Blog Europe 2023 Part 2 (Scroll down to read Part 1)

7 July 2023

We went by train from Basel to Milano with no problem boarding at 9:30am.

Milan to Venice did not start well.  Another couple had the same seats booked as ours.

The Italian conductress said it was impossible.

Confronted with the evidence she then said the computer had made a mistake.  Fortunately she found new seats for the other younger couple.

We got to Venice at 6:30pm, grabbed a porter who did a great job organising a taxi to the Hilton Molino Stucky on the island of Guidecca..  The Hilton is the biggest hotel in Venice and is extraordinarily busy.

Before going to Venice I had some research and torn out some articles.  One began by saying “Forget wandering among the canals and canoodling in a gondola.  What you should be doing in Venice is eating.”  If you have read my first blog you could say that we had already adopted this philosophy and I can only agree,’

8 July 2023

Following the advice of her nephew, Angus, we caught a ferry to the island of Lido.  We walked to the typically Italian Beach covered in umbrellas in reserved areas where you pay to stay.  Lido is a wealthy suburb.

That night on the recommendation of Marita Blood we ate dinner at the Corte Sconta, Calle del Pestrin.  A recommendation which proved to be brilliant.  Great food and great ambiance.  I asked the owner, Marco Proletto, to name his favourite restaurants and we ended up eating at two of them.  Book before going, this restaurant is well known in Venice and very popular.

9 July 2023

Thus began our education in Venice.  I woke up to find my computer had frozen.   It was Sunday so we went to the concierge to ask if there was a computer shop in Venice.  He said there was one behind the Teastro de Venice in the Calle de Molino.  Vivienne suggested we go there and the find the shop so we could easily go there on Monday.  Like a good husband I followed her advice 2 hours later we had gone up and down the street with no luck.  We then went into a mobile phone shop and was told by the techie no computer shop here but try the Strata Nova.  Another 1.5 hours no shop.  Like every other tourist wandering around Venice we were discovering GMAPs is very hard to use.  However we had one good piece of luck; it was hunch time and we were 100m from the Vini ds Gigio and 10 minutes later we finically found it and sat down to lunch.

This was a  recommendation by owner of the Corte Sconta,  Another excellent seafood restaurant.

The other good news was that I had plugged in my computer to charge it and it booted immediately.  Somehow it had not been plugged in properly.  And that evening doing the promenade to find a bar in Guidecca what was the first thing we found? A computer shop 300m from the hotel!!!

10 July 2023

Continuing our exploration of Venice we decide to cross of the Guidecca Canal  to Zattere and explore the Dosoduro area of Venice.   We started late; I had woken at 9:30am and had a local bar croissant and cappuccino for breakfast.  Vivienne was hungry so I found using GMAPS a great restaurant  Trattoria Ai Cugnai S.Vio 857.

As we were close we decided to go to the Guggenheim Museum.  Walking around and looking at the very attractive interns and not really into non-representational 20^th century modern art, I asked a young male intern if he had ever read Tom Wolfe’s The Painted Word? 

To my utter amazement he said he had read it 2 weeks ago, thought it was brilliant and was recommending it to all the other interns.  My declining faith in the young generation was suddenly restored. 

11 July 2023

Vivienne said she wanted to explore the Grand Canal and I said sure we can catch a ferry and then did the trip down the Canal.  It was now 12 noon and I had booked lunch at the Antiche Carampane for 1:30.  GMAPS said we were 15 minutes away and 2 hour later we finally found it.  Luckily they had kept a table and Marco’s suggestion proved to be excellent. 

I do not want to describe the trip back but what should have been 45 mins max back took us 2.5 hours; Venice is a tough city to navigate.

12 July 2023

We transferred to the Viking Sea our home for the next 10 days as we cruise from Venice to Athens.  Cruise ships are now banned in the Venice lagoon.  The Viking Sea was moored in Choggia, a 90 minute cruise from Venice.

13 July 2023

We were meant to sail to Slovenia but due to some complication we could not so we spent the day moored in Choggia.  We took the free offer of guided short tour of Venice which was somewhat ironical being we had already spent 4 day there,  The guide, Gabriela, who was not much younger than me was very sprightly and walks at a cracking pace.  Her commentary was first rate.

Vivienne tried to match our stunningly attractive Viking Guide, Annelise, with a very handsome gondolier who was giving Annelise the eye.  Her reply? “My father was a gondolier, so was my uncle, my brother, and my two last boyfriends.  I will never go out with another gondolier.”

14 July 2023

We sailed to the port of Zadar on the Croatian Coast.  The oldest city on the Dalmatian coat it has had a challenging history due to it always finding itself positioned on the border between two opponents in conflict.  The latest was the Homeland War between Croatia/Slovenia and Serbia/Montenegro.  Our guide was excellent and told us why it was all Serbia’ fault.

15 July 2023

Next port Dubrovnik; easily the most scenic port on the Dalmatian Coast.  We were last here in August 2008 and all I can remember is how crowded it was.  Since then Dubrovnik has survived the terrible siege of the Homeland War in the early 1990s and two years of Covid.  Again the guide gave more history about the Homeland War. 

On the other hand two great decisions by the local government have made Dubrovnik far more enjoyable to visit.  The first was limiting the number of cruise ships to two; previously it allowed up to 10.  The other was to give Game of Thrones rent free use of the city (It is the Kingdom of Lannister).  It has since been used for multiple film & TV productions.

16 July 2023

Kotor was described by Lord Byron as ‘’At the birth of the planet, the most beautiful encounter between land and sea must have been on the Montenegrin coast.’’.  And he is probably right. 

However, the most amazing part of our tour was when the guide explained the prevalence of cats which are everywhere.  Kotor managed to escape the black death that ravaged the rest of Europe killing over 40% of the population due to three reasons.

1.     Excellent sewerage systems built by the Romans.

2.     Excellent fresh water in the surrounding mountains brought in by aqueducts again built by the Romans.

3.     The large number of cats that caught the rats.

 I asked the guide what did Montenegro call the 1990 Balkan War? Her reply is that it was a civil war started by paramilitary forces based in Croatia.  It was started by politicians and was terrible the way it divided families including her own. 

There are always 2 sides to every story.

17 July 2023

It is getting hotter; today it reached 37°C.  In all my travels I have never been to Corfu and it had long been on my bucket list.  For years it was the #1 location for the Brits.  And to be honest we were both less than impressed.  There were too many people using the limited public resources.  

On the other hand once our tour had finished we had a very nice cappuccino and bellini at the Sessions Café on Liston - Eleftherias Street, easily the most attractive street in Corfu.

18 July 2023

Even hotter today 39°C.  Moored at Kalakolon and went to Olympia where the Olympic games started in 776BC.  Now is the site where the Olympic flame is lit every 2 years prior to going to the host country.  Impressive site but our tour guide could have been longer and slower.

19 July 2023

When we woke up this morning and went out onto our balcony, we were met with a convoy of cruise ships.  Six of them (including) ours were mooring today in Santorini harbour.  We were last here in 2006.  I spent 2 days in our cave bedroom in Oia recovering from cellulitis.  And the island was overrun when multiple cruise ships moored in the harbour (like today).

I booked an excursion that described as .”Cities ancient and modern.”  The first part was a visit to Akrotiri: known the Pompeii of the Aegean, a town completely submerged in the massive volcanic eruption of 1600 BC. It is now a major archaeological site and quite fascinating; the sophistication of the locals was  impressive (aqueducts, sewage systems, etc.) 

The second part was a visit to Oia.  We ended up having a great lunch at Pelicans restaurant and while crowed the town was nowhere as bad as it was in 20o6.   On the other hand the drive down to the port to catch the tender back to the ship was a nightmare.  Santorini is spectacular but I would go mad living here.

20 July 2023

We made  it to the final destination Piraeus/Athens.  We had and excursion booked starting at 1:30 and the bus said the temperature outside was 44°C which even for Australians is hot.  We did a quick 10 minute stop at the stadium used for the first Olympic Games held in 1896 and I thought this is insane. Our next stop was a 1.5 hour air conditioned tour of the National Archaeological Museum which is brilliant.

21 July 2023

Ww transfer to the King George Hotel which is one of the best hotels in Athen and has the prices to match.  We ended up having lunch in its partner hotel the Grande Bretange next door and dinner (1 course appetiser) and treating the day as a rest day which we needed.  Cost of taxi 40 euros including tip,  Cost of hire car organised by cruise 240 euros.

22 July 2023

It now so hot in Athens (39°C) the Acropolis in only open in the morning.  ontains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon.  It was rebuilt by Pericles in the Greek Golden Age (460-430BC). It can be seen from everywhere in the city and has to be visited.

So on the advice of the hotel we pre-book tickets and catch a taxi to thce Acropolis at 7am.  We arrive at 7:15 am along with around 500 tourists in the queue.  By 8am there are some 5000 people queueing in a disorderly fashion but we get inside at 8:15.  The climb is quite tricky for those with limited mobility like myself but I made it..   OHS is non-existent and by 9:15 the crowds were overwhelming. 

In the afternoon Vivienne went shopping and I treated my self to a massage.

23 July 2023

Our last full day in Europe and nearly a full rest day.  The King George Hotel does a great buffet with great views and Vivienne noticed the Changing of the Guard outside Parliament House at 10am.  We decided to walk to the Parliament (2 minutes) and see the next change at 11am.  Unfortunately so did 3000 other tourists.  The view from our hotel was better.

I will finish here.  The temperature is predicted to crack 40°C so sightseeing is out and we have done enough anyway.  In conclusion it is very hard to beat the culture and history of Europe and cruises are a great way of exploring it.  (This is a plug for Viking who do a great job). 

London & Paris June 2022

London-Paris June 2022

This is my first travel blog since June 2019.  Australia went into an international  travel lockdown in March 2020 just before we were off to South America and travel restrictions were finally lifted in April 2022.  We have a trip planned in September visiting Spain and Danube river cruise but then two events sparked a sudden urge to go to Europe.

The first was an invitation to attend the 25^th anniversary of the Sutton Trust from its founder, Sir Peter Lampl on 7 June.  Then the following article appeared in The Australian by Penny Hunter Step-by-Step to Paris.  I now describe it as the piece that launched a thousand trips.

And I said to myself “I want a coffee and croissant in Paris.”  So to Peter’s amazement we accepted his invitation and persuaded Virginia (Vivienne’s sister) and Pierre (husband) to join us for five days in Paris.  And on Saturday 4 June we caught the Etihad flight to London.

The dinner at Banqueting House Whitehall was terrific.  Tim Berners-Lee the inventor of the World Wide Web was the keynote speaker.  This was followed the next night with a birthday dinner for Peter at Mosimann’s, London’s premier private dining room.  And again it was a great night.  The next day we set off on the Eurostar for Paris. 

Pierre is half French and spent his childhood in Paris.  He really knows the city.  We were staying in a great location: Hôtel Saint-Louis en l'Isle.  The Ile-St’ Louis is a small island located in the centre of Paris in the middle of the Seine.  It is amazingly quiet at night but the people watching in the afternoon from the cafes located at the west end is great fun.

On the first day we discovered that none of us had ever done a Seine river cruise so like true tourists we took a trip.  Is there a better 1 hour cruise in the world?  I doubt it.  Paris is a stunning city from the river.

We went to two exhibitions: the Musée d'Orsay to see the Impressionists and then the Musée du Luxembourg to see an exhibition about the feminist pioneers in the Arts.  Both were excellent as you would expect.  The French do art well as food.

We had a great meal at La Coupole.  Vivienne found an excellent restaurant on the island: L'Îlot Vache.  Finally, and this is a great tip from Pierre if you are returning to London on the Eurostar leave for the Gare D’Nord go early and have a great meal at the Terminus Nord across from the entrance.

Back in London we caught up with friends.  I managed to catch the Raphael exhibition at the National Gallery followed by lunch at the La Brasseria Milanese in Marleybone, The Rock and Rose in Richmond, Tea at Sothebys where I saw Princess Diana’s wedding tiara, and  several pub meals at the City Barge at Strand on the Green.  The food in London is definitely improving. And I never wore my raincoat the whole trip.  The weather was great the whole time.

Book Review of The Founder's Dilemmas: Anticipating and Avoiding the Pitfalls That Can Sink a Startup by Noam Wasserman

This is a must read for anyone in the entrepreneurial/venture capital space.

Just occasionally you read a book that you wish you had read 25 years ago.  I worked in the entrepreneurial/venture capital sector 1984-2007 and I so wish I had read this book in 1984.  Unfortunately it was not published until 2012 so it was not possible but if you are (budding) entrepreneur, potential start-up hire, angel investor or venture capitalist you should really read this book.  This is the first book that really gets to the human side of entrepreneurship but is based on the evidence of a ten year study of some 2000 technology and life science start-ups for the period 2000-9. 

Note the title; it is dilemmas not dilemma.  In this book Wasserman identifies a number of defining moments in the trajectory of a start-up where the entrepreneur must make a choice which while it may appear to be operational or tactical ends up having significant strategic consequences  For example a the first decision for an founder to determine what is his or her motivation? Is it wealth-or-control ("do you want to be king or want to be rich?").

This really resonated with me.  For 12 years I was the Executive Chairman of Nanyang Ventures which had three early stage funds doing Series A & B investments.  One of innovations when I introduced at Nanyang Ventures was to psychologically profile the entrepreneurs.  What we discovered after five years is that our winners had three key characteristics.

1.       They had high numerical intelligence.  They could understand the numbers.  We thought we could compensate for those who had high general and verbal intelligence but low numerical IQ with a competent CFO.  We were wrong.

2.      They were dominated by the desire for economic success.  The personality tool we used was the Humm Wadsworth as it is one of the few tests that measures this factor.  Initially we were looking for energetic team builders who were decisive and competitive (kings).  Again we were wrong.  Wasserman lists the problems that ‘king’ entrepreneurs and venture capital investors may have.  We had all of them, many in triplicate.

3.      They were also dominated by the desire to complete projects and saw the start-up as a series of projects.  They were extremely task orientated and focused on the technical details.  They were into planning and compulsively reading everything they could about a project.  Their passion ignited the rest of their team.  We had not picked this factor as being necessary; again we were wrong.

Some of the Amazon reviews criticise it for being academic.  I could not disagree more.  This book resonates with reality

Emotional Intelligence: Core Emotions and Five Factor theory

In mid-June of 2014, the famed psychologist and emotions expert Paul Ekman sent a survey to 248 researchers active in his discipline.  He achieved a moderately high response rate of 60%.  The idea was to see what the fast-growing field actually agreed upon in interpreting the scientific evidence on the nature of emotion.  He recently published an article about the results: What Scientists Who Study Emotion Agree About

The survey showed that at least one notion is solid: Universal emotions exist. Eighty-eight percent of the scientists who responded agreed that, no matter who you are, or where you were raised, you are bound to share certain feelings with the rest of mankind.  They were asked which emotion labels (out of a list of 18) should be considered to have been empirically established.  The five emotions that scientists rated as the most universal were anger (91%), fear (90%), disgust (86%), sadness (80%), and happiness (76%).  Finally, there was high agreement about whether “specific moods may be related to specific emotions(s) such as anger to irritability” (88%), whether “specific personality traits are related in some way to specific emotions, such as fear to shyness” (82%), and whether specific emotional disorders are related in some way to specific emotions, such as disgust to anorexia (75%).

Goleman, who refers to Ekman in his seminal book, Emotional Intelligence, has listed a hierarchy of emotional intensities.  He defines an emotion as a feeling and its distinctive thoughts, psychological and biological states, and propensity to act such as when we become angry.  He then goes on to define a mood, which, while more muted, lasts longer than an emotion, and he compares the emotion anger with a grumpy mood.  Beyond moods he then defines temperament, as the readiness to evoke a given emotion or mood, such as someone with a choleric temperament.  Finally he notes there are the outright disorders of emotion which can lead to insanity, such as someone with paranoid schizophrenia.

Level of Emotional Intensity	Population Penetration & Frequency
Emotion	All of the people all of the time
Mood	Most of the people some of the time
Temperament	30% of people most of the time
Disorder	1% of people all of the time

Temperament is the genetic basis of your personality and the most widely accepted model of personality by organisational psychologists is the five factor model (FFM), which have been defined as openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.

My question is simple: How do the five basic emotions link up to the Five Factors?  I can see link between happiness and extraversion but that is about it. 

Personally, and those who have read my blogs and books would know, I move in the opposite direction starting with mental disorders and then on to temperament, then mood, then finally to emotions.  It is easy to imagine for example how someone strong in one of the five factors (e.g.  conscientiousness) could get angry or be disgusted by someone very weak in same factor.

How to really spot a corporate psychopath

Yesterday I received a link to this interesting article by Hannah Norton “How to spot an office psychopath”.  The article argued that there are certain personalities who deliberately inflict harm to others and that these personalities fall within a category that psychologists call the ‘Dark Triad’ which comprises three sub-personalities: Machiavellianism, sub-clinical narcissism and sub-clinical psychopathy.  There is a strong correlation between psychopathy and bullying behaviour and unfortunately while Psychometric testing is commonly used by companies at the recruitment very few if any test for the Dark Triad.  The article then says that common signs of the corporate psychopath include superficial charm, a grandiose notion of self-worth, the need for stimulation and impulsiveness, pathological lying, the ability to manipulate others and a lack of remorse and empathy. This is all true but recognising these traits during a behavioural interview is very difficult, and once you have hired the corporate psychopath it is too late.

There is one profiling methodology that does include corporate psychopaths and that is the Humm-Wadsworth.  Here are some clues during the recruitment phase that might prove useful.  First you should check out the LinkedIn profile for frequent job changes and few if any recommendations from senior executives.  Corporate psychopaths create very good initial impression but subsequently their peers become intolerant of their workplace habits. In particular, people dislike their taking credit for the ideas of others; and putting the blame for mistakes they have made onto someone else, typically an underling. Corporate psychopaths are very good at sensing this antipathy, and so change jobs frequently; often leveraging themselves into a higher position.  The other useful clue is what the person puts down about his or her education. School and university ultimately judge their students on their academic results, which for most of us means work. Psychopaths are inherently lazy, and their charm and people skills are of little help in the examination room. Most people elaborate on their education, specifying dates, subjects done, awards and extracurricular activities. The education section of a resume is something which is very easy for an employer to verify. If there have been issues, and with psychopaths there generally are, the education entry will often be pithily short.

During the interview you first check out their dress.  Red and gold are the two give away colours. So if you meet someone wearing a bright red tie, a gold Rolex, and a gold bracelet on the other wrist become suspicious. If you meet a female executive in a red suit, gold handbag, and gold shoes, and wearing a lot of gold accessories lift your level of watchfulness. Search Google Images for Donald Trump and in most of them he is wearing a red tie.

During the interview corporate psychopaths will be charming, but two things give them away. They will soon drop names by asking if you know some important person and implicitly showing they associate with winners.  Also, corporate psychopaths are driven by the desire for material success so they will talk about recent gambling wins or money made in on the stock market.  Their interests outside of work either include gambling interests such as horse racing or expensive “winner” sports like sailing or skiing.

While clinical psychopaths are estimated to comprise 1% of the population, for corporate psychopaths the number has been set around 3% of the workplace.  However there are probably another 12-15% of the workforce with psychopathic tendencies.  We all have a little psychopath inside us.