Grant & Krysta's Adventures in Man-chesta

It was another early morning and I was off to Manchester yet again. It seems to be my most frequented destination lately, lowering my bank account balance and increasing the profits of Primark with each visit.

This time around I was flying with my good friend and batchmate, Grant. We spend a great deal of our days off in Dubai together, wandering aimlessly around massive shopping centers, talking about our flights, and going for lunch at Subway. Out of our entire batch, Grant and myself are the only 2 who have made the leap over to the A380. While we would have preferred a slightly more exciting destination, we were still happy to fly together and enjoy the company of a friend during the layover. It was business as usual onboard. We served up non-stop gin & tonics to a cabin full of thirsty passengers, landed, and went to the hotel.

Grant and I agreed to get changed and meet up to head to the city. A few others were waiting for the bus as well, so we agreed to all go together. Upon stepping outside into the bone chilling air, I wondered how on Earth I'll ever be capable of moving back to Canada. It was 8 degrees in rainy Manchester... about 40 degrees warmer than I could expect around December back home. The bus was warm, fortunately. We arrived at the train station, where I assured the others that we were in fact getting on the right train. They seemed to doubt my confidence, but in the end, I was right and we arrived in the city. Grant and I headed in our own direction while the rest made a beeline for Primark.

I'd spent the entire flight insisting that we go to Starbucks, so we headed to the first one and grabbed some hot chocolate to warm us up. We didn't really have a plan, so we did what we do best... browsed random shops and left most empty handed.

Grant practically had to drag me away from the beautiful Christmas displays in some shops, convincing me that I could not fit a 6 foot tall tree in my suitcase. Way to kill my festive spirit!

It was Halloween and contrary to Canada, there were few reminders aside from the odd intoxicated person in costume, a banana being my personal favorite. I longed for trick-or-treating and haunted houses.

In typical Sunday fashion, the shops began to close early in the evening, giving us few options aside from returning to the hotel. We were both practically sleepwalking and quite content with calling it an early night. After grabbing Subway (because why change a good thing?) and stocking up on more raspberries at the supermarket, we slowly made our way back to the train station and dragged ourselves wearily to our hotel rooms.

It had been an uneventful layover, but once in awhile those are necessary to catch up on sleep lost during the busy exciting layovers. I slept nearly 12 hours before getting up, getting ready, and returning to the sandpit.

Just another shift!

(On another note, I'd like to welcome Selina from Switzerland to Dubai!

She has just moved here to begin training to become a crazy cabin crew member like me. Welcome to the desert, and good luck with training!)