Come Fly With Me

Are we really flight attendants that are working or are we 2 girls on vacation having fun experiencing the different parts of the world? We have decided to look at each work trip as a vacation!

Marianne and I started our 2 back to back trips to São Paulo on Tuesday, April 11. The trips are actually easier than working domestic flights. The passengers are generally so kind and grateful. This is a change for us. As I mentioned before, many people go to São Paulo for all types of beauty treatments. This time Marianne and I decided to have some fun with getting our hair done. Our hair stylist did not speak any English, so she had an interpreter with her the whole time. We asked if we could have our appointments together. They said yes.. no problem. First 3 1/2 hours I watched Marianne get her hair done and the next 3 1/2 hours Marianne watched me get my hair done. Our stylist was like an artist and was not going to be rushed.

Both Marianne and I were both pleased with our hair. The stylist gave us so many treatments; we couldn’t keep up. I know she wanted our hair to be hydrated!

After our Salon visit, it was late so we had a much needed glass of wine and dinner at the hotel and went to bed.

The next day we just walked around the neighborhood.

We were picked up at the hotel at 730pm to head back to the airport. It was a nice 9 hour flight back to New York arriving Friday morning at 6am.

After arriving at JFK, we needed to get to the Crashpad to get some sleep because we were flying back to São Paulo that night.

We arrived back in to São Paulo Saturday morning. We took a 2 hour nap and then we headed off to seek new adventures outside our hotel neighborhood.

Paulista Avenue

We could not believe Paulista Avenue was only 1.7 miles away from our hotel. Everyone told us to go over the bridge and keep walking straight up a hill and that’s what we did. To much of our amazement, Paulista Avenue felt similar to 5th Avenue in New York. Paulista Avenue is one of Brazil’s most famous streets, it has several museums, restaurants and lots of shopping. Paulista Avenue is closed to passage of cars on Sunday. It becomes full of vendors and lots of entertainment. We were there on Saturday and it was still fun.

Chapel of Santa Catarina

We stopped at this beautiful chapel along our walk to pray for a dear family that is close to our hearts.

After serval fun hours spent on Paulista Avenue, we started down the hill to find a restaurant to have dinner.

Monte Carlo Restaurant

We were walking down the hill through many different neighborhoods and we came across this restaurant that had a lot of local people sitting having their dinner. What a find! This restaurant was our kind of place…fun and delicious!

Our waiter did not speak English at all. He only spoke Portuguese, but what he did have was a translator on his phone. We had a chuckle when I asked for a glass with my beer and I got a wine glass. I definitely was drinking my beer with class. He was using the translator nonstop when we ordered dinner. We ordered 1 mixed meat platter and I asked for grilled onions to be included. This is what the translation came out as..

1 Mixed Meat Platter with onions and 1 Pork Sausage Platter with onions. We had enough food for an army. It was sooo delicious. We took the extra platter back to the hotel and ate it the next day on the plane. Lesson learned…we need to learn Portuguese .

We made it back to our hotel to see one of American’s finest…Jennifer Pollack. She was heading out the door to fly back to New York!

Off to bed we went, to get a good night rest! We had another day to spread our wings in São Paulo.

Good morning São Paulo. This is our view from our hotel.

We stay at the Pullman Hotel. They provide us with a complimentary breakfast buffet. It’s a great way to start our day!

After a yummy breakfast, Marianne came up with our adventure of the day. We are now ready to explore Batman Alley!

Batman Alley

Beco do Batman is an area near Vila Magdalena in São Paulo where 3 alleys meet. Every inch of wall at the dense urban crossroads is covered with graffiti and the pieces even extend down onto the sidewalks. Well known street artists from not only Brazil but all over the world are attracted to this sanctuary of graffiti and come to make their marks. The street art started in the 80s when the first drawing of superhero Batman was drawn. The art was amazing!

I definitely have a new outlook on graffiti. Not only did we see so much art, we also had fun checking out all the treasures the artists were selling.

We needed to get back to the hotel, because these two girls had to nap before working our 9 hour flight back tonight to New York. We still had more to see on our 3 mile walk back to the hotel!

We saw this beautiful church on our way back. We decided we would do Sunday Mass here on our next visit.

Yes, Marianne and I are back to work and what a magical week we had. We left Sunday night for Paris to fly two trips to Paris back to back. We were able to experience the beauty of Paris in many places.

I knew it was going to be a great trip when on the 1 hour bus trip from the airport to our hotel, I looked up and saw my name on the sign. Who knew that France has a City called Nancy!

To my amazement, on the same bus ride, I read the sign that said Saint-Denis. Saint-Denis is the second most populated suburb of Paris. This was definitely a sign that I was going to have a great layover and it undoubtedly was!

Paris is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It is the capital of France. Paris, the city of light and love is regarded as the most romantic city and a heaven for foodies and fashion lovers. It has countless gorgeous landmarks and monuments that add to the beauty of the spacious boulevards and their charming cafes.

Arc de Triomphe

The Arc de Triomphe is one of the most famous monuments in Paris. On orders of Napoleon, it was built in 1806 to honor the victories of his Grande Army. .Every evening there is a flame that is lit on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier from the Great War. The top terrace of the Arc de Triomphe provides superb views across the city and its great sweeping avenues. The most famous avenue is Champ-Elysees which is connected to the Arc de Triomphe of the other side of this photo. The Avenue des Champs-Elysees is the world’s most beautiful avenue. It is lined with restaurants and luxury fashion retailers.

Eiffel Tower

No matter how many times I see the Eiffel Tower, I am in awe! When I walked around the corner and got my first glimpse of the Eiffel Tower, a sense of excitement and amazement came over me. It is a powerful and distinctive symbol of Paris.

Before getting to the Eiffel Tower, we had to stop for a delicious croissant. On the street next to the boulangerie, where we purchased our croissants, the young ones where taking photos like they were models. After all the girls left, I said to Marianne, “We got this!”

Moving on we made our way to the Eiffel Tower. For 130 years, the Eiffel Tower has been a powerful symbol of France. It was built for the 1889 World’s Fair. This wrought iron structure impressed the entire world by its stature and daring design.

Marianne and I had a lot of fun being at the Eiffel Tower. We did not walk up the tower this time. I had been to the top of the Eiffel Tower with my friends, Donna and Jeanne a few years back, where we had a much deserved champagne toast! It’s definitely a must do!

After our visit to the Eiffel Tower, we set foot back to our hotel. Along the way, we saw so many inviting cafes. In the outdoor cafes, the seats are set to look out to the street. I love this concept. It’s great for people watching!

It surly was a great day in Paris. Marianne and I walked over 7 miles that day. We couldn’t stay out too late because we had an early pickup the next day to fly back to New York.

Good Night Paris – We will see you soon.

BONNE NUIT

SO MUCH MORE TO SEE IN PARIS

We arrived back to New York , Tuesday at around 3pm. Marianne and I went to the Crashpad to get a good night sleep so we would be ready for the trip to Paris the next day. We left for Paris on Wednesday and arrived in Paris Thursday morning at 6:30am. After arriving at the hotel, we gave ourselves a 2 hour catnap so we would have energy to go exploring. We find if you sleep more than 2 hours, it’s hard to get moving.

On this layover, we tackled the Metro System. I must say we did pretty good finding our way.

Our first stop was at the building on the left, Hotel de Ville. It is the town hall of Paris. The photo on the right is the Bazar de l’Hotel de Ville. It is a French department store chain. That building is right next to the Hotel de Ville. I just loved the architecture.

The Seine River

The Seine River is 483 miles long in France. It flows through the heart of Paris. The River is spanned by 37 bridges including 4 footbridges. If you take a river cruise, you would be able to take in several monuments, such as Notre Dame Cathedral and the Louvre Museum. Great way to see Paris!

Uh Oh! I was enjoying the beauty of these flowers at this huge flower mart. I was so mesmerized by their magnificent colors and smell that I was so surprised when the French woman started yelling at me. She was yelling at me in French. I didn’t know what she was saying, I kept saying sorry. I believe I was too close to her flowers. Thank goodness I didn’t break any of her flowers or I think I would been carrying a lot of flowers through Paris.

Notre Dame Cathedral

Notre Dame de Paris is one of the oldest Gothic Cathedrals in the world. Unfortunately, we were not able to go inside because on April 15, 2020 it caught on fire. The fire is believed to have been started by either a cigarette or a short circuit in the electrical system. It’s all so sad. I feel truly blessed that I was able to go inside before the fire and see the majestic cathedral.

This is the side view of the devastation which was caused by the fire and all the work that has to be done to make it as special as it once was. I read this on the wall, “As scaffolding rose inside the cathedral, hope began to grow for the coming rebirth.” The Cathedral should be completed by the end of 2024.

The next stop was the Latin Quarters. This is the oldest district in Paris. It’s lively with lots of shops and restaurants and cobblestone streets.

Montmartre

Montmartre is a large hill in Paris. The church above is the Sacra-Couer Basilica. This Roman Catholic Church sits on top of the hill. On top of the hill is a bohemian village. The village is filled with artists that are painting , restaurants and cobblestone streets.

One of the most special places at Montmartre for me is La Bonne Franquette. It is special for me because I had visited it with Donna and Jeanne. It’s a charming place to have a drink and watch the world go by!! It did not disappoint this time.

You cannot leave Paris without going into an artisans chocolatier. The chocolate is not only fresh, but also carefully crafted. Paris chocolatiers represent luxury in food.

Time to leave Montmartre and head back to our hotel and have some dinner. If you look between our faces, you can see the magnificent Eiffel Tower.

We made it back to our hotel. We are now experts on the Metro. It was a fun filled day.

Au revoir Paris

Can’t wait to come back.

Thank goodness for crew rest breaks. Being an International Flight Attendant is a life of napping! But it is well worth it!

Special times are when the Minahan kids can hang together. It’s always filled with fun and laughter. What happens in Naples stays in Naples!

Meet the Minahan Family. My brother Dennis to the left, sister Trish in the pink and brother Jack to the right of Trish and me next to Jack. The greatest gift our parents ever gave us was each other!

Love to start our day with a walk on Naples Beach.

Trish and I had a lot of fun on a Sunset cruise.

No one more special than beautiful Trish!

Irish Family Blessing

May love and laughter light your day, and warm your heart and home, may good and faithful friends be yours, wherever you may roam.

My greatest trip will always be to see my Mother. I was able to jump on a flight from New York to Boston after my work trip on Thursday. The best gift I have been given is Time! Time to talk, time to listen, time to laugh and most of all time to love this special lady I call Mom.

Mom and I enjoyed a special dinner in her dining room. We were treated like Royalty!

Yay for me, Marianne is back flying! So much to see and do! Buenos Aires here we come!

Buenos Aires is the capital of Argentina called the “Paris of South America.” It has European architecture and rich cultural life. The famous dance called the Tango originated in Buenos Aires.

We left New York Saturday night at 945pm to embark on a 10 hour flight to Buenos Aires. The passengers were very kind and thankful. After serving dinner and lots of wine, especially red wine, we were assigned are rest breaks. Marianne and I were given a 3 hours and 25 minute rest break. We still can’t believe our good fortune with all these long breaks! Work hard but rest harder. It is so important to try to sleep so you can get up and go and enjoy your layover. We arrived in Buenos Aires at 10:30am. You know you are going to have a great layover when you are picked up by a green bus.

We had a 25 minute ride to the hotel. When we arrived at the hotel, it was gated off with lots of women fans and camera crews hoping to get photos of a popular Italian band and also the Argentinian National Soccer team was staying at our hotel. You can just imagine the disappointment in their faces when the bus pulls up and flight attendants get out! No time to rest, we had to get moving. On Sundays, Buenos Aires has a fabulous street fair that can’t be missed.

We truly enjoyed the street fair. I few fun trinkets were bought. The real fun didn’t start until we ran into our Spanish speaking coworker that showed us around. A quick note about our flight, since we were going into a Spanish speaking country, our crew has to consist of 2 Spanish Speakers on the plane for interpretation.

Jan showed us all her favorite places. She took us to the indoor Mercado San Telmo. For all my Boston fans, it’s comparable to our Faneuil Hall, but much more elaborate. Lots of delicious food and drinks.

One funny tidbit about the Mercado San Telmo, they do have a public restroom, but it comes with no toilet paper. A smart lady stands outside the restroom with a roll of toilet paper and rips a couple of pieces off for a small fee. I was impressed with her initiative.

Jan even took us to her favorite dress shop! She had me tempted to buy this dress. Maybe next time.

Jan even stops and talks to all the policemen. The policemen all look like they are in their 20s.

Thank you Jan for making it a day to remember. She even took us to a park to watch Tango dancers. Couldn’t of asked for a better 1st day in Buenos Aires.

DAY 2 IN BUENOS AIRES

Since we don’t leave our hotel til 9pm on the 2nd day, we decided to do a city tour. A van picked us up at our hotel at 930am and it’s a 3 hour tour.

First stop was at the Neighborhood of La Boca. A neighborhood defined by its immigrant roots. Due to the river near by, the area became the preferred settling for immigrants of a wide variety of origins. The buildings have such vibrant colors. We were told the immigrants would use the leftover paints from the ships and paint their houses with it. Many artists show their work in La Boca.

The next stop was the Centro. It’s the center of Buenos Aires, where we saw the government buildings and a lot of historic sites.

Our crew member Tim joined us on the city tour. Behind us is the Casa Rosada. (Pink House) The palatial mansion is known officially as Casa de Gobierno (House of Government). A fun fact is the President of Argentina will not go in a car, he arrives at Casaa Rosada by Helicopter. Behind the Casa Rosada is a big heliport.

BUENOS AIRES METROPOLITAN CATHEDRAL

This is the main Catholic Church in Buenos Aires. Pope Francis used to perform mass here before assuming office in the Vatican in 2013.

RECOLETA CEMETERY

Great way to end the tour is at the Recoleta Cemetery, which is in the heart of Buenos Aires. They say this is the most beautiful place in the world to Rest In Peace. It’s 14 acres. It’s full of the rich and famous Argentinians. Next visit to Buenos Aires, we will have to go inside the Recoleta Cemetery and see it’s beauty.

Marianne and ended our visit to Buenos Aires with a steak dinner. Argentinian beef has earned a reputation for being some of the world’s best.

It doesn’t matter where you are going – it’s who you go with that makes it fun!

Friday night at 730pm, I left New York for Madrid. Unfortunately, I was traveling without Marianne. She was feeling under the weather and could not travel. So I took on the streets of Madrid, all by myself.

The plane to Madrid was a different type of 777. This time I was on a 777-200. It holds 37 passengers in Business Class and 236 passengers in Economy. Nine flight attendants work this flight. This aircraft has 4 crew bunk beds. It felt like they put bunk beds in a closet. I must admit even though I felt like I was in a closet, I sure had a great 2 hour nap.

We arrived in Madrid around 830am. Our bus ride from the airport to our hotel was only 20 minutes. The concierge at the hotel helped me come up with a game plan to venture out and see the cultural and historical treasures of Madrid.

Madrid is the capital of Spain and also the largest City of Spain. It has amazing architecture that I enjoyed seeing.

PUERTA DEL SOL

I spent the day at Puerto del Sol. One of the city’s most famous sites. It is a bustling square located in the center of Madrid. I had to walk down this hill to get into the heart of Puerta del Sol.

Lots of people walking around and sitting in cafes. An interesting fact is the square has 10 important streets that converge here. It was fun to walk up and down the different streets.

THE BEAR AND THE STRAWBERRY BUSH

The statue of the Bear and the Strawberry Bush is in the center of Puerta del Sol. This sweet toothed bear searching for snacks has been a symbol for Madrid for decades. The female bear symbolized the fertile soil of Madrid and the tree symbolized the aristocracy.

After many hours of exploring Puerta del Sol, I had to head back to my hotel early because they were blocking off the streets in front of my hotel. For all you soccer fans, my hotel was 2 blocks for the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium , which is home of the Real Madrid soccer team. Real Madrid was playing that night against their local competition Atletico Madrid. You can just imagine the excitement in the air. The stadium holds 80,000 people and I think most of them stopped in at our hotel to have a cocktail before the game.

So much more to do and see in Madrid! Next layover will definitely be with my partner. Traveling is not the same without Marianne. She was missed tremendously.

VIVA LA VIDA

( LONG LIVE LIFE)

I will be flying my next trip on Saturday, March 4 to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Our trip to London was more like a Family Reunion. We flew with 7 of our SFO Flight Attendant Family and met up with more in London. So, it felt more like SFO Flight Attendants take on London, Pub Style!

This is our fun crew to London. We were on the 777-300 which holds 304 passengers and every seat was full. It was a 6 and 1/2 hour flight there. Without fail, we were all given our 2 hour rest breaks. Lots of drinking was had by the Brits, but only made these passengers nicer. A much needed fact for all of you to know is that American Airlines gives all alcohol free on International flights no matter where you sit.

So once we landed in London our luxury coach was waiting for us for the 1 hour ride to the City. We got to the hotel around 8:30am. We each gave ourselves a 2 hour nap limit before we went exploring! We want to be able to fall asleep at night.

We loved walking the different neighborhoods. It was so clean and we felt safe.

Low and behold, I found a great street, but go figure we also found a fun pub on Weymouth Street, which we had to par take in.

Cheers to all my love ones back in Weymouth!

The Red Telephone Box

For decades, the red telephone box has been the symbol of London and fact the whole of Great Britain. A glorious red iron beacon of tradition. The first telephone box appeared on British Streets in May, 1921. Each box has a prominent crown representing the British government.

It was a fun afternoon walking the streets and stopping in at some shops. But, our day was not finished we were meeting up with SFO Flight Attendants at a posh pub in the Kensington District. I was told by a local that she saw Meghan Markle at this Pub.

You can take the San Francisco base away from us, but AA can’t take the San Francisco spirit out of us!

Marianne and I had a grand time at the pub with our buds. We will be back again to London to experience all the London History.

Thank you London for your hospitality! The Brits are famous for their politeness, self-discipline and especially for their sense of humor. It was our pleasure to be in such good company.

Marianne and I cannot be all play, we have to sometimes go to work. This is our plane which holds 62 business class seats. Our flight was empty and we had only 60 people with 10 people sitting in business class on our entire flight back to New York. If we did not want to take our rest break up in the bunks, we were allowed to take it in a business class seat.

As you can see, Marianne was very cozy in her business class seat watching a movie.

We landed safely back into New York at around 6pm. Marianne and I caught a 9:00pm flight back to San Francisco. We are home for a few days, until we fly again on Friday to Madrid. I’m so looking forward for this trip. I have always wanted to go to Spain.

CHEERIO UNTIL NEXT TIME

Our Crashpad is in Jamaica, NY., 5 minutes from JFK. The best part of all this is Dawn contacted an Airport Parking lot 1 block from her house and asked them if they would shuttle us back and forth from the airport for free. These kind people agreed.

Marianne and I have checked out the neighborhood. We found a delicious deli and of course a liquor store.

No neighborhood should be without Cowboy Curly roaming the sidewalks.

Marianne and I are all rested and we are now getting ready for work. Tonight we fly to London!

KEEP CALM And CARRY ON!

It sure does make it a lot easier being a commuter when you have a nice place to crash at before and/or after a trip. For example, Marianne and I flew in from San Francisco on the all nighter and we arrived this morning at 7am . We don’t need to be at our gate until 545pm tonight. So we are relaxing at the Crashpad. I’ll try to explain how this works.

Marianne is standing in front of our Crashpad. Our landlord, Dawn and her son live on the 1st floor. We have the entire 2nd floor. Dawn is a retired police officer, which we feel is a bonus.

There are 14 ladies in our crashpad. We are all from San Francisco and have been flying together for 30 years. Our home consists of 2 bedroom , 1 bath, kitchen and living room.

Now I will explain how this all works. One bedroom has 4 beds and then the 2nd room has 3 beds. The beds are called hot beds, which means when you arrive you claim a bed , go to a cubby and get your sheets and make your bed. When you leave, you put your sheets back in your cubby. Dawn has kindly offered to wash our sheets and towels.😃. Win, win for us!!!

Flight attendants have all different schedules, in order to let the others know what bed you have claimed there is a sign up board to let everyone know who has that bed.

You must be wondering what if all 14 show up to sleep. It actually doesn’t happen, we have been told. For instance Marianne and I are the only 2 here today. We filled out a big calendar and the most we have seen st one time is 4 flight attendants spending the night.

We are so lucky we found this awesome Crashpad.

After a good night sleep, we woke up and enjoyed a delicious complimentary Breakfast Buffett at our hotel. It was a great way to start our day. Then we were off to run the streets of São Paulo.

My favorite place we visited was the Ibirapuera Park. It is the largest urban park in the middle of the enormous metropolis of São Paulo, similar to Central Park in New York. It is hard for me to put into words to fully describe the exquisite beauty and charm of this park.

The best part of this amazing park was the area of the park called the Peace Garden. This part of the park is an open grass area where people read, meditate, exercise and just be with Nature. The most amazing part of this Peace Garden it is surrounded by a tree from every Country. The São Paulo people wanted everyone to have a piece of home when they are in the park.

Look beyond these trees to see the Peace Garden.

Marianne and I loved these trees. I need to figure out what Country they represent.

Such Beauty!

I am such a dog lover and this melted my heart!

We needed to leave this beautiful park . We still had to take a nap and get ready for our bus pickup at 9pm to get us back to the airport to work our 10 hour flight back to New York. Keeping with the São Paulo tradition, we treated ourselves to a much enjoyed beauty treatment.