And when he can’t tell you you’re cruising at 15,000ft with the skies clear what does he do?
Our friends at Etihad https://www.etihad.com/en-gb/ have taken an alternate course for us while we are confined to barracks.
And the captain has got the cabin crew to do what they always do, excel at keeping the restless passengers occupied.
And so the purple-suited ones are encouraging us to learn a new language. Arabic anyone?
It’s the first language in 25 countries around the world.
See https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KHl80riQ65s&feature=youtu.be
It’s just a taster but a great idea nonetheless and it might just give me precious time when I am put on the spot.
One of our own
Like when I was off to the Black Sea and the crew member started talking Bulgarian to me because they thought I was a local.
With time hanging heavy on us all Daddy’s Little Girl has been badgering me to teach her Italian.
It is la bella lingua and one that I have dipped in and out of but I have little excuse now to get the tapes oit again.
Andiamo.
And particularly if my Laurie helps me with my Italian cooking.
I had already been given a crash course in making pasta from scratch by Italian specialist Catherine Fulvio.
At her Ballyknocken Cookery School https://ballyknocken.ie in my old stomping ground of Co. Wicklow https://visitwicklow.ie in Ireland.
In the company of Italian tour specialists Topflight www.topflight.ie.
The joy of ceps
Etihad also offer cooking tips with their in-flight chef rustling up a quick mushroom risotto… https://m.youtube.com/watch?segmentCode=&utm_campaign=version4_row_ramadan_230420_apr20&utm_source=guestsenen&utm_content=etihadguestoffer&bid=686619102&gsn=311934473&cid=ema%3Agst%3Aversion4_row_ramadan_230420_apr20%3Aguestsenen%3Aetihadguestoffer%3Aallsegments&v=-mcgkEULFx8&utm_medium=email
Fun guy him… and I do love an oul’ risotto Rome on €50.
I’ve seen first-hand on an inspection tour of their fleet at Dublin Airport just how they look after the little ones.
And you can download a number of family activities from their site.
Which is all good to know as we’ll want to occupy ourselves in our own seats as much as we can.
When we take to the skies again.
Are we there yet? Well, I’m in no hurry… I’m on an Etihad airplane.
Shukran Etihad.
Jaunty Jordan
And shukran too to my Jordanian host Zuhair, G Adventures www.gadventures.co.uk and Visit Jordan www.visitjordan.com who took me a whip-crackin’ away to Petra,.
And also the desert and the Dead and Red Sea last year The water of life, Petra, and the sands of time.
Give a little bit
Now there’s always a bit of resentment that creeps in when we see someone as visible as Richard Branson asking for a dig-out.
But before we jump on the bandwagon it’s worth remembering the work that he and other airlines have been doing for years for charity.
In the Third World.
We may all be strapped for cash just now but when, and if, we can we should remember that when we next board a flight.
To fill the envelope.
MEET YOU IN THE SKIES
