Ciao Venezia!

Last month I was lucky enough to be rostered a flight to Venice. It’s been years since I’ve been there, and it just so happened it was on Mum’s birthday!

So we decided to try and have a little family get-together in celebration, and other than my brother Harry we all made it! Mum & Dad got the train down from Austria, my brother Matthew flew in from Munich, and my sister Lizzie and her boyfriend Jarett flew in from England, where they are currently living.

The flight was busy but nice and short, and straight after arriving at the hotel I got the shuttle bus to the city to meet the family.

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I’d checked the weather forecast the night before whilst packing my bag, however it didn’t turn out to be quite the sunny day that I’d expected…. thunderstorms and pouring rain all day!

Luckily we all had plenty to catch up on and sat drinking thick Italian hot chocolate until the rain subsided a little.

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After drying off from the rain a little at the apartment, it was time for dinner. Armed with umbrellas we set off to find a nice restaurant. Last time Mum & Dad were in Venice they found a lovely little spot tucked away serving traditional Italian food, and most importantly without the tourist prices!

We strolled through the city working up an appetite.

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Once we arrived at the restaurant we were one of the first ones there as it had just opened for dinner, however within minutes of sitting down it was completely full!

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After a thoroughly enjoyable dinner of plates full of pasta, it was already beginning to get dark outside. We wandered out in search of some ice cream, not to be missed when in Italy!

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The next morning we got up early for a birthday breakfast for Mum. Lizzie and Jarett set out to find the local market and came back armed with delicious fresh fruit, cheese and prosciutto.

As a treat we decided to go for a gondola ride along the canals. A little bit cheesy, but why not when you’re only in Venice for 24 hours!

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We boarded our gondola and set off out towards the Grand Canal.

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Our gondolier took us past all of the famous sights and beautiful buildings and churches, passing lots of other gondolas along the way. We even passed one with an opera singer singing away!

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After our tour finished (all too soon) we walked back through the city towards St Marks Square.

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Just time for a quick snap before we had to rush off to catch the boat! My wake up call was looming and I needed to catch the shuttle bus back to the crew hotel.

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Just time to enjoy sailing past the beautiful buildings before the flight home.

I’m so glad everyone (except Harry) made it and we even managed to squeeze a gondola ride in, without getting wet!

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

14 Comments

  1. Anonymous
    August 5, 2015 / 7:34 pm

    Hi,
    I love your blog its very informative 🙂 I am thinking about applying for cabin crew with Emirates after graduating from university 🙂 However unfortunately know very little about the interview/recruitment process? how long does the process take? ( Oh and will 25 be slightly too old to apply? lol
    Thank you very much, and safe travels 🙂

    • August 13, 2015 / 3:10 pm

      Hi, thanks for reading! 🙂 Check online on the recruitment page, pretty much everything you need to know is there! And don’t worry, 25 is definitely not too old to apply! 😉 Good luck!

  2. Nora
    July 12, 2015 / 11:50 am

    Hi Rachel! I absolutely love your blog! 3 weeks ago I found an ad on Facebook as Cabin crew for EK. Since, I’m absolutely sure it’s the job I want. I definitely have the experience (worked customer service & sales) and the qualifications, but there’s just one issue: I have diabetes type 1 for 10 years. It’s well maintained and I do live my life but I read an article where a girl first got the job with EK but was later declined because she had been on anti-depressants once in her life. Are they extremely strict about their employees health? I’d be really good at this job, just hope I don’t get rejected because of diabetes 🙁

    • July 17, 2015 / 4:43 pm

      Hi there! Thanks so much for reading 🙂 I honestly can’t remember if diabetes is a problem, however I have a feeling that the GCAA won’t allow cabin crew with diabetes. Your best bet would be to email HR and check directly with them! I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you!

  3. July 11, 2015 / 10:26 pm

    Hi Rachel loving the blog such a fan!! so i have finished my gcses and going onto my alevels and wanting to become a pilot with EK which has been a big dream of mine since very young however recently in the press i have heard lots about this aerotoxic syndrome and how it affects cabin crew and pilots and because i wanted to stay with the airline 10 years plus how would this affect my health in the future and should i be recnsidering my choosen career have you had any problems? ot any pilots in your company

    thanks so much keep up the blogs im loving it!!!

    • July 17, 2015 / 4:40 pm

      Hi there, thanks so much for reading! 🙂 Well I’m probably not the best person to ask regarding aerotoxic syndrome as I don’t really know much about it. I can’t tell you wether to reconsider your career choice as I don’t know you but as with any job there are always going to be positives and negatives! Good luck 🙂

  4. Quin
    July 11, 2015 / 3:23 pm

    Ola Rachel one more thing I’m currently reading through old posts of yours and you sometimes buy wine to take with to Dubai. Don’t you need a special liquor license or permission to have alcohol in your possession there? As I heard they’re very strict when it comes to having it outside of hotels,bars,restaurants etc. Thanx 🙂

    • July 17, 2015 / 4:38 pm

      Yes you’re supposed to have an alcohol license if you want to keep alcohol in your home or buy it in special shops in Dubai – however there’s nobody checking when you import stuff. Hence why I buy all of my alcohol on my layovers! 🙂

  5. Quin
    July 10, 2015 / 10:26 pm

    Awww say happy birthday to Mum for me Rachel!!!! OMG Venice city of romance, the gondolas, classic buildings very picturesque. I’m obsessed with your blog definitely deserves 5 stars. I would like it if you included pics of the foods you ate as well in different cities. All in all you’re awesome!

    • July 17, 2015 / 4:37 pm

      I will do! 🙂 Isn’t Venice just a beautiful city? So glad you like my blog! I will definitely try and include some food pictures, most of the time I’m so hungry I eat before I’ve remembered to take a picture 😉 If you check out my instagram I post a few more on there!

  6. Aleece
    July 10, 2015 / 9:15 pm

    Hi Rachel! I love your blog! I’m so happy to have found it, as its answered many of my questions about Emirates flight crew. And your adventures look amazing! I was wondering if you would tell me what you thought my chances were as an American applying for a cabin crew position? And also do you think it will hurt me that I’m not bilingual? Also any advice would be wonderful! Thank you and happy travels! 🙂

    • July 17, 2015 / 4:26 pm

      Hi there, so glad you found my blog and enjoyed reading it! 🙂 I’d say your chances are as good as any! We have plenty of Americans (along with British/Canadian/Australian etc) who only speak one language! My best advice is always just to be yourself and keep smiling! I did do a post with lots of tips for the interview so feel free to check that out as well 🙂

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