Danielle Murnane

Where to start? I have been neglecting my writing for the past couple of months and I’m feeling so guilty for doing so! Therefore this blogpost is an attempt to redeem myself and catch you up on my travels for June and July. My flying hours for both months felt almost normal with the resume of a lot of flights and also being allowed out of the hotel room at certain destinations… finally I can see the light at the end of a very dark corona tunnel!

JUNE

My flights in June were not so exciting but the main event I want to discuss is my trip to Zakynthos island in Greece. I spent about one week of my annual leave exploring the island and I absolutely had the time of my life. For a snippet of my holiday check out my vlog:

For the first half of my trip I stayed at the cutest airbnb in Agios Sostis where I made friends with a little kitten living on the premises! The whole area was FULL of olive trees, I had never seen so many in my life. I later found out that Zakynthos island makes up for 25% of olives in all of Greece! That’s lot for a tiny island! I bought so much delicious olives and homemade olive oils and olive soaps from the locals…. It was such a dream!

Each day I went beach hopping around the island… first stop was Cameo Island, a beautiful island separated by a bridge near Agios Sostis. The water was crystal clear and the place had a very chill vibe which I loved.

On my second day I took a boat tour to turtle island! This was such an amazing day as I love turtles and the first part of the tour was turtle spotting in the crystal blue waters. I just loved seeing them swim around in their natural environment and poke their little heads out of the water… it was so beautiful to watch. I then went sailing to turtle island and spent the day at the beach.

Another highlight was my day at shipwreck beach! I had such a fun time sailing across the Ionian Sea to the island’s most famous attraction. I sat right at the tip of the boat and felt like Rose from Titanic – thankfully we didn’t have the same ending as the movie 😛

I had such an amazing fish for lunch, the staff at the restaurant recommended it as it was super dooper FRESH and I am happy to say that it did not disappoint, I demolished that entire meal! YUM

After lunch I went to the number one location for Instagram photos – the cliff overlooking shipwreck beach. This place was packed with tourists but just look at my pictures, they are amazing! I was told off by one tourist for hogging the photo spot for too long #sorrynotsorry hahahah

I spent the other half of my trip in Zakynthos town. I didn’t love it as much as I loved the first area I stayed but it was a beautiful little town, I love the colours of the houses! I just miss all the nature and olive trees I had around me at the first Airbnb.

Before heading home to Dubai via Athens, I spent a few hours roaming around the city centre and visiting the Acropolis for the second time. I actually came here 5 years ago with my ex boyfriend and unfortunately on that trip, I had my iPhone stolen so my ex took photos of me at the Acropolis on his phone. After the trip we broke up and he didn’t send me my photos out of spite so I always promised myself the next time I am in Athens I will revisit the Acropolis and retake my photos.. you know I love my travel pics 😉 It honestly felt so great to take them, very empowering… just to acknowledge how far I’ve grown since I was last here. I’m super glad I did it 🙂

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

I started the month of July with a work trip to Manila. At the moment Asia is really strict in regards to covid so we aren’t allowed to leave the hotel there. Thankfully I’m great at occupying myself so I had no issues keeping myself busy during my 30 hour layover locked in a hotel room.

Being the crazy woman that I am as I soon as I landed early morning in Dubai from Manila I took a flight to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina as I had 3 days off before my next flight and figured why not squeeze in another holiday.

Bosnia and Herzegovina is my 75th country to ever visit, I wish I had longer to explore the beautiful country as 4 days was not enough time. I really loved it there although it was super hot. I spent the majority of my time in Mostar which is absolutely stunning.

Being a coffee snob from Melbourne, I have to give credit where it’s due. I loved all the coffee I drank in Bosnia and particularly enjoyed trying the local coffee. Just look out how it’s presented…. So pretty!! I am in love ❤

One of my favourite places to visit was the Dervish House in Blagaj. It was one of my most stunning places I have ever been, the lake and gardens are unreal. I have never seen so many butterflies in my life, it felt like a dream world.

If you are interested in seeing more of my trip check out my vlog on my trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina – COUNTRY 75 😀

NEW YORK

After a quick turnaround flight to Lebanon, it was then time for my return to New York City, one of my favourite cities in the whole entire world. I was super dooper fortunate to be rostered a layover here with 48 hours instead of the usual 24-30 hour layovers that usually come with NYC.

I had such an amazing 2 days here, I don’t know what it is about New York but every time I come here I spend the entire layover outside and not a single moment in the hotel. I am out all day from early morning until late at night, I just never get bored as I am always finding new things to see and do. I think that’s what I love about the city. I just missed watching a broadway performance which I would usually go see. I couldn’t go this time around because they have shut down broadway due to the pandemic.

If you want to check out more of my layover in New York take a look at my vlog in New York, New York!

MUNICH

My final layover for June was Munich, Germany and this was also a location we are allowed outside of the hotel. This was my first time to visit Munich, previously I have visited Berlin, Frankfurt and Hamburg and as much as I loved all of those cities, I have to say Munich is now my favourite one! I’m planning to create a vlog shortly so I can show you what I got up to on my layover.

As it was a Sunday, most things were closed in Munich. This didn’t stop me from exploring, I ended up walking 30,000 steps throughout the English Gardens and city centre exploring Munich before the skies opened up and the rain came pouring down! Despite the weather, I LOVED the gardens and just how much greenery there is all around the city. Sunday is family day for the Germans, I love that and it was evident to see as I walked through the gardens and saw all the families there riding their bikes, walking, playing games and enjoying a beer and pretzel in the beer gardens, it was such a nice layover. I wish I didn’t have to leave so soon!

Well that’s a quick catch up from my end for the past two months. Things seem to gradually be picking up now, but the situation in the world is still very unpredictable. I just came back from a layover in Singapore where I wasn’t able to leave the hotel room but I had the most magnificent flight as I was operating cargo there… this means no passengers to look after! I’ll share more about it in my next blogpost in August.

My flights and roster is changing very frequently so its hard to say which flights I’ll do for August but as it currently stands I have 2 x London Heathrow layovers and turnaround flights to Jordan, Lebanon and Uganda. I’ll be sure to update you in the next post 😉

Until then, wishing you happy positive vibes for August 🙂 especially to my people in Melbourne having to undergo their 6th lockdown… hang in there my friends! ciao xxx