After an engine fell out one of Nationwide Airlines boeing 747 airoplanes last year, on take-off from JHB, landing safely none-the-less, Nationwide was reportedly grounded but few people were pleasantly surprised when they reopened office and began running their planes on schedule.

Nationwide Airlines then released a press statement, at the end of February 2008, stating how excited they were to have partnered with African General Equity Group and that clients could look forward to fleet upgrades, employee share holdings and overall improvement of services. CEO of Nationwide, Vernon Bricknell, said that the staff had secure jobs within the company and his intention was to expand his network.

Then came the breaking news early this week, in one day, without any warning, that Nationwide closed all their offices before any press statements were issued leaving pre-booked national and international ticket sales up in arms, clients and staff of the company still do not know what the outcome is at this time? Whether monies will be refunded is a mystery but very disappointing for many. Infact I hope their tickets can be redeemed, afterall Nationwide is offering a service and if they cannot supply any service or feedback the client should be entitled to full refunding and tickets purchased with another service provider. Airlines are quick to charge you if YOU cancel a flight. BUT it looks like anything goes with Nationwide at this critical crisis time and they will only endevour to suite their needs alone.

Let us hope at least that they release a statement to committ to a decision for the sake of staff and pre-booked clients, if I was either of the above I would not be impressed, infact this type of standard is unacceptable and is setting a poor example to our country – no news is NOT good news as these actions have and will affect many peoples lives in a negative way – well, everything happens for good reasons too but my goodness… may it be a good reason that you missing that flight!

If you’ve been living in Knysna for any length of time you will undoubtedly be familiar with the phrase “let’s move to Knysna and open a coffee shop”, the enthusiastic cry of many a visiting upcountry-man. There are in fact many coffee shops in Knysna and recently we even sport some of the big brand coffee people. While being a huge fan of some of these bigger franchises when visiting Cape Town in my home town I prefer to offer support to some of the smaller independents.

One of my favourite haunts to enjoy a caffe latte at the moment is L’Opera in the Knysna Mall. For the uninitiated (my mom etc) a caffe latte is a tame way to enjoy espresso. As the word latte implies the drink is one third espresso and two thirds foamed milk, more or less. This delicate balance of milk to espresso is often denoted by the terms “shot”. One can have a single shot, double shot, or, for the incredibly brave, triple shot latte. My own preference is somewhere in between one and two and is also dependent on the strength of the espresso used. Why the technical info you may ask…simple. L’Opera serve a latte the way it should be served, in my opinion. A tall glass of foamed milk is presented with a delicate sprinkle of cinnamon on top and your espresso in a neat little jug next to it. This enables the drinker to decide exactly how brave they are feeling on any given day. I have not yet resorted to sucking the remainder of the espresso from the jug, but at least I have the option. The other advantage of this will be obvious to frequent latte drinkers. One can easily sweeten ones drink before topping it up with espresso. I’m sure many people have had the “now where do I put the sugar?” experience when faced with a beautiful head of foam protruding from the top of their latte glass. Of course this method of serving does rob one of the aesthetic pleasure of seeing the delicately swirling layers of milk, espresso and foam in the perfectly prepared latte, but as with most things in life, you can’t have everything.

The atmosphere is fantastic at L’Opera, they manage to balance the careful level of attention without making you feel like you should hurry up as they need your table. My friend and I have spent many an unhurried afternoon sipping lattes and eating nothing and have not felt pressurised to leave. Although admittedly our conversations border most often on the bizarre and it could be they are keeping us for the entertainment factor.

L’Opera have also risen to the challenge of load shedding and you can be guaranteed a perfectly good cup of filter coffee, cappuccino or even a latte as well as a limited menu during power outages. It seems these fantastically French people have not forgotten to fine art of using a French press and are not crippled by the lack of an espresso machine. Of course this is not necessarily the technically correct way to prepare a latte, but when needs must.