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

Snapshots of Sydney: Harbour Bridge, Opera House & Maroubra to Bondi Coastal Walk

It’s been quite a while since I’ve spent time sightseeing in Sydney, and this trip I had two layovers there, and was determined to make the most of them!

It’s a 14 hour flight from Dubai to Sydney, and now that one crew has been removed from our long haul flights in first class, we were kept on our toes, to say the least! I was certainly ready for my bed once we checked in to our hotel in the morning, but made sure to set an alarm to at least spend some of the day awake.

Sunrise in Sydney

Sydney Harbour Bridge & Opera House

First things first, a walk to see the Harbour Bridge and Opera House!

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Adventures in Vienna, Austria

When I got my roster last month and saw that I had a flight to Vienna coming up, I knew I was in for a treat. My school friend Iris sent me a message asking if I had any plans, and we soon made one, for her to come up and stay for 24 hours.

We try to catch up whenever possible, but it’s usually only once or twice a year, depending on how often I’m able to get back to Austria. She had taken the bus from her hometown Klagenfurt (where I also lived for 6 years) to come and meet me in Vienna, and was waiting in our hotel when I arrived from Dubai.

We immediately changed and got ready to head out into the city.

It was around a 30 minute stroll to the city centre, and it was so good to catch up as we walked!

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July Roster

This month rosters came out a little earlier than usual, which was a nice surprise!

I got 2 of my bids, as well as a couple of other flights which I didn’t ask for.

Starting off the month is my trip to Brussels which rolls over from June, and then:

  • BOM – Bombay, India (turnaround)
  • SYD – CHC – SYD – Sydney, Australia & Christchurch, New Zealand
  • VIE – Vienna, Austria
  • STN – London Stansted, UK
  • (LHR – London Heathrow, UK) – Since changed to HKG – Hong Kong
  • STN – London Stansted, UK

As usual there’s one turnaround in there, fairly standard for every roster!

Then I have a 5 day multi-sector to Sydney and Christchurch which I’m actually quite looking forward to, as it’s been ages since I last visited Sydney and Christchurch will be a new destination for me!

After that I have a trip to Vienna – you may know I used to live in Austria (in a small town called Klagenfurt) for 6 years, so I will see if my brother or any of my Austrian friends are around to catch up there.

Then I have 3 trips to the UK! I did bid for Stansted, as it’s so close to home it’s now very easy for me to visit my family on the layover, although I didn’t bid for Heathrow so I will see if I’m able to swap that. Update – since writing this post I’ve swapped it for a Hong Kong, one of my favourites!

That’s it! Another month with a lot of flying, and a new destination on the other side of the world to visit!

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

A Stroll Through Madrid

First of all, apologies that it’s been a bit quiet over here on The Dubai Diaries… I’ve been busing flying, out enjoying my layovers, and having a lovely time on holiday in Valencia!

A few weeks ago I jetted off to Madrid, and as my sister Lizzie lives in Valencia, she decided to come and stay for the layover.

Sadly our crew hotel has changed and is no longer in the city, so after a bit of a bus ride we arrived in the city, ready to explore.

It had been a while since I’d visited Madrid, so the two of us decided to just have a wander round the city and explore whatever we liked the look of.

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June Roster

It’s that time of the month again!

Another exciting roster ahead as Emirates will shortly be launching a new destination which makes it super easy for me to go home on a layover, Stansted Airport! Perhaps not as exciting for all the crew who think of it as “London” Stansted, but great news for me.

So here goes, my roster for June, starting off the month landing from my flight to Dallas, and then:

  • Leave
  • BRU – Brussels, Belgium
  • STN – London Stansted, UK
  • STN – London Stansted, UK
  • KBL – Kabul, Afghanistan
  • AMM – Amman, Jordan
  • BAH – Bahrain, Bahrain
  • CDG – Paris, France
  • BRU – Brussels, Belgium

As you can see, despite having leave it’s still a very busy month. I actually don’t have any plans as of yet for the leave – so if anyone has any suggestions for a nice European getaway, I’m all ears!

Back to flying with a trip to Brussels, I visited this city with my best friend Lucy when we went inter-railing almost 6 years ago, but haven’t been back since. I’m thinking of heading to Bruges on one of the layovers, following in the footsteps of a fellow Emirates blogger here.

Then it’s two trips home to Stansted, one of which is on my mum’s birthday – what a lovely surprise! I most likely won’t be blogging about these ones as I’ll probably just be relaxing at home with my family.

After that it’s a bit of a tough week – three back to back turnarounds to Kabul, Amman, and Bahrain, and  a Paris straight after. It’s actually been a while since I’ve been to Paris, you can read about my last visit (in 2014!) here (with a friend I made through my blog!).

Lastly another layover in Brussels. As I have two trips to Belgium next month, perhaps I will try and swap one, so stay tuned!

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