A Dutch Day Out!

A recent trip of mine took me all the way to sunny Amsterdam. Ever since I saw AMS on my roster, I knew I wanted to do something a little bit different. I’ve visited the gorgeous city quite a few times, including staying a few nights there when I backpacked around Europe with my best friend Lucy.

This time, the windmills were calling! I’d wanted to visit the quaint village of Zaanse Schans the previous time I’d gone to Amsterdam but never got round to it, so was determined to make the most of it this time.

After an early start and a busy flight, we arrived in Holland. Myself and 2 other girls from business class inquired with the concierge how best to get there, and decided on a train leaving in an hour. After a quick shower and a few whatsapp messages, we were on our way. Since our hotel is next to the airport, we had to take a train for around 20 minutes or so outside the city, then a few stops on a bus.

Before we knew it, we’d arrived in Zaanse Schans (along with bus-loads of Chinese tourists, haha!).

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The beautifully quaint little village, in Western Europe’s oldest industrial area, used to have more than 600 windmills running at the same time. Now 10 windmills continue to work, and are used for sawing wood and grinding oil, flour, spices and dyes.

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I’d piled on the layers as my weather app had told me it was to be around 15 degrees, however it was a beautiful warm and sunny day and I wished I hadn’t bothered with my jacket! As you can probably tell from my hair, it was more than a little bit windy! Perfect for all of those windmills though 😉

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Roster for September

I had some positive comments on my last roster post for August, so I thought I’d continue and post my flights for the month here on my blog!

I didn’t bid for any flights, I only asked for a string of 5 days off as I was planning a trip away, but unfortunately I didn’t get them. Nevertheless, my flights are quite ok, and no turnarounds this month!

I’m heading off to:

  • MAN
  • LGW (originally a MUC, which I swapped)
  • AMS
  • BKK
  • ZRH
  • SIN (originally a JFK, but I just did that last month so I swapped it!)
  • MRU

How exciting that I finally get to visit the beautiful island of Mauritius again! I’ve only been once before and the end of September should be beautiful sunny weather.

I’m also rather looking forward to some pampering and a massage in Bangkok, it’s been far too many months since my last visit!

If you guys would like to see any specific blog posts, please do feel free to leave a comment and let me know 🙂

P.s. Follow me on Instagram & Twitter for more regular updates of where I am in the world!

New York, concrete jungle where dreams are made of…

… There’s nothin’ you can’t do,
Now you’re in New York,
These streets will make you feel brand new,
Big lights will inspire you,
Let’s hear it for New York, New York, New York!

I think you guys can guess where one of my most recent layovers was spent!

I didn’t manage to swap my 24 hour layover in the Big Apple, so after a couple of hours sleep I was up at 1am ready to serve a full cabin of hungry passengers for the next 14 hours.

Luckily, they were hungry but even more than that, they were sleepy! I guess the one good thing about a departure at 3 o’clock in the morning is that everybody wants one thing – sleep!

The flight flew by with great crew, and so many laughs in the galley whilst everybody slept.

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We’re lucky enough to fly over some beautiful places on our way around the world, and I always take time to appreciate the beautiful views out of the window. I even popped up to the cockpit to admire a bit more of Greenland and the gorgeous snowy peaks visible for a while.

Just as the passengers were starting to wake up, it was time for my break! We have a little crew rest compartment (located in the cabin on the A380 behind a locked door!) which sleeps 9, plus a separate area for the flight deck with 2 bunk beds. They are a bit of a squeeze and I’m pretty sure some of the tall guys barely even manage to fit in the bunk beds, but once you’re in it’s hard not to fall into a deep sleep!

After a short but sweet slumber, it was time to serve some breakfast, and then….land into the concrete jungle!

Being Saturday morning, the city was so busy and it took us forever to get to the hotel. Half of the roads were closed due to some market or other so we drove around for what felt like hours before we finally reached the hotel. By this time it was already lunchtime, and although I’d already eaten on the plane, I was suddenly absolute starving!

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Come fly with me: What I pack!

Thought I’d do something a little bit different today and show you guys what I would typically take with me on a layover!

Whilst I was packing for a recent layover to Dhaka (where I incidentally didn’t end up doing a whole lot other than relaxing and eating!) I took a few pictures.

We’re given a relatively large suitcase to take with us on layovers, and I can usually manage to fit everything in with a bit of space to spare (unless I’ve gone a bit crazy shopping in New York 😉 !)

The side pockets don’t have much in – a couple of reusable carrier bags for when I go grocery shopping and a few bits and bobs such as spare tights for work.

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August Roster

I know I do these posts every month now, but I hope you guys still find them interesting to read!

Next month I’ve got a not so busy month, although as always I’ll probably end up swapping one or two of these flights!

I’ll be heading off to:

  • DAC (Dhaka, Bangladesh….and this time I’ll be staying over instead of just doing the turnaround!)
  • Leave – I’ll be heading over to England for my lovely ex-flatmate Kirsty’s wedding, very exciting! I’ll also be catching up with my best friend Lucy, fingers crossed the flights are nice and empty and the stand-by gods are good to me!
  • JFK (24 hour layover)
  • LHE (a quick turnaround to Pakistan)
  • ZRH
  • JFK (30 hour layover)

I’m already on swap shop trying to get rid of at least one of my JFK’s – I can’t handle 2 long haul flights in a month anymore, especially as the first one is only a 24 hour layover!

I’ll also try and swap my Zurich, as I’ve just been there this month. Who know’s where I’ll end up!

P.s. Follow me on Instagram & Twitter for more day-to-day updates of where I am in the world! 🙂