Brussels from the hotel room

I was sick and outside were some -9ºC. Had to stay in...

Boulevard de Waterloo

... and I got to say Brussels is one of my favourite european cities!

Old metal @ Stockholm

17/01/2010

B747 'Classic' from Iran Air

In the middle of this worldwide financial crisis, it's surpring to see these three-men cockpit gas-guzzlers still flying!

Man, it doesn't show signs of stopping!

5 hours delay at Milan (Malpensa Airport) due to heavy snowfall!

Beautiful scenario although passengers were not that happy...

A319-111 CS-TTR 'Soares dos Reis'

An Air France A320-100 which was already due for departure

Wings covered with snow:

The cargo door is opened, also covered with snow

And... more snow... all over the windows!



And finally some kind of artistic shot...

Obviously we had to go through a complete de-icing procedure before departure which took some 15 to 20 minutes more.

The weather outside was really frightful and I had a cinema to go with some friends. But since there's nothing we can do... let is snow, let it snow! As I arrived at 1:40am at Lisbon I had my cinema plans ruined that night and my LHR flight cancelled today.



Now I will enjoy a couple of days off! (No! damn it! I have to study for my college exams...)

Everybody's gone flying, flyin' USA

Except me! :(

If you really love airplanes and have a wing in your heart, you really should visit this blog:

Pilot For Hire

Enjoy the reports and the more than awesome photos.

Well done friends, you are having the time of your lives!

PS: Sorry if I couldn't resist advertising this blog once more :)

Warsaw & Frankfurt

These are photos from this week.

First from Warsaw. The weather there was cold although bearable. What really bothers me is the rain. Nevertheless, staying at the hotel room is not an option!

nice Christmas tree!

This one was taken inside the Mall near our hotel (Intercontinental)

And finally one photo taken today at Frankfurt International Airport...

Milano & CS-TNT

The weather forecast was not that good: rain and low temperatures. And I would only have one afternoon to visit the city. I also knew Milan was not an impressive city but anything would be better than staying at the hotel's room, so I put a warm (and heavy...) coat in my luggage.

While arriving to the hotel, I noticed the weather was really dull and every single store seemed to be closed as it was Sunday.

I thought I would be alone with the idea of getting out of the hotel and see some spots of Milan but, for my surprise, the girls of my crew decided all to come with me!

We took the subway from our hotel (which is near to the Central Station) to Duomo. The Square with the Gothic Cathedral is a really nice site.

And finally, the devil (not me!) wears...

... Prada!

Yep... this is definitely a city where people really care about fashion! Rome is so much nicer and historical...

We took some kind of lunch near the Duomo and then saw some clothes stores (some of which seemed to be like real discos by the type and volume of music one could ear). Then, with no more daylight, we returned to the hotel to take a rest for the next day of work.

We would fly the most recent aircraft delivered to the airline, CS-TNT, which (then) entered in service just a couple of days ago. Although we arrived the day before at Malpensa Airport we would now depart from Linate which was also a first for me.

Some data about this new aircraft:

Matrícula: CS-TNT
Modelo: A320-214
MSN/CN: 4095
Nome: "Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro"

A cabin shot...


Some signs that this aircraft entered in service a few days before


And finally... arrival at Lisbon!


With the arrival of "Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro" it's time to say goodbye to CS-TNA "Grão Vasco"...

Hajj passengers

LIS-HEL

LIS-HEL, departure @ 22:35LT
Aircraft: Airbus A320-214

It was a smooth and an uneventful flight. I was designated to work at economy class although I generally prefer to work in business.

Passengers were served a dinner, a service very similar to those of other TAP 4-hours flights, except for the fact that they have a medium tray (2/3) instead of a small one (1/2). Medium trays are much more easier for us (cabin crew) to handle and to store back in the trolleys.

At 5:05LT (UTC+3) we landed in Helsinki in the middle of dense fog.

Then we arrived to the hotel which fortunately is in the city centre and had breakfast before having a rest after this night flight.

Our hotel marked with an 'A'

The first days as a Flight Attendant

I think this is the very first photo of me in uniform. Taken at Brussels/Zaventem airport in August of 2007.

The purser was still using the old Air Luxor's pink uniform. We were doing flights to Dakar and Barcelona for Brussels Airlines.

My father's 'first' aircraft was also a Lockheed. Not a TriStar but a Super Constellation from TAP :) Back in 1965!

Going to HELLsinki: pre-departure post!

Until today I never made a bid to go anywhere so I've earned many points to spend. The original plan was a stay at Moscow together with my friend Avelar, but burocratic issues with visas lead us to Helsinki instead.

For me it's a great opportunity to have a break in so many flights and hours I've been doing latelly. It will be a week without airplanes: yeah, I agreed with António not even to think about planespotting at Vantaa ahaha!
I also have some kind of fascination for nordic countries and I'm really hoping to have a good time knowing Helsinki and its people. We already did some homework and we now have some ideas on what we should visit there.
Maybe we will also pay a visit to Tallin in Estonia.

We will be departing this evening and we will keep you updated during our stay! Now I'm going to pack my things :)

(May 2008, landing at HEL, my last mission at Luzair)