love you long time (Venice, Italy)

Ciao signore e signori

I went to Venice twice this month, with a visit to my sister in Joh'burg in between and thought I'd write the news in one letter:)
I love Italy!! The best place to do people watching:) So often you'll see an old Italian lady just watching people from the window or balcony of her first floor apartment, the sound of bikes and scooters, flowerpots, laundry, a couple having a passionate argument in Italian and being sunkissed in that gorgeous weather.

And yes, Venice is magnificent! Romantic, with a slight arrogant humbleness, expensive and just ultimately unique and beautiful to the eyes!! Pictures and movies do illustrate it well, although it is definitely worth going there to see for yourself. The doves are almost like the cows in India - you have to walk out of THEIR way. Haha. And tuna sandwiches are big!! I know it might be silly to mention now, but one day you'll laugh when/if you see it and remember my words;-) These guys are not shy with their fillings.

A bunch of us went into Venice all the way to San Marco. Saw the Basilica di San Marco, walked over Rialto Bridge and did all the usual things tourists do:) Venice is blooming awesome! No wonder so many architects and builders try to copy it. And it is so rich with history and left with all those stunning buildings which are constantly being restored..

On the way there on the watertaxi (there are actually stations where you get on and off, it's like a bus station), we would see men on their little boats or sometimes even just standing at the stations or anywhere possible - fishing. A funny sight.

Back at the hotel (we stayed approx 7 kms away in an area called Mestre), I decided to go to the Italian supermarket again. I'm becoming fanatic about different countries' shopping venues and styles.

Wonderful and fabulous!

Ciao!!
A

08_08_08 (Beijing, China)

Hallo

Yes, I was there. In Beijing on the day of the opening ceremony. And we met judges and opening participants on our flight and the spirits were high. Even though the weather in China was very misty, we organized a tour to the Great Wall, which gave it a mystical effect;) After being physically attacked by hawkers afterwards, we went for lunch and then our tour guide offered us a free tour to the Tea Garden. Here we were taught how to drink and taste tea as it were 20yr old whiskies. There is a certain way you hold the cup and things you do and sounds you make while sipping. It was a lot of fun, funny

We drove passed the Olympics Stadium, which I thought was a stunning design (but what do I know) and we saw new area expansions which are called the Olympic area, including new buildings - one of them called the Olympic Torch building.

During our flight there was a lot of amazement and enthrallment as we flew over the mountains of Pakistan, bordering China (when I googled it, it came out to be the Karakoram mountains - not entirely sure about this). These mountains are really gorgeous. Brought me right back to fond memories of flying over mountains from Leh to Delhi (the Himalayan mountains)

And another excitement is our move to our new Head Quarters (HQ) and Crew Briefing Center (CBC) (crew tend to talk in abbreviation mode at all times, haha). It is a huge building with lots of things going on. It feels futuristic with all the thumb scanning, card readings, announcements on big screens (from where the bus is picking who up, to where your suitcase will be coming out) and a lot more superb organizing. This company amazes me with it's operations.

Anyhoo, this is it for now. Got a lot of flying this month.

I hope you are all doing great and loving yourselves
Looking forward to hearing from you

Huggies,

A

mind the step (Mauritius)

Bonjour!

Mauritius, aaah, beautiful Mu... interesting place with it's strong influences of French, Indian and African. Fields and fields of sugarcane, little winding roads, friendly people. This has been an amazing layover/little work holiday. We stayed at a resort for 2 days!!! I had my own little villa overlooking a lake. It was peaceful and serene, birds singing somewhere... Although we didn't receive an allowance on this trip, it included all our food and activities. I went kayaking as well as on a boat trip out to go snorkeling. It was awesome! Then I met up with Anju, aaah beautiful Ju, accompanied by her cousin and brother and we took a little drive around the island. Even though it was winter, the weather was gorgeous.

I watched telly for a while and was pleasantly surprised to see Afrikaans speaking people, some celebrities and other South Africans on there.

Crew were great and we had a lot of fun. I would go back anytime

Au revoir
A