It's Finally Happening: First plane ride in three years!

Well it's finally happening! We took our first plane ride in three years! I know I'm stating the obvious... but Covid threw a giant enormous stinky wrench into our recent travel plans.

We decided that our first trip would be to our favourite place... Malta! When we decided we weren't sure what Covid measures would look like so decided just to go to one small place and stay there for the whole 7 weeks. We weren't sure whether there would be quarantines or testing... so 1 location made sense.

We also had the luxury (did you hear me say luxury, Steve Marta??? We can NOT afford to travel this way every time.) of flying business class. I had about a jillion avion points racked up and we used them to pay for part of our business class tickets.

We left. Victoria and flew to Calgary on Westjet. They don't have business class, so we were put in "premium economy", which on our tiny plane (2 seats on each side of the aisle) meant you sat near the front with a bit more leg room, and got a snack pack instead of a package of peanuts. Other bonuses included having your luggage marked as "priority" which theoretically means you have a better chance of it arriving with you and of course use of the lounge in the Calgary airport.

We had four hours between our flights so enjoyed lunch, snacks, drinks, and comfy chairs in the quiet "Aspire" lounge.

Side note: Before boarding our Amsterdam flight was the one and only time that anyone asked to see our vaccine passes.

Our next flight was the one that business class really counted for. We flew KLM to Amsterdam. The flight was around 8 hours, so comfort was what we were looking for. KLM delivers. They did switch our plane at the last minute, so we didn't get the exact plane we were expecting, but we still did get the lay down seats which is what we really wanted! We felt spoiled the whole time. Here are the best things about KLM business class:

 - you get on the plane first. This means you don't have to stand in the gigantic line that always forms despite them telling everyone not to line up until they call you.

- before take off you can choose champagne or orange juice in a real glass

- The food was terrific and included appetizers, delicious main courses and a dessert plate... yes a whole plate of yummy dessert. (Sorry there are no pictures... I'm not that good at remembering to take photos of everything 😉 I'm going to consider that a positive character trait!)

- They bring you drinks whenever you want. (alcoholic or non-alcoholic).

- The seats were amazingly comfortable. They are wide enough that you don't feel squished. They recline into multiple positions including a lay flat bed.

- Noise cancelling headphones were provided to watch the in-flight entertainment which had plenty of choices.

- Finally, before you depart they bring you a little ceramic delft house (it's a Dutch thing!) with gin in them. Apparently, you can try to collect them all (No Steve, we can't collect them all!)

When we arrived in Amsterdam there was a LONG line at passport control for the transfer, but it went relatively quickly (about 20 minutes). The customs officer was surprised we were going to Malta for seven weeks. He said, "You know it is small country, don't you?" 😁 Yes. We know!

We could have gone to the lounge in Amsterdam as well, but I was just too tired to walk there and walk back in the short time we had between our flights.

Next we flew Air Malta... theoretically in business class. Their business class means you are in a regular 3 seat row... but they don't put anyone between you. They also give you real food on real dishes. That's about it. I definitely wouldn't book it on it's own... but because we booked business on the KLM flight this one was also business.

I don't know if I was just tired or if the staff really seemed like they weren't happy. We were in row 1, which meant we had a clear view of them (despite them repeatedly closing the curtain rather forcefully) because there was a glass panel in front of our seats. There seemed like a lot of angry talking going on. What were they saying? I don't know... they were speaking Maltese.

Our flight went smoothly and we landed in Malta only an hour late. I was thrilled with this because I have been reading about airport delays and backlogs for weeks and wasn't sure what would happen... but really it was a very smooth trip.

An interesting thing to note was that I had read in multiple places that it was mandatory to wear your mask on the plane and in the airport. We were almost the only people wearing masks in any of those places...even the crew on the planes were not wearing masks. Maybe I missed the memo that we don't wear masks anymore? When you land in Malta, you deplane outside and then they take you on a bus to the terminal. They crammed the whole plane (maybe 170 people) into two buses and very few people were wearing masks. Now, I think everyone can make their own choices about masks. I was just surprised that so few people did.

Next we caught a taxi to the Gozo fast ferry terminal which is just down below Valletta. 

Here is a quick peek at the view from the ferry terminal

Our taxi driver dropped us off and sent us to a different ferry (the Valletta to somewhere ferry) but we just ended up having to walk a block up the road to find the terminal. I'm not sure why he didn't drop us off there? Anyway it cost us 15 Euros for the two of us and we rode the fast ferry for the first time. This is a new service in Malta, and I think it is going to be very handy for trips over to the main island of Malta. It's definitely faster than taking the regular ferry, because it ends up being about an hour drive to the regular ferry from the airport, and only about 15 minutes to the fast ferry. 

Still happy after 28 hours of travelling!

The one thing I missed by taking the fast cat was that you don't get to sit outside like the regular ferry. This means I didn't get that same feeling you get when you arrive on the regular ferry. I just can't explain it (maybe it's happiness?) but that arriving on the ferry feeling is glorious. (Not glorious enough to take the hour long taxi ride to the regular ferry!😁)

At last we were on Gozo! We took a taxi to our apartment, and settled in. We bought some groceries and then went to sleep on Malta time. Hopefully the evil jet lag doesn't afflict us this time!

We can't wait to start exploring and relaxing in Gozo this summer!