Oh la la

Ooolala

With 20 different nationality hosting us on board the emirates flight leaving at 9am from Dubai Monday for our 6 hour flight to Rome arriving 1pm local time WOW WOW WOW what Service .... what Style ... and what an eclectic mix of cultures.

The A380 Emirates is soooooo far better fitted out than the Qantas A380 sorry Aus but Emirates has the game sown up and sown up tight real tight. The internal of our section is fitted out with cream 2pac painted panels inlayed with Birds Eye Birch timber trims, even the toilet seat is in the birch with French perfumes and accessories these guys now how to look after their customers. My wide screen TV is about 600 mm x 4000 mm and we have our own I Pad to use, very high tech. Off to my left is my own private little mini bar, just ring when you want ice it's all just so stunning and all the hostess say this plane is the gem of the Emirates fleet. How lucky are we to have this great experience I keep pinching myself. Our 2 seat are in the middle and on the top deck and only have 1 seat either side that has the window so loads of space with a seat that lays down to a flat bed.
So far I have meet several of the hosting staff the first being "my" French hostess Florence ... Ooolala .... as we are in the centre of the plane this time Sandy has her own hostess on her side, one would never pass things over the other that would be so uncouth.
My French lady offered me wine to go with my lunch a drop from South Africa or a Chateauneuf-de-Pape from Rhone and every time she comes back with that little French accent.. and her little red hat and white scarf beautifully draped down her left shoulder offering a top up what can I do but smile and say merci beaucoup.
Going to have to stop saying yes to the French lady or I won't get off the plane!!!!

This trip I'm going to be more out there and going out of my way to socialise and meet the as many people as possible, yes I know that is hard to believe... me socialising!! A great place to get that started will be at the bar lounge on the A380 YES at a bar In The Sky... Sooooo cool. It is located just behind our section, I'm sure the 1st class have one also but as I can't get in there this one will do and do just fine, beautiful flower on the wall, canopies on the bar that go just perfect with a drink or two. So I have to start the flight with a quick trip to the little boys room and one has to go through the lounge bar, so on the way back it would be just be plain rude not to stop and have a drop of French champagne and start to work the room.
Ricardo from Brazil was serving and picked up on my Aus ascent and he just wanted to talk about Australia, then later needing to revisit the little boys room again I had to stop at the bar for a pre lunch Mojito and got to talking to Lombock from Lebanon a 31 year old who was to keen to talk about his homeland and the pending war. We talked about how the young have had enough and are trying to protests for peace, he has lived through 6 conflicts in his short life and it is just a matter of course but a sad one that is politically driven. Meet a older italian couple from Melbourne and they have given us tips on some places to visit in southerners Italy she has describe one place that we must see in Milazzo called capo di Milazzo it's easy to fine it's a restaurant that has great traditional atmosphere and dancing you can't miss, it it under a big olive tree !!!!!! OK we will look out for it...

So back to my seat and let's have some lunch.
Flying out of Dubai the food today for lunch is a mix of modern or some Lebanese/Middle Eastern so it a mezze plate to start with the most amazing bubba goodish, so smokie absolutely scrumo. Followed with a Lamb Biryani amazing eating local food in a local area it is so true to the traditional with great flavours and techniques so the Biryani is just a perfect mix of a saucy cooked rice with cardamon flavoured sauce and the stewed lamb with the loose grain saffron rice served with a 2007 Grange Neuve de Figeac yep you guessed it more French wine thanks Florence and this time a great big red.
Desert of Date Bread and Raspberry pudding yum yum with a 2000 Quinta do Portal Colheita Port from where else but Spain can it get any better !!!
Well we are nearing the end of the flight and the announcement that it a beautiful 31 deg in Rome and we will be touching down in Roma any minute. We have a car picking us up from the airport and taking us north about 1 hour to start our first cooking lesson this afternoon so I will touch base and tell you what have planed to do over the coming months. Cia for now