Winter is here!
Which means it’s the season of catching a cold, getting sick, spreading holiday cheer, snowstorms & reroutes. ( And a recent power outage in ATL)
Which is what happened on my recent 3 day trip on Thursday.
I originally was supposed to have a 30 hour layover in Pittsburgh, but instead, on my 2nd flight of the first day day, my crew and I were informed that we were being re-routed, and instead of our final flight going to Pittsburgh, we went off to the sunshine state of Florida, and spent a short night in Fort Meyers. We later found out that there was bad weather on the East Coast, which caused our re-route.
Disappointed, about losing my nice long layover, it’s always best to look at the bright side of things. Because of the re-route, I earned some extra working hours, and got to enjoy some beautiful Florida sunset and sunrise views, and was beary happy to escape Minnesota’s cold winter weather to the the warm Florida weather, even though it was only for a little while.
On Friday, we had to work a flight from Fort Meyers to Detroit, then deadhead on a Delta Connections Flight to Pittsburgh, to pick up back on our original rotation/trip.
When we got to Detroit, a flight to the North Pole was going on!
It was for the “Make A Wish Foundation” and the children had all just boarded onto their flight to head to the “North Pole”! And when they returned, Santa would be there to greet them hello. I would have LOVED to be working that flight!
The Detroit airport also gets into Holiday spirt and cheer with a piano player playing some classic holiday tunes. With a few Airport Piano rules to abide by:
Rule #1.) Smiling
Rule #2.) Dancing
Rule #3.) Finger Snapping
Rule #4.) Video’s
Rule #5.) Picture’s
Rule #6.) Selfie’s
4:30pm we finally made it to Pittsburgh!
Since it was a Friday evening, we got stuck in rush hour traffic on our way to the hotel, and got checked in around 5:15pm. My crew and I all decided to meet up around 5:30pm to go check out the Downtown Market Square People’s Gas Holiday Market.
Once there, I felt like I was back in Europe!
I was there two years ago, on a backpacking trip, that was filled with Christmas Market’s Galore!
You can read about those adventures here:
Inspired by the original German Christkindlmarkts ( “Christmas Market”), the Peoples Gas Holiday Market brings European charm and tradition to Pittsburgh. This market looked identical to the market’s in Europe, and I couldn’t have been any happier!
Walk, stop, and shop, at all the local market shops. Get your picture taken with Santa. Order a hot cup of hot chocolate or apple cider to pair with some homemade strudel to go with it. And end the night adoring the Big lit up Christmas tree, and throw on some ice skates to skate around and to take in and enjoy the pretty lit up city.
I ended up buying a bracelet from one of the market shops called “Cha- Ching Coin Jewelry”
Where a local artist has taken coins and currencies from all over the world, and has hand crafted them into beautiful pieces of work. (After taking a look at the Bahama’s currency, I need to book myself a trip there!) I bought a 2017 penny bracelet, since the year 2017 has a lot of meaning for me.
With it being the weekend as well, everyone was out and about celebrating the holiday season, holidays parties, and enjoying the start of the weekend’s festive festivities.
” Not friend’s, not enemies, just some strangers with some memories “
After hanging around the market, one of my crew members invited myself and our other crew members to join her in meeting up with her friends from the area and to grab a drink.
We went to a place called Sienna Mercato. Split up into three levels and three distinct dining options.
Level 1: A Meatball Joint
Level 2: Wine & Charcuterie and Woodfire Pizza’s
Level 3: Rooftop Bar & Beer Garden
I ordered a glass of their Rose, followed by their Holiday Gingerbread cocktail, which was oh so good!
We got back to the hotel around 8:00pm, and from there it was lights out! Since we had to depart the hotel at 4:45am for our 6:00am flight, which means I wanted my wake up call at 3:45am, and that, is waaaay to early!
On our flight from Pittsburgh back to Minneapolis, the sweetest passenger made Christmas gifts for myself and all of my coworkers. It was the sweetest gesture, and it’s the little things like that, that truly make my day.
The spirit of Christmas is in the air, and it puts a smile on my face every time I see some act of kindness, giving, and even a smile put on someone’s face.
When I got home, I also got the cutest Christmas gifts in the mail from one of my good friend’s in Australia!
I don’t know where I’ll be on Christmas, since I will be “on-call,” with hopes that I don’t get used and can enjoy the holiday with my family and loved ones.
But for now, I have a few days off until then, and with the season of winter and re-routes comes the season of colds, and I have seemed to have caught a nasty bug at the end of this trip. So it’s time to kick back, relax, and rest up for me!
Thank YOU guys for reading <3
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, & Thanks for stowing away on this getaway!
-Carly ♡
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Great read!! While on our last flight I often wondered what you guys did in between 🙂
Thanks! :). I’m always going off on adventures no matter how long my layover is :).