Happy Flying Anniversary to Me

I haven't posted in forever, but I have a good excuse. My poor laptop was broken for over a month and I finally fixed it a few weeks ago. Right on time for my one year anniversary of moving to Dubai to serve beef or chicken to the lovely people of the sky.

In the last year, I've operated 116 flights.
I've visited 19 countries, and done turnarounds to 7 countries.
I've served and cleared over 10,000 meals.
I've met hundreds of nice fellow crew members, and maybe only ten terrible ones.
Staying up 30 hours straight is normal and (almost) easy, and sleeping 16 hours straight is (very, very) easy.

I've been to a lot of fun and interesting places, but my favorite so far have been...

Seattle, because: Pike's Place Market, home of Grey's Anatomy, rain, coffee everywhere, possibly my future home, the bathroom mirror in the hotel room (it makes everyone look like a movie star), the list goes on...

New York City, because: I have friends there, Central Park, the food, the feeling of the place, endless picture opportunities, but mostly the food.


Bangkok, because: Mango sticky rice! Really nice people, awesome picture places, cheap everything, nice flight.

Mauritius, because: I don't think this needs any explaining.


Melbourne, because: The people, the shopping, also great coffee and food everywhere, the accent, great for walking around, and I just love Australia.

I'm not going to write about the worst places I've been because everywhere has been good, just different. But stay tuned for the worst/craziest/funniest flight stories I've had so far. And it's only been a year.

Mauritius

Another favorite place! I'm starting to say that about a lot of places. I was lucky enough to go here twice in a row! Both times, I ate way too much at the buffet and will forever be craving the bread pudding they served at breakfast. Both times, I surprisingly didn't get sunburned at all. I call that a successful trip.

On my first trip there, we arrived late morning. We get to stay at a beautiful resort with its own private beach and bungalow rooms with private balconies or stairs down to the water. Most of the crew had been there before, but a few of us hadn't and decided to go on a speedboat tour around the island.

We stopped for some snorkeling and it took me forever to get in the water because it was really cold, and I'm secretly really scared of the ocean. I'm also a really bad swimmer so I swallowed a lot of water once I got in, but the water was so clear and pretty. After that, we went to a few more mini islands to walk around and take pictures.



The second time I was there, I just relaxed on the beach, read my book, and drank beachy cocktails. I've been really stressed this month with flying, so these trips were much needed breaks. A crew friend told me to think about Mauritius every time I'm about to lose my mind on a crazy flight, but it's easy for me to forget. So the next time I'm ready to explode on a flight, I'll try to think back to my two blissful days on Mauritius...

Frankfurt & Glasgow

More catching up! I didn't do anything too exciting in Frankfurt or Glasgow, so I'm combining the two.

Frankfurt, Germany

Now I've been to Frankfurt twice. But the second time, I slept for 16 hours straight because I had just come back from a 16 hour flight from being home on leave the night before. So I'm not counting the second time.

 The first time, I went out with a group of girls from my crew. We climbed three hundred and something steps up the church tower at the Cathedral of St. Bartholomew. It was a narrow spiral staircase with tiny slits for windows. I never knew I was claustrophobic until midway up that climb when I started panicking because I couldn't see anything but the few stairs in front of me. I pulled myself together, made it to the top with a better butt and legs than I had at the bottom, caught my breath, and took in the great view of the city.
 
Unfortunately, we had to go back down the same way we came up. I was hoping to fall and roll down the entire tower so I wouldn't have to fly the next day, but the only thing that happened was getting dizzy from the constant turning. We walked around the city that felt like a giant mall because there were so many stores everywhere. We made it to the main square that actually looks like Germany with the old-style architecture, and I ate a German hotdog and German gelato (actually the same as Italian gelato) while I watched the girls trying to perfect their selfies. One reason I usually don't go out with other crew is because most of them care more about getting a good picture of themselves than actually enjoying the place, and it drives me crazy.

After they got their selfies (casually looking away from the camera like they don't know it's there), I went my own way and shopped around a bit before walking back to the hotel. I'm sure there are more things to do there than shopping, but I didn't look up anything before I went and decided to wing it. I don't mind going there, but I wouldn't ever ask to go.

Glasgow, Scotland

I requested this flight and was so excited to go and see the country I "thought" my family mostly came from (more on that later). All I ended up doing there was shopping, but I liked it more than Frankfurt because 1) I blended in with everyone. I'm not the palest person there or the only one with red hair. 2) I can't get enough of the Scottish accent, even though sometimes I can't understand a word, and 3) Scottish men are beautiful. Need I say more?

A lot of girls from my flight were from Glasgow, so they were going to see their families. The other crew had plans and I wanted to go out alone anyways, so I did. I walked from the hotel to Buchanan Street, a long road of shopping and restaurants. I didn't take my camera with me, so sorry for the not-so-good quality phone pictures. It was my favorite kind of weather: raining and just the right amount of cold. I shopped, ate lunch, had coffee... It wasn't anything exciting but it was a nice day.

 

Unlike Frankfurt, I would ask for this flight again so I can see more of the city or do a day trip somewhere close by. The people are nice, the city is a cool place to walk around, and I liked the gloomy weather. I'm on a roll with this catching up stuff! Next up, Moscow.

Oslo, Norway

I'm the worst at keeping up with this blog. Anyone who reads my posts knows this by now. So here I am, trying to catch up on the last two months of places I've been. Starting with...

Oslo, Norway

Like most places I fly, I only had twenty-four hours to see the place. I actually went out with other crew this time and we were going to take a boat tour of the fjords, but when we got to the harbor, the tickets were sold out. After another twenty minutes of deciding what to do, we took the local ferry to an island called Hovedøya. 

I found my future getaway cottage there, a perfect white house with a yard full of puffy flowers, and only a five minute walk to the beach on one side and the dock on the other. If I ever go missing, I ran away and I'm there. This is the only picture (below) I took of it for some reason, so use your imagination for the rest. 

The island also has the ruins of a monastery from around 1100. There isn't much left of it to see, but the little tower is still standing and the brick walls are covered in pretty little flowers and grasses growing over them.

Inside of the tower

We walked down to the beach and sat there for a while. The weather was warm-ish in the sun and chilly in the shade, but the locals apparently thought it was perfect weather to be swimming. I felt the water and decided they were crazy. I would freeze to death if I went there in the wintertime. 

We left the perfect little island and went back to the city for some dinner. I don't know what authentic Norwegian food is... But we ate at a Scottish bar and I ordered French fries so I'll have to wait until next time to try some Norwegian food. I expected it to be dark when we left the bar because it was around 8pm, but the sun wasn't even going down yet. It didn't set until around midnight, and came back up again before 4am. That was the weirdest part about being there, but it was really cool to be up at midnight and the sun is barely set. 

I didn't get to see the city on this trip since we went straight to the island, so I want to come back here again. The people were really friendly and so, so tall! I feel like a giant in Dubai and come to Norway and I'm tiny. Overall, it was one of the most beautiful places I've been. I say that about almost everywhere I go, but it just keeps getting better!

Sunset at Midnight

Bangkok

I've found another favorite destination! Bangkok was great in so many ways. The flights are easy (meaning hardly any call bells and people who actually say please and thank you), Thai food is magical, and the people are incredibly welcoming. I've been twice already and still can't wait to go back again.

The first time I went, we got to our hotel pretty late, and usually this means I'm going straight to bed. But since the flight was so nice and easy, I wasn't too tired to meet the crew for drinks and dinner. The captain knew of a good place down the street and had never been sick from the food there, and that was as good a reason as any for us to go.

The alley where we ended up was home of my new favorite dessert and the biggest rats in the world. Seriously, these rats were big enough to be lap dogs. Before you judge me for eating somewhere where rats also enjoyed the food, they were in the sketchy bathroom down the alley. While our restaurant wasn't anything special to look at, it was clean and the food was great. One little old lady cooked everything by herself on an outdoor oven that looked like a hot dog stand. And my new favorite dessert? Mango sticky rice. I crave it everyday now.

The next morning, I took a tuk tuk to the Grand Palace. Not going to lie, my life flashed before my eyes a few times on the back of that thing. Anyways, because it was a billion degrees and a billion percent humidity outside, I wasn't going to wear long sleeves. I bought a scarf to cover my shoulders inside the palace, bought my ticket, and was ready to go in when a guard stopped me. Apparently you have to be wearing sleeves under the scarf, so the guy wouldn't let me in. Like sleeves will cover my shoulders any differently than a scarf that covered my whole upper body (can you tell I'm still bitter about it? lol) It was hot and I was hungry and combining the two means I was grumpy. I got my money back and left instead of buying a shirt to cover my harlot shoulders.

I rented another tuk tuk and the driver took me to one of the many temples of Buddha, Wat Intharawihan, with the biggest Buddha statue I'd ever seen. He also drove me to some shopping places and we had some street noodles for lunch before I went back to the hotel... Where I ordered more mango sticky rice. I'm addicted.

The second time in Bangkok is a really short story because a) I was sick and didn't want to go out and get worse, b) I left my debit card in Dubai so I only had the allowance we get on layovers so that, c) I couldn't do much without more money. I had been planning to get a facial and a massage. I just got the facial. I was going to order tons of mango sticky rice and hang out in the hotel. They ran out of mango sticky rice. I was so frustrated with myself for leaving my card in Dubai and with the hotel for not having my beloved sticky rice that I just went to sleep.

They don't sound like the best trips now that I'm writing about them, but I still love Bangkok. The flights are easy (there were only 50/500 passengers back to Dubai on the second trip!), the locals are the nicest, everything is super cheap, and best of all, mango sticky rice!

Where I'm Flying: July 2016

I think I'm still being punished for calling in sick for a Pakistan flight in May, because my roster next month is probably the worst I've had.

I have two of the worst turnarounds possible: Jeddah and Cairo.

Because of my Cairo flight, I don't get to come home three days earlier. The rostering team loves to give a turnaround right before we have leave so we get as little time home as possible. They really love to ruin things.



On the plus side, I'll be in Washington DC for the 4th of July! You can look for me on your TVs in front of the White House when the fireworks start.

I'm also going to Paris, which I usually wouldn't be excited for, but I'll hopefully get to meet my aunt and uncle there for the day.

The only destination that I asked for that I actually got is Glasgow, Scotland. I'm finally going back to my motherland and fellow redheads, and I might never leave.

Last but not least, I finally get to come home again! Even though it's not for long, I can't wait to see everyone, especially my dog and my new baby niece (not necessarily in that order).

I have a million days off before my next flight so maybe I'll actually catch up on this blog, but I've said that before...

Where I'm Flying: June 2016

June Roster

Two new countries, Bangkok again, and finally an LA flight! Moscow, Oslo, and LA are supposed to be kind of hard flights and really busy, but Bangkok and Germany are nice and easy. And only two turnarounds, one to Jeddah and one to Bahrain. I knew I couldn't escape Jeddah for long. Other than that, it's going to be a good month! 

Bangkok post coming soon...