Down to Earth...

Down to Earth...

Thursday, August 14, 2014

OMG I hate Air France! I mean seriously if there is any industry where a laissez-faire attitude should not be evident you would think aviation would be it!! 

The staff were rude, and looked bored most of the time (I swear if one of them had cracked a smile I would have died of shock), one stewardess literally pushed D out of the way, no "excuse me" (I mean seriously didn't they like pen the phrase?). Then there was the breakfast, breakfast?? On a French airline, flying into France...you'd expect croissants, pain au chocolat etc. You'd be disappointed! We got a stale muffin, and an even worse bun. But yeah I know what you're thinking "Amanda stop moaning" and I would usually concede minor issues like these if it had not been for the debacle that ensued once we had landed. I'm used to landing, taxiing and then perhaps waiting 10/15 minutes to disembark the plane...today we were left on the plane for an hour after we had landed, BECAUSE THEY COULDN'T FIND A SET OF WORKING STAIRS!! How technical do stairs need to be? This of course was made worse by the fact that the announcements were made in French  first and then us lowly English speakers were left to wonder for ages about what the hell was going on. I'm claustrophobic and I can tell you I was full on panicking. I felt trapped, my breathe became shallow and I'm not afraid to admit there were tears...during all this our nearest air stewardess decided to make her way past us to go chat to a French passenger (who one can only assume had understood the announcement in the first place)!

Anyway we eventually got off our plane, through security, onto a monorail thing, and to our terminal...the one without any food courts that didn't just offer baguettes for €8!! Plus side to Charles De  Gaulle? An extensive selection of duty free Champagne, and smoking shelters that you don't pay a £1 a shot to use (take note ABZ). Oh and I must mention they then decided to change our seats without asking, and changing our gate without telling us. Piss poor first leg of a journey! 

On the plus side our second flight of the day was with the lovely Cityjet, the staff were friendly, chatty, smiling, and in a nice touch they came over with a glass of  Champagne for us both with a congratulations...still no bloody pain au chocolat though!! 

We are now on the tram into Edinburgh city centre where we plan to descend on McDonalds before the final leg of our homeward journey. 

Wish us luck...

Much love AJ xx 

Back to Reality

Back to Reality

Hola guys! 

Well I'm currently stuck in a metal cylinder with wings about 30,000ft above the Atlantic Ocean, about an hour into the first leg of our journey back to reality :-(. Sad-face because we have to go home, but also because I am shit scared of flying! I'm talking squeeze Damian's hand so tight it decreases circulation, tears in my eyes, praying constantly under my breath scared!! The part once we're up in the air isn't so bad (unless we hit an air pocket or whatever-the slightest bump and I'm back to a jibbering wreck) but the taking off and landing part scares the bejesus out of me. I just don't understand how people can enjoy the feeling of hurtling down a runway in a steel contraption at the mercy of a pilot you've never met! My mum loves those parts which makes me even more sure she's certifiably insane (jokes, love ya mummy). 

Anyway enough about how I'm a big scaredy cat...

Did you know that the Spanish word for Onion is Cebollas? Interesting fact number 1. Onion Rings are called Aros de Cebollas, and I think that's just the cutest thing. Of course I can't eat said Cebollas because it would lead to me being violently sick and just a bit swollen :-(...which is why I have learnt quite a few Spanish words this past fortnight. It's strange though some words are very similar to our English like: Alergica, vinagre, tomate, piña and oregano. But some are very very different: pimienta for instance is pepper, pollo is chicken, and then there is the aforementioned cebollas. I know I just bored you senseless but I like quirky little language stuff so sorry, not sorry :-p. 

Ooh interesting fact number 2...in theDominican  Republic (and some parts of the States) it seems they have never heard of a Long Vodka!! I thought this was a pretty popular drink but the looks I got when I ordered one were comically confused. In the end I had to teach a bartender how to make one, and let an American lady try one (he did very well, and she enjoyed it). So I like to think I've done my part on spreading the Long Vodka word :-). 

Right I think that's enough for now because I don't even have wifi to upload this yet, and I'm going to need something to keep me occupied during our 5 hour layover in Paris. So I will bid you buenos noche...until Paris :-). 

Much love AJ xx