New job, new airline, new experience, old city, sad auf wiedersein

As many of you know by now I am back in the Antipodes for a while to take up a contract role with Fusion Retail Brands as Group Financial Controller.  My job hunting in Switzerland continued to be challenging.  I was seeking some volunteer work to including dog walking for homeless dogs (yes, truly I was) and some volunteer work at the Swiss AIDS council (not sure what I could do but at least I offered).  Funnily enough both of these replied positively after I had left!  Oh well, I can contact them again when I return.

Anyhow….I had received a call from a recruiter in Australia about a contract role and I thought (in conjunction with S) that this could be a good option.  Gets me off the streets, out of the house and some positive cash flow to keep funding the lifestyle.  Almost win, win, win other than the obvious “lose” which was having to leave S and go back to a form of commuting.  It all happened very fast and within a week I had received the offer, booked a flight and was on my way.  Was arriving Sunday night and starting on Monday morning – gosh this will be a shock to the system, haven’t worked for ten months.

On the up side, I did get to play with the flight options and settled quickly on a chance to fly long-haul with Etihad, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates and winner of Best First Class a number of times.  How could I refuse those ringing endorsements!  Best fare was via Dusseldorf which meant starting with an Air Berlin flight in economy, yes, e-c-o-n-o-m-y.  So I was all booked and had seats 1A on the long haul sectors.  S has flown Etihad First a few times and raves about it….but they have not come up against me yet and my exacting standards.  A close inspection of the menu, wine cellar, galley and stitching in the leather seats will be the order of the day!  I also have my friend who works for this airline; let’s call him Shirl, who is desperate to know my views.

All of a sudden the week was over and it was time to head off.  My Air Berlin flight was at some ungodly morning hour which meant getting up at a time I rarely see.  S kindly agreed (???) to take me to the airport.  Check-in was fine but I got a crappy seat which they did manage to fix.  Clearly no link to having a Frist Class booking to getting a good seat on Air Berlin even though Etihad own 29% of them and code share on all their flights – I think this is something that needs to be looked at. 

Won’t dwell too much on the departure as frankly it was horrible.  Way too sad for my liking, actually there was nothing to like about it.

I went through and it was pretty much time for boarding so straight to the gate for me and no lounge time.  Just fine…let’s get this journey started so I am distracted.  Little flight was pretty good and I think Air Berlin offer a nice little service.  Soon enough I was on the ground in DUS and locating the Air Berlin lounge which Etihad use.  The lady at the front desk was a delight but the lounge itself is nothing to write home about (hence I am writing to all of you!).  I had quite a long layover and did manage to have another nice chat to S using the limited wi-fi.

Finally it came time to board the Airbus A330 of Etihad, resplendent in purple – a special livery for some football team.  The only reason this excited me was that they sold that particular model plane in the duty free on board! 

I was very warmly welcomed and shown to my suite.  First impressions were good – very warm colours, understated, no bling (such as you may find on another Middle Eastern carrier), a feeling of space.  Only three in First on this flight and three flight attendants (including the on board chef).  I have to say that the on board chef is a cool idea.  This person is in fact a real chef and not a flight attendant who prepares the meals.  They are allowed to be a little creative.

So each of the team came and said hello and more importantly offered champagne! Chef came and had a chat and I told him it was my first time and to be gentle….the result was that he was happy to design a tasting menu for me using the options he had on board and suggest wines to match.  What a treat!!  The menu itself has a number of options and is all dine on demand.

 

I will really let the pictures do most of the talking.  I have to say that the food and wine on board was excellent as was the service.  The seat was comfortable and the only negatives was the in-seat mini bar which is housed next to the entertainment screen so the bottles of water stored there get very warm and the IFE didn’t have as an extensive range of options compared to some other carriers.

So, it was time to land in Abu Dhabi and bid the crew farewell.  Layover time was quite short but I still managed to get some duty free and have a little rest in the First Class Lounge.  Not a bad place to spend some time but I am not sure about the white furnishings.  They are looking a bit weathered. 

 

So, another day, another jet, this time the Airbus A340.  Essentially the setup is the same but the jet definitely has an older feel to it.  I forgot to mention about the bathroom on board.  There are two and one is dubbed a “changing room” and is all black.  Just before you hop in or out of your jim jams the crew refresh the changing room for your changing pleasure!  A really good feature and nice to have a bit of extra space.

Another good crew but the chef was not as inventive but still offered a good service.  More champagne and wine had which helped with getting to sleep.

It was then time to land into exotic Tullamarine International Airport where I was met by Stuart who was to be my landlord for my stint here.  It was back to the house in Albert Park for a wine, catch up and then a snooze.  Was to be a big day the next day, new job, new……