Business Class here I come!

This past week I’ve had a bit of time off from flying and been back in training college, studying for my business upgrade!

The 5 day course covered everything we’ll need to know transitioning from economy to business class (although I have a sneaky suspicion that once I’m onboard it’ll all be very different!).

Before the course started we were given some homework to prepare ourselves, and the first morning was spent doing an assessment to test our knowledge. Luckily everyone passed and we were all able to continue! View Post

Cabin Crew: A day in the life

4:50am: My alarm goes off relatively early this morning, and it takes a couple of snoozes before I manage to drag myself out of bed.

I do my hair and make-up and put on my uniform, and make sure to have some breakfast before I leave. I’ve made sure to pack my cabin bag (which has my waistcoat, oven gloves, crew pyjamas and cabin shoes as well as a few other bits and bobs) the night before so that’s completely ready to go,and my big suitcase just needs a few things thrown in at the last minute like my make-up and glasses. View Post

Budapest

After cycling around 400km in 6 days, we deserved a little break in the beautiful city of Budapest.

This was our first time visiting the city, however my brother Harry has some Hungarian friends and one of them was handily available to play tour guide and drive us around in her car!

Our first stop was Heroes’ Square. A very impressive square with monuments of the Seven Chieftains of the Magyars and lots of other important national leaders.

DSCN6869DSCN6880

Viki, our tour guide for the day, then dropped us off at a gorgeous castle. We had a walk around the grounds and admired all of the beautiful architecture.DSCN6882

DSCN6884DSCN6886DSCN6891DSCN6896 DSCN6904

We then stopped off at St Stephen’s Basilica and decided to climb to the top to see the amazing views over the city. It must have been a popular day to get married as we saw 4 or 5 brides in the space of a couple of hours!

DSCN6914 DSCN6919 DSCN6929 DSCN6931

After stopping for some traditional Hungarian lunch we drove up to the Buda side (Budapest is in two parts – Buda and Pest, split by the river) to see the Citadella.

The Citadella is a kind of fortress which was built in 1851. The view from the top spans the city as well as the Danube and its 8 bridges.DSCN6946 DSCN6949 DSCN6957 DSCN6960

We then drove to the Fisherman’s Bastion, which was actually like a town inside a castle!

There was a church there as well and we saw another 3 brides getting married!DSCN6963 DSCN6969 DSCN6979

It looked like we’d stepped into a beautiful fairytale castle!DSCN6981DSCN6989

In the evening we’d been recommended a river cruise. The boat sails along the river after sunset so you get to see all of the glistening lights and enjoy dinner and a drink at the same time. DSCN6994 DSCN6998 DSCN7013What a beautiful sight to end our holiday!

Thanks again to mum and dad for taking me with you and putting up with all my complaining about sore legs after every day of cycling! 😉

 

P.s. If you want more regular day-to-day updates of what’s happening in my life, follow me on Instagram and Twitter @rachelwwilson!

Where in the world is Rachel?

So my July roster has just come out….and let’s just say it isn’t the most exciting one I’ve ever had! 

I’ll be heading to:

  • Hyderabad (t/a)
  • Newcastle (anybody fancy taking this one for me?!)
  • Amsterdam
  • New York (Yay! Killer flight I’ve heard, but I’m so ready to do some shopping!)
  • Medina (t/a)
  • Sydney 
  • Kuwait (t/a)
  • Riyadh (t/a)

As you can see I’ve been given a fair few turnarounds! Not so much fun…but at least you get to come back to your own bed at the end of the day!

Sunny San Francisco!

First of all, my apologies for the long absence from my blog. I literally have not had a minute to sit at my computer and upload anything!
I mentioned a couple of posts ago that I was headed to San Francisco this month. I love exploring new destinations, and San Fran was definitely one on the bucket list! 
After a looooong 15 hour flight we finally arrived at our hotel, and I was greeted by a lovely view of the lake and hotel pool from my room. We made plans to meet up bright and early the next morning for a full day of sightseeing.

Image

After a huuuuge breakfast of eggs benedict and a frothy cappuccino (why do Americans insist on giving such huge portions?!) we were ready to do some exploring.

A quick ride on the BART and we arrived in Union Square. 

Image

Our plan for the day was to take the hop on – hop off bus and get out at any places we liked the look of. The night before I had also tried to arrange for the concierge to get us tickets to Alcatraz but unfortunately it was fully booked until the end of June. We popped into a tourist info centre and the lovely lady suggested going straight to the Alcatraz pier and checking if they had any cancellations, unfortunately this wasn’t the case and it’ll have to be on my to-do list for next time.

We walked on over to Pier 39, which is apparently the 3rd most visited tourist attraction in California!

ImageImageImageImage

We had a lovely stroll down the pier, browsing the shops and taking plenty of pictures.

ImageImageImage

At the end of the pier is a wonderful view out to see. Our first sighting of the Golden Gate Bridge!

ImageImageImage

Before we knew it lunchtime had arrived, and we decided to go for a very typical American lunch…. In-n-out burger!

Image

Not healthy in the slightest, but very delicious!

Image

After lunch the 6 of us who were out decided to split up. The other 3 didn’t want to pay for the hop on-hop off bus so they did their own thing and us girls got on the bus ready to see the Golden Gate Bridge up close!

The bus stops at quite a few places along the way, however we realised that if we got off at each stop we just wouldn’t have enough time. 

ImageImageImageImageImage

Here it is! We stayed on the bus until the other side of the bridge, and got off in the beautiful town of Sausalito.

ImageImageImageImageImageImageImage

Once we were off the bus, we had a leisurely stroll around Sausalito. It’s a gorgeous little town with beautiful houses nestled into the hillside, and lots of palm trees dotted about!

ImageImageImageImageImageImageImage

We decided to stop for a drink by the water and chose a delicious local white wine from Napa Valley to share. Next time I get a flight to SFO I’m definitely going to go there for a wine tasting trip! 

ImageImageImage

Soon enough it was time to head back over the bridge into the city. The bus took us through the main areas (however any street names or significant areas seem to have slipped my mind now!) and we ended up back where we started, at Union Square.

ImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImageImage

Just in time for a bit of shopping – we were in America, after all!

What a wonderful layover. I’d love to go back to San Francisco, as there’s so much more to explore, see and do. If only the flight wasn’t such a killer!

 

P.s. If you’d like more regular updates of where I’ve been and what’s going on, please follow me on Twitter and Instagram @rachelwwilson!