SAN FRANCISCO

Been in America for 3 weeks now. Last week we went to San Francisco for 2 days….one word, WOW-wa-wee-wa-wah. That city is UNBELIEVABLE, it is beautiful, it’s a bit of everything. Got there on a very cloudy day where you couldn’t see the end of the bridge but the next day it was such a beautiful clear day.



The thing about SanFrancisco is that’s it’s a bit of everything, its got a rather large Italian society, North Beach area, has many pizza and pasta places, the first night we went out for a drink in a very Irish bar, very small and local followed by a very Italian restaurant where Ravioli and pizzas thinner than the menu, as our waiter Alessandro said, while trying to sell his computer to our friends, because the computer was in fact a stolen computer that he bought…and so the name of the previous owner was still on the computer.


As we received the check (bill) Alessandro had added an additional quote for the computer, which consisted of the computer’s specifications, a remote control and 4 FREE porn dvds… followed by his number….he had taken a big liking to the guys at this table.


San Francisco is pretty it is easy to get around when you know where you wanna go, 2 days and we went to more places than people that lived there had done in a year! Golden gate bridge, ferry building, fishermans wharf, union square, China town, Washington square, Coit tower, Golden Gate park, one of the largest parks in the world, (this park, note to all, has in it a VAST amount of squirrels…not squirrels we like, like Elvis from Sodwana or those huggable squirrels that run on your shoulder… but squirrels that are aggressive and angry…squirrels that make me run in another direction…squirrels that scare a 22 year old..squirrels that look at you…get into the ‘pounce’ position and start staring you down…squirrels that run after you…THOSE kind of squirrels, yes…the kind that make you walk into the botanical garden and turn around…) after the journey through the park headed through Haight & Ashburys (Hippy town/street-cool place strange people AWESOME shops, a bit of everything, areas where you stroll and others where you pick up your speed…people you smile at and others you ignore…pretend you didn’t see them…


Union square is the times square of San Francisco...on top of Macys (department store) there is a Cheesecake Factory, a restaurant where you have a choice of ROUGHLY 30 flavours of the most amazing, light, tasty Cheesescake you can imagine….examples include; oreo, dulce lech, caramel, lime and raspberry, raspberry satin velvet something even pumpkin and pumpkin spice…etc etc etc…see menu for details. Fishermans wharf is a touristy place, any San Francisco merchandise can be bought here- my tourist responsibilty was fulfilled and I am owner of a comfy San Francisco sweater.


Golden Gate Bridge is all that the pictures show and maybe just a little bit more... I could explain it but a photo will do it more justice…


Coit Tower is 21 stories high and we reached this point around sunset…in time to see the city go to sleep, as the lively city took its second breathe and the lights came on as the sun went down…after drinks we headed downtown to the bank of America building, to the 52nd floor in an express elevator (note to all: Americans do not refer to an elevator as a ‘lift’…) on the way up you pass a number of altitudes and therefore equalising your ears is of utter importance… let set a scene…Imagine 6 people standing in the ELEVATOR open and closing their mouths like chewing cows…the view from 52nd story is UNBELIEVABLE, unfortunately this building and floor will not be open to the public from the 31st of December 2009.






Back to Tahoe, back to work, 160 – 200 covers. Day one we leave work at 01:30, next day we get home by 00:00 and there are ambulances fetching a drunk Brazilian…WELCOME home…






2 more days off and we head off to this yer li’il town called TRUCKEE…in truckee we find BEST-buy prices for our new ski-ing hobby. And enjoy a real diner-style hamburger and chips which comes WITH salad bar AND chilli soup!


Stay tuned as we make a living and the day dawns closer as we head to the slopes.

Welcome to your new Home

After roughly 29 hours of flight we arrived in a somewhat chilly, not cold, lake Tahoe area. To put it in perspective...we flew from SA for 17 hours to Atlanta, here we checked customs and flew to Slat lake city, changed aeroplanes and flew to Reno in a mini aeroplane with total of 50 seats.



From Reno we caught a cab to Lake Tahoe. Where most South Africans ended up arriving at the apartments at the same time. 10 South Africans all in the hospitality industry direction, from across SA. Cape town, Kwa-Zulu natal, Pretoria, Potch, Geroge...to name a few. Tourism studies, international travel and tourism, marketing, hospitality, hotel management, some still studying, some FINISHED, some aready in the industry.


The nest day we arrived at the hotel with crowds of people screaming and shouting, banners and war-crys FNB FNB FNB FNB!! (food and beverage). Culinary team hitting pots and pans. Second day, South Africans dominated and were asked to sing something...we chose...THE ANTHEM. ;)


The week we endured hours and days of uplifting motivation and inspiration, learning credos and motivations, company statements, visions and missions. Instilling an absolute pride to work for such a company...the top 1%... the top hotel in Tahoe, in California and on the way to USA.


Saturday, uniformed and ready to go we started technical training-serving in the unbelievably beautiful MANZANITA restaurant, under chef Traci des Jardine and chef de cuisine, Reylon. Sunday night we were hit by a snow strom, ready to last for a week...by the end of the day the snow is knee-high and we are like kids in a candy store!!






Serice of Ritz-Carlton is top 1% and EVERYTHING is perfect and food is spectacular. Hours are long and feet are not my own. But we smile and we wave and we serve. We watch the people skiing on the slopes outside and we carry on- our time will come.


Welcome to the Ritz-Carlton lake Tahoe, top 1% of hospitality, luxury brand, top service provider and famous chef.


1 day to opening (was the 9th). rumour has it that the meyer of California, Mr Arnold Schwazzeneger (spelling?) might be living in the hotel this week. 125 rooms out of 175 have been filled....


On the 15th of december be sure to check the the ritz carlton website for photos of the hotel and its happenings.

The Lift off...

The intention of this blog is to keep you updated with the 'world-according-to-Ilse', to centre my thoughts and to keep track of them, as well as keep track of my progress, memories, travels and experiences.

Through this here blog I get to share my experiences as a newly semi-graduated HOSPITALITY MANAGER. I say 'semi-' in the way that I mean, I have not OFFICIALLY got the degree yet...and that said, have not OFFICIALLY got all my marks yet- but these are all formalities! The official graduation only happens within 4-months and the marks are due next week.

So after 4 years of studying and the preceding years of having a passion for this industry, I am embarking on a new phase of my life, the part some call REALITY...not the CaReFrEe, IrReSpOnSiBle, tedious days of "STUDYING"...or something like that...;-) but the world where you work hard hours AND...wait for it...get PAID...

Throughout the next years, in which I INTEND to run this blog, I aim to CLIMB to the top, to get where I want to be, in so doing, find out EXACTLY where I want to be. I might start at the bottom and work to the top, start somewhere and work to anywhere, but I will work hard, I will learn, I will experience and become the best damn whatever it is I'm going to be.

This, however, I know....it is a road that will include a lot of travelling...travelling around the globe, travelling within a country, traveling within a company and traveling up and down the ladders of a specific establishment. It will come down to basic concept...of 3 passions...

travelling, working and hospitality....TRAVELLING TO THE TOP!