Flying Home

Today I start my journey home! After waking up and spending a bit of time packing, I head down to the restaurant for another excellent breakfast! Instead of describing the breakfast from yesterday, I do want to highlight how happy I am that many of the Middle Eastern hotels seem to offer a wide variety of fresh juices. Those that know me know I’m a huge sucker for watermelon juice and I am super grateful that this hotel is no different!

After breakfast I finish up my packing and check out of my room. I hop into a taxi on my way to the airport.

Abu Dhabi Terminal A

When arriving into Abu Dhabi, I was eager to explore the new Terminal A building. Making sure I arrive at the airport a little early, I now have some time to explore on my way out. It’s a beautiful airport and still has that “new airport smell”!

Etihad Airways Business Class Lounge

After walking around a little I make my way to Etihad Airway’s Business class lounge. As this is Etihad’s home airport, and brand new terminal I’m excited to see what their flagship lounge looks like! It certainly doesn’t disappoint! It is huge, with three floors of what is seemingly an entire side of the airport. There are food and bar options on every floor with plenty of seating and great views of the apron with many opportunities to spot planes. I didn’t partake in too much food since I just had breakfast, but the food on offer looks top notch. I did settle for some snacks and refreshments as I settle in to watch all the different planes pass by.

Abu Dhabi is home to Etihad Airlines. Personally, I find their livery to be one of, if not my favourite airline liveries. There’s something about the pixelated design element that really “gets me”. It looks very modern and I just think its super cool! So being at their hub and spotting the different planes and their beautiful paint jobs is an added bonus! 

Etihad Business Class to Amsterdam

However, boarding time eventually hits and I need to make my way to the gate. I won’t be flying Etihad’s Residence back to Europe this time. But, I am in their business class which is just fine by me! In many respects, the Etihad business class product is pretty standard in terms of a cabin configuration. But I find that there are a lot of little touches that enhance the experience and make it a very comfortable ride. The only thing that is a little “odd” is that the seats stagger from forward facing to backwards facing. So there is a bit of “weirdness” on a full flight where you are “face to face” with the person on the other side of the aisle facing backwards. Nonetheless the ride up to Amsterdam is extremely comfortable and some of the views heading North are spectacular!

A cool thing about this flight is the “anytime” nature of the food service. Because of the bigger breakfast and snacks at the hotel and airport, I opt for a lighter lunch. This comes in the form of a steak sandwich which Etihad nails! And closer to the latter half of the flight, I have my main meal which is a Green pea and mint soup starter and slow braised beef short rib main. Both are delicious and reinforces that Etihad has some really great food service onboard their planes!

Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel

By the time we land its evening in Amsterdam. Unfortunately we land along with several other international flights and it takes me well over an hour to get through immigration and baggage claim. My flight home isn’t until tomorrow morning but thankfully, I don’t have far to go, since I have the Sheraton Amsterdam Airport Hotel booked for my overnight stay. So I make my way over, get checked in and settle into my room for the evening. In the morning, I head down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast. With some fuel in my belly and coffee in my veins I check out and head to the airport to check in for my cross ocean flight home.

KLM Crown Lounge

After passing through security I make my way to the KLM Crown Lounge. This is one of KLM’s flagship lounges and is an expansive space with lots of cool design elements. Even though its a very large lounge, it does get very crowded in the morning, so actually finding a spot to sit down gets quite challenging. However, I’m happy to explore a bit and one of the key features is its collection of delft blue houses that it prominently displays. Which has added significance given our recent visit to the House of Bols earlier in this trip. Overall its a nice lounge, but when its busy it can get very busy!

Delta Flight to Seattle

After some short delays to wait for the crew to arrive due to traffic, its time to board. It’s a far cry from the first and business class flights from earlier on this trip. But I’m happy to be flying on an A330 which has a 2-4-2 seat configuration. This makes for a less claustrophobic journey when you only have one neighbour to contend with on the flight. Luckily for me, I actually end up in a seat where I am neighbourless, so I get a little extra room! This really has been a trip of good flight fortunes! As it’s a daytime flight, I don’t plan to sleep and end up watching a few shows. They serve a meal then snack closer to landing, and in both cases its actually not bad! The food is hot and pretty flavourful so I really can’t complain! Before I know it, the familiar sights of the Pacific Northwest are outside my window and my journey home and is close to its conclusion!

Delta Sky Club Seattle

Upon landing, it’s a bit of a gong show in Seattle as you have to get your checked bag BEFORE going through immigration. However, I am thankful that I have Global Entry and am able to expedite my way through, saving me a lot of time. I do still have a few hours to kill before my final short flight home to Vancouver. So I head to the Delta Sky Club and settle in with some food and drinks! It’s fairly crowded like most US lounges but it does the job!

Delta Secret Trading Cards

Seattle is a bit of a hub for Delta Airlines. And one of the things I keen on is their secret trading cards. This is kind of a “hidden menu” sort of thing that Delta does with their pilots. They all have cards for the planes that they fly and give them out to people who ask. However, its not really advertised anywhere and has recently gotten “big” due to social media. As these are the first few Delta flights I’ve flown in a very very long time, I figure why not try and “hunt” for a few cards! I’m successful in finding a few friendly pilots with cards. And now, I may or may not be leaning towards purposely looking for more Delta flights in the future to fuel this new obsession! 

Final Flight Home to Vancouver

Before I know it, its time to board my afternoon flight home to Vancouver. It’s a short flight that is less than an hour, but with clear skies the views are spectacular. It’s another reminder that I am truly blessed to be living in one of the most beautiful parts of the world!

HOME!

Oddly enough with the amount I travel, one of the things I find when arriving home to YVR is the lack of a large decorative “Welcome to Vancouver” or “Welcome to Canada” sign. It makes it hard to take a noteworthy “I’m home” sort of photo. But I’ve also come to realize that the two totems that “welcome” you to our customs and immigration area kind of serve this purpose. Over the years I’ve always looked for some kind of sign, and yet overlook the two totems which are pretty unique for airport arrivals. So I figure why not start using this photo as an “I’m home” post moving forward!

And with that, I’m home! It’s been a really good and satisfying trip with great surprises and wonderful experiences. And I always feel grateful and blessed to have this opportunity of travel especially as I wind a trip down. I’ll be writing a wrap up next so look forward to that!