Gosh it all seems like so long ago, but it was only a couple of days.
The hotel in Brussels was decent enough. Cool enough room temperature (although still not cool enough to use the doona, so it went), hard bed and really good block out curtains meant a fairly good sleep. Breakfast was relatively small for such a big hotel.
Security outside the terminal was a bit silly. They directed some people through the bag checks but not others. ??? Weird. So we got inside and confirmed that Brussels airport is very UN user friendly. Because we were a bit early, there was no sign saying where Etihad checkins were, so we went to their little booth up the back to find out. They were on the end, but turns out it was the first day they'd used that section since the attacks a while back, so they were having *issues* - with the printing of boarding passes. So checkin took three quarters of an hour :( Then another half an hour to get through security and passport control.
We had an A330 for the first flight, but had been separated by the travel agent. So we asked at checkin if Mum could get a window seat, which she could, which was good. Turns out we both had empty seats next to us. Go figure.
Etihad Airbus A330-200 A6 EYP at Brussels Airport
Entertainment system on the A330
Legroom on the A330
Bucharest from the air
The river Danube (Romania on left, Bulgaria on right)
Nemrut Crater and Lake in Turkey
Photo by Mum
Mountains in Iran
Wingtip of the A330
I watched Ratatouille first up which I hadn't seen in ages. Then I watched Rocky, which I'd never actually seen before. There were a few things that annoyed me about it, like how Adrian was clearly uncomfortable being in his house but he pushed on anyway. If it'd had been me I would have been out of there. Same with the fight with his manager. "Oh I hate you, no I really I don't can you be my manager". Whatevs. Didn't have time for a third movie, so watched the first half of Frozen.
Khalifa City in Abu Dhabi
Air traffic control tower at Abu Dhabi Airport
At Abu Dhabi we parked way away from the terminal so needed a bus to the terminal. Which went around and around and took ages. By the time we got through security it was basically time to board our next flight. Luckily the gate was near the security end, didn't have to walk alllll the way down the terminal. But. We did need to go to the toilet, so had to walk alllll the way down the terminal. Ok not quite, but it was a long way and we were getting a bit stressed. Not that we should have been stressed, we sat on the plane for like an hour before we started moving.
So our second plane was an A380. And of course our seats were booked by a travel agent. So they were pretty bad - over the wing :( At least it wasn't too bad a flight to be stuck over the wing. Take off to the west at Abu Dhabi, but at night. Then over the Indian Ocean for the night. For the day we were flying over Australia, but there's really not a huge amount to see. Night time by the time we got to Sydney. That's the only time a better seat would have mattered, as we came in from the north and had Sydney on our left so that was nice. Could see it a bit over the top of the engines. The GPS had issues keeping on track. But the A380s are definitely a lot quieter than A330s. Or maybe that's just because we were in front of the engines instead of behind them.
Etihad Airbus A380-800 A6 APD at Abu Dhabi Airport
Legroom on the A380
Our very sad view on the A380 (over the Nullabor Plain)
The screens are also huge and bright on the A380s. Which makes them great for watching movies. The problem is you can see everyone else's as well. Which isn't really a problem unless you're trying to sleep and the lights flash in your face (Stu knows how much *that* annoys me). I had restless legs for the whole first half of the flight. Blerf. Watched The Martian first up. I'd been putting off watching this since I'd been hoping to see it on a bigger screen (Stu and EffanC watched it without me on their big screen and I'd been grumpy about it ever since). On the A380 screen it was perfectly adequate. Pretty decent movie too. Next I watched Eddie the Eagle which was just a lovely movie. Then I watched That Sugar Film - a documentary by an Australian guy looking into what effects processed sugar has on people's bodies. Quite interesting. Started to watch Rio 2, but was getting quite tired (it was about 3am Europe time). Finally my legs relaxed and I dozed for an hour or so. But then Mum started fussing around and my GPS lost its way and Mum put on a movie which started flashing in my eyes (even with the eye patches on) so gave up on any more sleep. Finished watching Rio 2. Pretty silly movie.
If I don't get sick from that flight it'll be a miracle. The plane was full of sick people, including one behind and one beside us. Blerf.
Disembarked, picked up all my whiskey, breezed through immigration, and quickly through customs as well. Then trained it back to Mum's, got to her place a bit after 8pm Sydney time, midday Europe time. I decided I wanted to go home and see the sweetie. The 7-Eleven at Sutherland was closed, as was a chunk of the M1 so had to use the Old Princes Highway. Got petrol at Sutton Forest, and got some food at The Scottish Restaurant there too, which helped keep me awake. Got home around midnight.
So all in all a pretty good trip. Saw lots of great scenery and had good weather for most of it. The biggest stresses were all the people. Not that I didn't get along with anyone, there were just so many (on the last tour at least) which just makes everything a bit stressful. Looking forward to a bit less stress at home, not really looking forward to going back to the dramas going on at work :)
