I’ve just got back from a layover in Stockholm. It wasn’t my first time here, however I decided to have a wander around the old town to admire the pretty cobbled streets and painted buildings.
Since it gets dark pretty early in winter (around 4pm!) myself and three of the other crew decided to head out fairly soon after arriving at the hotel for a walk and some exploring.
It was the first time in Stockholm for all of them, so we decided to visit Gamla Stan, the old town, which is luckily just a short walk from our crew hotel.
Another month, another roster! January is already flying by, and it’s been a fairly uneventful month so far. I did say I would try to make the most of my layovers, but most of them have been spent alternating between sleeping, working out and drinking lots of coffee!
Let’s see where next month will take me:
STN – London Stansted, UK
VIE – Vienna, Austria
BHX – Birmingham, UK
KHI – Karachi, Pakistan (turnaround)
FRA – Frankfurt, Germany
MLE – Male, Maldives (turnaround)
RUH – Riyadh, Saudi Arabia (turnaround)
KUL – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
BP – Business Promotion
First up is a trip home, which I’m very happy about! The only one of my bids that I got, and although I would have loved 2 Stansteds, I’m still grateful I get to go home and see my parents.
Following on from that is a flight to Vienna – I did bid for this in December to go and see the Christmas markets, but perhaps this time there will be some snow.
Straight after is Birmingham, which I’ve only visited once. I have been to Stratford-upon-Avon which is nearby; a beautiful quaint English town which happens to be the birthplace of Shakespeare! Highly recommended for a day trip.
Next up will be a turnaround to Karachi and back. I haven’t done this flight in a while as it is two-class, i.e. no first class, so I wasn’t rostered it while I was working in first class.
Then I have a flight to Frankfurt, which I have visited plenty of times in the past. I’m not sure what I’ll do there, as I expect it’ll be pretty chilly!
I’ve then been rostered two more turnarounds, to Male and Riyadh. Male is one of the longest turnarounds we have and it’s a pretty tiring one, as you fly through the night. The pilots also get to stay in the Maldives for 24 hours while we just go there and back!
My last flight of February will be to Kuala Lumpur. I was actually rostered this flight in January as well, however swapped it for a quick trip to Milan. So I’m hoping for a nice flight to KL next month with some delicious street food! Someone has sent me a swap for Phnom Penh – which one would you take?
Lastly is a business promotion event – I haven’t done one of these since I started the cabin supervisor pool, so I’m very excited! I should find out soon which event I’ll be representing the company at.
So even though February is the shortest month of the year, somehow I have a very busy roster with 8 flights and a BP event! Let’s hope it’s a good one 🙂
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Just like that, 2020 is upon us! The past year flew by so quickly, and I feel like sometimes I just live waiting for the roster each month.
Whilst I haven’t made any New Year’s resolutions as such, I will try my hardest to make the most of all of my layovers, and get out and explore as much as possible!
As for this month’s roster, here goes:
LIS – Lisbon, Portugal
PEK – Beijing, China
SYD – CHC – Sydney, Australia & Christchurch, New Zealand
KUL – Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
JED – Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (turnaround)
ARN – Stockholm, Sweden
Sadly I didn’t get a single one of my bids, but I did have my top bid month in December, so wasn’t expecting too much. Not my favourite roster I’ve ever had, but it could be worse!
I started the month (and year!) off with a flight to Lisbon – although it was quiet it was very long at just over 8 hours there. Having been to Lisbon on holiday previously, I had a quiet layover with a bit of browsing round the shops, although it was super busy with post-Christmas shoppers.
Next up is Beijing – a destination I haven’t visited in a while. I tried to swap this flight but with no success, so I’ll see what the rest of the crew fancy doing when I’m there.
Following on from that is a multi-sector trip to Sydney and Christchurch. I also tried to swap this one as I’ve only just been to Sydney, and I’d rather do shorter flights, but there are so many swap legalities that it was impossible. Hopefully the smoke from the awful bushfires doesn’t get any worse.
After my multi-sector down under, it’s back to Asia, with a trip to Kuala Lumpur. It’s actually been a year since I last visited, but the timing of this flight is not ideal – we fly through the night from Dubai and get there early morning.
Then I have a quick turnaround to Jeddah and back, let’s hope it’s uneventful. Once again not great timing – leaving Dubai at midnight and getting back at 8am.
My last flight of the month is to Stockholm, the one I’m looking forward to the most! I’m really hoping for some snow, as I haven’t been anywhere with snow yet this winter.
And that’s it for January 2020… I wonder where else this year will take me!
P.s. Follow me on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter for more day-to-day updates of where I am in the world! 🙂
Vienna at Christmastime is truly special, and I feel very lucky that I was able to visit twice in December!
Of course the main thing I wanted to do was visit the Christmas market, or “Christkindlmarkt” as it’s known in German. Having lived in Austria for 6 years, I know how festive and pretty they are.
Unfortunately the market in Vienna has strict timings, and closes at 9pm on the dot, unlike what I remember from Klagenfurt (where I lived) where the Glühwein stands would stay open much later.
We made our way straight from the hotel after landing to catch the last hour os so before they closed and be able to enjoy a festive mulled wine.
I had a great layover in Melbourne, Australia not so long ago. My cousin Sarah, who lives there, was able to get a day off work, so we could spend the day together exploring!
Having visited Melbourne quite a few times now, I’ve seen a fair bit of the city, so Sarah decided to take me out to the beach.
Not before a hearty brunch of course, what Melbourne does best!
