unfortunately because it was Sunday,
some of the underground services were stopped so that train and track maintenance could be
performed. But, luckily, I left with plenty of time and still made it to church
with 5 mins to spare. One thing to take note of is that Londoners are not
afraid to give you bad directions or just generally try to make things a little
more difficult for you. I asked the Tube attendant what I should do since I
could not take the Central Line East to the station I needed to get to. He told
me to take the available west bound train to Blackfriar and just walk 5 mins to
the station on the eastern side where I was supposed to make my connection.
Turns out the 5 min walk was actually 25 mins and through some pretty rough
areas of London. But, I made it.
Church was nice. A fairly large and very diverse congregation
and very welcoming.
 |
| Hyde Park Congregation |
After church I met up with another EMBA student and we explored the city via Tube and Bus. I did ride in a double decker bus. If you have ever wondered what the staircase in a double decker bus looks like here you go.
 |
| Stairs to the upper deck of the red double decker buses in London |
In our adventures we explored back streets near Oxford Circus and then worked our way to the British Museum. The Museum is extremely full of artifacts of every kind. You literally have to walk around the exhibits. Visiting is free to everyone. If you plan to visit the museum, plan on it being very crowded and hard to see many of the most interesting exhibit.
 |
| British Museum |
 |
| Rosetta Stone |
 |
| Assyrian Gate |
Third day in London: Monday
Today the presentation at Ashridge was very interesting and
the Ashridge school was incredibly nice. I appreciated the discussion with the
professors and other business professionals regarding Brexit. I found it
interesting to hear the ideas and expectations of the presenters and to find out that potentially, based on the statistics and ideals presented that none of the presenters would have voted in favor of Brexit. I also found it interesting that Brexit was not the most exciting topic of discussion but that the potential exit of Scotland from the UK was of more interest to the presenters.
 |
| Ceiling of the room we met in for the Brexit discussion |
 |
| Foyer of Ashridge School |
Notice the foyer and staircase look very similar to the stairs in Harry Potter. As it turns out, the Ashridge School was approached by the film makers regarding using the staircase but the school wasn't willing to shut down for weeks in order for filming to take place. What a fascinating place!
After the Ashridge/Brexit discussion, we then made our way to the Meantime Brewing Company. If there is one thing I learned from this visit, it is that Brits love their beer. I do not drink alcohol but I definatly learned more about the colors and names of beer than I had ever imagined. Many of the class members seemed to be enjoying themselves during the tour and tasting. Meantime did not spare any beer when it came to letting the entire group drink till their hearts were content.
 |
| Meantime Brewing Company Tour and Tasting |
Fourth day in London: Tuesday
Today we went to NHS to learn more about the healthcare system in Britain. Although I am not in the healthcare industry I did find the discussion interesting. The most interesting thing that I believe was presented was the information regarding how NHS is not able to keep up with demand for healthcare. As it turns out, NHS is going to be 17k beds and 31 billion pounds sterling short of demand by 2022. That is only five years away and they don't really seem to be on track to fix the problem that fast. However, they did present information about their new efforts to capitalize on healthcare in other countries. What I mean is that they can't "make money" in their own country by providing healthcare, but they can set up shop in other countries and charge for services. They are hoping that doing so will help them offset their current funding issues and their future funding issues. I also found it interesting that in a country with "free healthcare" that statics regarding health and child mortality rates were not overwhelmingly fantastic in all the surrounding boroughs of London.
After our visit to NHS we visited and toured the Royal Military Academy at Sandhurst and received a lecture/presentation from one of the greatest guys I have ever met, Jon Armstrong. He lectured us on leadership and how he implemented certain aspects of leadership in order to lead his team to success while completing some pretty intense survival missions through the frozen tundras. The quote I most appreciated from him was, "A leader must always show up". I loved that he shared experiences of how he had to force himself to keep going and keep trudging along through tundra even though he really just wanted to sit down every once in a while. But, he knew that his team was counting on him to lead so the forced himself to get up and lead. He forced himself to "show up". He knew that if he didn't show up then his team mate would give up and the mission would be over and a failure. I am going to have to find ways to motivate my work team by showing up and leading more efficiently and effectively.
 |
| Original Sandhurst buildings |
 |
| The "New" Sandhurst |
Day Five: Transfer to Zagreb
This morning we got up incredibly early to get to the airport and get a plane to Zagreb, Croatia. We were told many times that the luggage requirements for the flight to Zagreb were going to be much more strict than when we flew to London from Atlanta. However, I found that there really was no difference. I also found that the discussion we had regarding seating and weight positioning on the plane was also of little concern. The plane we were taking was not a small prop plane but it was a real jetliner with no issue getting us with all our belongs out of London and into Zagreb.
The flight was only a couple of hours and we did lose an hour because we jumped time zones when we flew to Zagreb. I was unable to fall asleep on this flight too. Dang it! I really could have used the extra sleep considering how late I was up wondering the city of London the night before and how long it took me to pack up all the extra souvenirs for my kids.
When we arrived in Zagreb we met our coach and loaded the bags. We immediately set out on a tour of the city and got directly to the hotel and checked in. Actually, checking in was just as efficient as the hotel in London. We simply walked into the hotel and someone was there to hand us our room keys. We went up to our rooms and put away our luggage and some of us bathed. We returned to the hotel lobby to begin our walking tour of the city center. Zagreb is a beautiful city. What a fantastic place!
 |
| City Center |
 |
| City Center looking up toward the Cathedral |
 |
| Cathedral entrance renovation underway |
 |
| Arcade "wall" separating living from the dead |
 |
| This view shows just how massive this wall is. |
 |
| Inside the Arcade. Long rectangles in floor are actual burial spots. |
 |
| Walled off by massive Arcade is this enormous cemetery. |
 |
| Beautiful wildflower in Zagreb. |
Our tour guid shows us how to make the wildflower into a whistle.
Day 6: First real day in Zagreb
Today was a jam packed day of meeting with companies and discussing the ways business is done in Croatia vs the USA. The first company we met with was a technology company that also happens to build electric supercars, Rimac. This company is creating a niche market for super expensive electric cars and they have been successful in building that part of their business as well showcasing the engineering brains they have banked within their organization to attract other car manufactures in search of new technologies. It is very interesting to see what these people are coming up with and how they literally will risk everything to make a go at something they are very passionate about. Rica is currently looking for funding and is hoping to take their company public in the next few years. It was very interesting to also see that they have women employed at the some of the highest positions within the company.
 |
| Rimac Concept One |
 |
| The box my souvenir shirt came in. The packaging for a $20 shirt was like unwrapping an iPhone. |
Today we also visited Hub385. It is a shared workspace environment for startup companies who can't afford or do not have the need for their own facilities. It was a very interesting place. Hub385 is technically an incubator for entrepreneurs, but the company itself is also a startup. They were only in the first year of business and are currently struggling to make their business plan work in order to remain afloat. Their concept is a great one though. Hopefully they will be able to figure out how to make it work and keep it open as a catalyst for all the struggling entrepreneurs struggling to get their start.
 |
| Shared workspace |
 |
| Nice open shared workspace |
 |
| Shared workspace |
 |
| Green room. This is a relaxing stress free zone for sleeping or even for strategizing. |
Day 7: Second day in Zagreb
Today was a very interesting day in Zagreb. We started the day by visiting a cravat, neck-tie, store. We found out today that neck-ties were actually invented by Croatians. The tradition of the neck-tie runs deep in Croatia and Potomac has done well at marketing the pride of the neck-tie to the people of the "motherland". Potomac sells neck-ties for as much as $1000. But the average cost of a beautiful handmade neck-tie is closer to about $200 for a people that only make, on average, $750 a month. That is right. Evidently, Croatians are willing to spend apex 25% of their income on a neck-tie. Now tell me pride doesn't run deep in Croatia. I do have to be honest, I did buy some neck-ties while I was there. However, I went to the their low-end wall and paid about $70 for a tie. I know. I know. I bought two ties in London for about $6 and bought one tie in Zagreb for $70. What is wrong with me? I guess I am just a sucker for nice ties.
Potomac also sells scarfs and shirts. So I did buy some nice scarfs for my wife. And let me tell you, her scarfs cost way more than my ties. They are beautiful though.
 |
| Roof outside Potomac department store |
 |
| Potomac department store |
After visiting with the people of Potomac we then went to visit Kras, a candy maker and the largest of its kind in Southeastern Europe. As we toured the plant, I couldn't help but see the smiling faces of the employees as they worked on the, sometimes, very hot production lines. I enjoyed, as we toured the facility, how the workers would call us over and show us what is was they were doing and how they were doing it. In addition, they didn't waste any time making sure we had samples of their products to try. They were very proud of their candies and very proud of the work they were doing. It was later that I found out that the company is actually owned by the employees. I guess it makes sense why they are so proud of what they do and how they do it. They own the process and the product.
We finished the day by visiting a company called Dok-Ing. They are another tech company making unmanned landmine clearing machines and saving countless lives. In addition, they make electric mining robots used to tunnel shafts and move earth underground where man is not able to go. This company was started in the early 1990s as a television satellite manufacturer and evolved into the company it is today because they were approached about a need for clearing landmines and company founder took a chance and struck gold. Again, it amazes me that people have the ability to turn almost nothing into something so fantastic and life changing and life saving as Dok-Ing. The people who run and operate that company are some of the most creative I have ever met.
 |
| Landmine Clearing |
 |
| Landmine Clearing |
 |
| Mining Excavation |
 |
| Swiss Army Knife of Emergency Vehicles |
Day 8: Third day in Zagreb
Today we had a kind of leisure day in Croatia. We traveled a little over 2 hours to Plitvicka Lakes National Park. This park is one of the most awesome places I have ever been. Unfortunately we did not get to explore all its beauty but he 1hr hike through the trails was absolutely one of the best things I have ever done. Just look at the awesomeness!
After we returned to the city we had our final dinner together as a group. Some of the group would be leaving the next morning to head to Dubrovnik, for their extended excursions, while the rest of us would remain in Zagreb in order to begin our return home on Monday morning. The dinner was well done and I have to say that I did enjoy the food in Croatia much more than the food in London.
Day 9: Fourth day in Zagreb
Today I attended church in Zagreb. The service was held in Croatian but they did provide English translation for those who didn't speak the native language. I have to admit that I have been to churches in many parts of the world and this is the first time that I felt like the English translation didn't skip a beat. I mean sometimes, in other congregations I have attended, several minutes of the meeting would go by without even a word of English. But not today. The women who was translating did a fantastic job.
Also the ride to and from church was not as big a deal as it was in London. I simply ran the address in Google Maps and selected "train" and walked out of my hotel lobby and literally right on to a train. I took the 17 train South from the hotel for 21 stops and until it dropped me at the congregation I was planning to attend. No better way to see the city and learn about the people than to be among them on the train. I love to explore things on my own. So glad I did.
 |
| Teddy Roosevelt triangle...on my way to church |
 |
| Tesla Museum |
 |
| One of only two Mormon Churches in Croatia..from what I was told. |
 |
| I call this communist block housing. Much of the housing looks like this. |
After church I got back on the train and then took a bus and started exploring the city. You can spend a lot of time on the trains and buses in Zagreb and not spend a whole lot of money. Once I started working my way through the city I decided to make my way over to Arena Center and see what a Croatian shopping mall was like. I was very surprised to find that it was very much like any mall you would find here except some of the stores have different names and there are probably about 75 shoe stores. I also thought it was interning that inside the mall they had a store called Interspar which is like their form of Wal-Mart but just not as big. But everything in there is made in China and junk. They also had food too. Just like a Super Wal-Mart.
Many people told me that Croatia was going to be cheap. However, the only thing I can report that was cheap was eating out. Eating out at night cost a few dollars less than it would have cost me in the US. However, everything else like shoes, clothing, and other goods were just as much or a little more than they would have been back home.
 |
| Mall Food Court |
 |
| Front entrance of mall |
Day 10: Departure and flight home
After 10 days I am ready to go home and see my wife and kids and sleep in my own bed.
The flight home was super long. It didn't help the we flew a couple hours from Zagreb to Amsterdam and then Amsterdam to Atlanta. That last leg of the flight too almost 9 hours. I was about to go crazy! I almost lost it! Luckily they had movies on the plan that I had never seen before and for a few mins I was able to nod off for a few winks....but not nearly long enough to make the 9 hours go by quickly. If you ever make this trip I suggest bringing something that can really take your mind off of sitting on your butt for 9 hrs or taking some very strong sleeping pills. I would suggest the kind that if you take them you better be wearing a diaper because you are so out of it you will pee your pants king of sleeping pills. It is only those kinds of pills and that kind of sleep that could have made the any sort of difference for me.
When I got home my kids tackled me, and I loved it. I showered them with gifts from my adventures and told them all the stories I could remember from the day to day activities. The only way the trip could have been any better was if my wife had been with me. I love sharing great thing like this with her in the moment rather than after the fact. There is just about being in the moment at the same time that makes that moment that much better.
Although I hated the flight I love the pictures of the ice I was able to get. Check out these beauties.
So if you have made it this far I would like to give you some advice for you EMBA trip.
1. pack light - leave room for souvenirs. you will end up not needing nearly as much formal dress up clothing as your originally thought.
2. bring an extra bag or carry-on with you. you will need it for all the souvenirs.
3. make sure you get out and explore the cities you visit on the subways, trains, or buses.
4. soak it up
5. HAVE FUN!
Here was our itinerary:
Comments
Post a Comment