The Dubai Diaries
My life as a flight attendant in the Middle East!

Exploring Belém

After our fantastic day out to Sintra, it was time to explore a little more of Lisbon. When doing research about Portugal before our holiday, I’d read so much about the famous egg tarts, and there was one place in particular that kept popping up – Pastéis de Belém.

The delicious custardy tarts were originally created by 18th century monks at the Jerónimos Monstery (which we also visited), as at the time large quantities of egg-whites were used for starching the clothes in the monastery. This led to a lot of leftover egg yolks, which were then made into cakes and pastries. The monks started to sell the “pastéis de nata” to secure a small income, and when the monastery was later closed, the recipe was sold to the nearby sugar refinery, whose owners opened the Fábrica de Pastéis de Belém in 1837.

So it was decided – a trip to Belém was in order. Luckily the Pastéis de Belém shop is not the only attraction there, we also set out to visit the incredible Jerónimos Monastery, as well as the Torre de Belém.

IMG_9957

After a quick ride on the tram, we (along with seemingly every other tourist in Lisbon) arrived in Belém. Our first stop was to visit the monastery, which with all of the incredible turrets and architecture, is very easy to spot.

IMG_3327 View Post

June Roster

So before I put up my last post with the final pictures of my holiday to Portugal, I thought I’d share my June roster with you.

It’s my “top bid”, which means I’m highest in the seniority rotation and should get at least a couple of things that I ask for. I’m pretty happy with my roster for next month, as I have no turnarounds and some nice flights, including two trips to a new destination that I haven’t visited before.

I’ll be heading to:

  • PER (Perth, Australia)
  • BLQ (Bologna, Italy – a new one for me!)
  • MRU (Mauritus)
  • BLQ
  • MRU
  • Leave!

IMG_3620

As you can see I got a couple of repeat destinations, but I’m very happy with that! Bologna is a relatively new destination for Emirates, I think we only started flying there a few months ago, and it should be beautiful and warm by mid-June.

Obviously I’ve been to Mauritus before (it’s also where my boyfriend is from and where we spent Christmas this year, which you may have seen if you’re following me on Instagram), but a trip or two to a tropical island can never hurt, right?!

Perhaps I’ll see if I can swap one of the BLQ or MRU flights for a different destination just to mix things up a bit, but either way I’m excited to visit them.

For my leave we’ll be heading home to the UK for around a week, for my mum’s birthday party & family get-together. Hopefully by the end of June the weather in England will have turned into summer and sunshine, fingers crossed!

UPDATE: Since publishing this, I got sent a swap for NBO – Nairobi, Kenya! Since it’s a destination I’ve never visited before, I happily swapped my Perth flight, which means that next week I’ll be heading off to Nairobi for the first time!

Signature small icon

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

A jaunt to Lisbon, Portugal

As I mentioned in my last roster post, I was lucky enough to get the 5 days off that I bid for, perfect for a little holiday with my man. We decided on Lisbon, as it was a place that neither of us had visited before and seemed like a great choice for a 5 day trip.

I sorted out the hotel, and after he arrived from a trip to Rome, we packed our bags and made our way to the airport. Neither of us had realised the flight was fairly long, just under 8 hours from Dubai. Luckily we managed to get some exit row seats with plenty of extra leg room!

Upon arrival we took the metro into the city, which was pretty easy and fairly quick. We arrived at our hotel, the Internacional Design Hotel, a gorgeous boutique hotel, which was located on Rossio Square right in the centre of downtown Lisbon.

IMG_2801

The view from our room, which had a small balcony, was perfect – right out onto the bustling street below.

After a complementary welcome drink at the hotel (a delicious glass of Portuguese wine) we made our way outside to do some exploring.

IMG_2821 View Post

City Walk Phase II, Dubai

A few days ago I popped over to the new area of City Walk in Dubai. It’s also called City Walk Phase II, as it’s an extension (that’s still undergoing some construction) of the original area full of shops, cafés and restaurants.

My friend Sebastian picked me up and we drove over, parking the car in the huge parking area underground. Our mission was to find coffee, but first we had a long stroll around the area, which is built up with lots of pretty sculptures and interesting murals.

IMG_2250IMG_2251
View Post

Taal Volcano, Philippines

My most recent trip took me to the city of Manila, in the Philippines. It was my second time visiting, however since I didn’t get up to much last time I wanted to go out and see a bit more of the country.

We arrived early evening and had been awake and flying overnight. It was all I could manage to order some room service (lechon kawali – the most delicious Filipino crispy pork!) and have an early night.

IMG_2337

The next morning I was awoken by the sound of alarm at 5am – I’m quite certain that that’s the first time I’ve voluntarily woken up before the sunrise on any layover!

A group of us had arranged a guide to take us to the Taal Volcano, in Batangas. We made our way to the hotel lobby and our guide was waiting for us, so we got in the car and started the drive.

IMG_2366 View Post