Uganda

Quite a few photos on this post, but as you can probably see, Uganda blew my mind!

At first I was a little annoyed when I found out Emirates had taken away my Glasgow trip, but once I got to Uganda I was so happy they had. 

We got in around mid afternoon, and after an hour bus ride through the local villages we arrived at a beautiful resort which is situated on the worlds largest lake. A few of us had heard about a local orphanage that an American woman (Roxanne) had set up, so we decided to give her a call to see if we could go and visit and maybe take along a few things for the kids. 

After an hour of miscommunication between reception, myself, my colleagues and the orphanage, a man finally arrived to pick us up and take us there. 

At first we were under the impression that he had driven to the hotel, so we were quite surprised when he walked us to the main road and told us to jump in one of the local taxi/bus/mini van type things. I still have no idea how many people we managed to squeeze in to this little van but it was quite the experience. 

When we arrived at our destination we realised that it wasn't an orphanage as such, but it was in fact Roxanne's house and she cares for, and helps a community of disadvantaged families who live nearby. When we entered the house we met a few ladies who were all working on sewing machines, creating  bags to export to the US. We also noticed that along the side of the wall was a heap of plastic tubs filled with loads of different things, all of which had been donated by Emirates crew over the years.  It was quite surprising to see things such as tea, shampoo, hotel pens, etc. that we see everyday as crew, and to see how much of a help these things can be to these disadvantaged families.

As we arrived empty handed, we asked if they could lead us to the nearest corner store so that we could get something for the children. 

After buying some biscuits, rice and toffees we headed off to go and visit some of the houses that the organisation often donates food to. One boy who stuck by us the whole time was a 11 year old by the name of Henry. We went to check out his house and when we got there we found out that he was one of 7 kids and lived in a tiny brick house which you can see in the first picture. 

Once we started giving out all the goodies we attracted quite the crowd, and towards the end we were starting to feel like the Pied Piper. Unfortunately half way through visiting everyone a huge storm rolled in so our visits were cut short, but we all decided to head back to Roxanne's house and it was there where the kids entertained us with dancing, singing, and reading.  

Once the rain died down it was time to say our goodbyes and we headed back to the hotel where we met the rest of the crew for dinner. 

It was such a lovely layover and everyone was commenting saying how it really felt like we were on holidays. The crew was really nice and got along so well that even when we got back to Dubai a couple of us all went to a house party (normally you tend to just go your separate ways and never see each other again, so hopefully we will keep in touch)

Also I am not really one to promote anything, but I recently came across this website and thought it was rather fitting for this post. Below is a link to an online shop where all the jewelry for sale is made in Uganda by a group of local women. All the proceeds are given back to the women and oragnised classes are provided for them in order to help them with their future. 

So check it out. 

http://31bits.com/about/

Anna in Dubai

I don't know what changed but I feel as if overnight the weather in Dubai has turned from slightly bearable to unbelievably hot!

My friend Anna, from school, was in Dubai the other day, passing through on her way to Milan and I had all these great plans to take her around town, but it was so disgustingly hot we had to forgo some of the souks and just head straight to the air conditioning. 

It was so nice to have a visitor from back home. We went to the Gold Souk and the Madinat Jumeriah before heading to Dubai Mall to grab some dinner and watch the fountain show. 

I was able to catch up on all the goss from back home and show her a few of the best bits Dubai has to offer. Unfortunately due to my roster we only had a day to catch up, but it was still better then nothing.

Hopefully in a week I will have some more visitors. My parents are trying to make their way over here but its looking like all the flights are full so keeping my fingers crossed on that one. 

Next up is Glasgow.... again.

Prague

I am going to start off by stating that Prague has the best hotel for crew that I think I have stayed in to date. 

We arrived late afternoon, and at check in we were provided with complimentary Metro tickets into the city, so we decided after 45 minutes we were all going to meet downstairs in the lobby and head into town to do some exploring. 

After a quick train ride we found ourselves wandering the streets, making our way to the town center. 

Once we got there we were starving, so we all decided to have some local cuisine (beef goulash) washed down with some nice cold Czech beer. The restaurant was amazing it was right in the center of the old town and looked onto the main clock tower. The weather was a bit hit and miss but luckily it held off long enough to enjoy our meal outside. It was also really nice how most of the crew had come out, as mainly they tend to stick to their rooms.

After lunch we made our way to the old bridge after stopping off to do some quick souvenir shopping.

  Half an hour later we finally made it to the other side of the river (minus a few people who got lost along the way) and as some people were ready to head home, my friend Cat and I decided to splurge and spend our last bit of money and go on a horse and carriage ride. 

We had seen some pink eared horses down near the clock tower so we quickly made our way back so that we could catch a ride before they shut up shop. 

When we got there we could only see the normal looking horses so we waited around for about 10 minutes just so we could ride on the ones with the pink ear. 

It was quite an experience. It was so funny to see peoples reactions when you ride past them (we had a whole tour group stop, ignore the guide, and take photos of us, we felt like celebrities!)

All that horse and carriage riding had made us hungry again so we decided to stop in at a little dessert place on the way back to the station to grab a chocolate crepe with strawberries and banana (sooooo yummy!)

We then made our way back to the hotel where we happened to run into the others that we had left earlier and we all decided to go up make good use of the free drinks and desserts the hotel had on offer in the crew lounge. The next morning consisted of sleeping, grabbing a free bite to eat, before sleeping some more, and then heading home. 

Prague was such a nice layover, and I think it was made so much better with that fact that I got to fly with one of my friends from training college.

London Gatwick

Once again I had another trip to the UK, and like every other time I go there we all went out shopping. This time instead of buying clothes and nick nacks I bought a whole heap of groceries (so cheap!). 

We must of been walking around for about two hours and, Murphy's Law, as soon as we finished shopping, and started to walk home the heavens opened. So there we were hiding out in McDonald's with all our food shopping waiting for the rain to pass so that we could make our way back to the hotel. After a while we realised that it probably wasn't going to die off (apparently the UK has had an awful summer where it hasn't stopped raining for 2 months now) so we decided to splurge on a taxi to take us back. 

Once we got back to the hotel and I somehow managed to squeeze all my cold foods into the mini bar fridge I got a call on my room phone. I was a bit surprised as I wasn't expecting any calls and was worried it was work saying our layover had been cut short.  

When I answered I was happy to hear it was my friend, Steph who I studied in Leeds with. I had tried to contact her a couple of days before I left for Gatwick but hadn't heard anything back from her so I just assumed we weren't going to meet up. Unfortunately she couldn't reach me on my mobile number (I think I am getting the area codes mixed up..) so instead decided to chance it and drive out to the hotel to see if I was there.

Great timing! I had literally just got back from shopping. 

So we ended up driving out a cineplex and having a couple of drinks and something to eat at this American dinner type restaurant.

It was so nice catching up with her again and getting all the gossip of the people I went to uni with. 

She is heading out to Australia next month to work, so hopefully I will get to see her again when I head back on my leave in October. 

So after assuming it was going to be just another old boring trip to the UK it actually turned out to be quite a nice layover. 

Prague tomorrow! 

The weather is meant to be shocking so hopefully it picks up before I get there. 

Glasgow

In my last post I mentioned my next layover would be Colombo, but unfortunately I fell ill and was unable to go. So the next day I got sent on a Doha turn around and to my surprise it was one of the best turn around flights that I have had (45 min flight, which meant we didn't have to do the bar, and the passengers on the way back were all expats, so they were all very polite and talkative)

This then meant that my last layover was to Glasgow. 

As Emirates seem to be sending me to the UK a lot lately I have noticed that all the crew that, like me, have been there before tend to all go on group shopping excursions to Primark (for those who haven't heard of Primark, it is basically a better, cheaper version of Target).

I must admit when I first looked at my roster for this month and saw that I was just revisiting places I had already been to I was slightly disappointed. But I am starting to realise that there is something nice about not having to stress to see everything in the short amount of time that we get in each place, and just chilling out and going shopping with the other crew. 

So 24 hours and 55 pounds later it was time to head back to Dubai.

Once we got to the airport we, as per usual,  had to go through security. But unfortunately on this particular day we had to deal with this unpleasant lady who must of been having a bad day, because she was out to get everyone and everything (the Purser ended up in an argument with her, and she took away my hairspray).

When we arrived at the plane we were told that Nicki Minaj was going to be on our flight!

Everyone was so excited and we were trying desperately the whole flight to finish our service quickly so we could go and see her. 

Unfortunately every time I made my way up to First Class to sneak a peak at her she was asleep with the blankets pulled over her head so it was rather disappointing. 

However, towards the end of the flight we had to hold off from landing for 20 minutes because the airport was busy, so a couple of us went back up to First to see if we could quickly see her before we started our descent. 

This time she was awake! So one of the girls in First Class said that if I wanted to, I could go and ask if she had finished with her meal and then clear it away. 

I went up to her with the tray and I was so nervous that when I was clearing away her food I was trying so hard not to drop the bowl of soup on her. She was very nice though, and helped me put some of the dishes on my tray, but to be honest I was so busy concentrating on collecting everything that I didn't even get to look at her. 

This brief encounter made my trip.

My first celebrity onboard!

And to top it off, when I got home I saw there was an article online about how she had difficulties with the lady at security as well, so that was rather funny. 

Next up is London Gatwick, so I am hopefully meeting up with one of my friends from Leeds which should be nice. 

Milan

Milan was everything I had heard it was and more. 

We arrived very early Saturday morning and because we were all so buggered from the flight we decided to have a quick cat nap before heading out. 

We heard the cheapest way into town was via the train and surprisingly it was a pretty straightforward trip. 

40 minutes later we arrived into the main part of town and the first thing we spotted was what appeared to be a fort (we later found out this was the castle everyone has told us about).

It was huge and very impressive, although not what I was expecting. 

After checking that out we were starving so we decided to get some typical Italian pasta at one of the cafes before heading further into the heart of the city.

Unfortunately my pasta was really bad, so I was pretty annoyed but Sophia seemed to enjoy hers so at least it wasn't a total disaster. Once we were done with lunch we wandered the streets (which were lined with expensive shops), got some gelato, and went to check out the cathedral. From the outside the cathedral was amazing! I was slightly disappointed because apparently my dress was to short so they wouldn't let me go inside, but according to Sophia it was spectacular! (next time).

After taking a few hundred snaps we continued on with shopping before heading home. 

The hotel where we were put up was amazing, nice high ceilings, modern amenities, comfy bed, etc.

Definitely one of the better layovers!

I discovered once I got back to the hotel that Lake Como is only a half an hour drive from the airport, so I think next time I go back I might have to head out there and check out George Clooneys house.  

Next up Colombo!