Flying to Johannesburg

At 8.15 pm last night we were boarding so we left the Montale lounge and went to gate B4; this gate is located in the oldest part of the Malpensa airport, but this area has been recently restored.

Our flight by Ethiopian Airlines was on time and we took off at 9:15pm; we were on board a Boing 787 Dreamliner, a brand new aircraft, as well as the rest of the Ethiopian airline's fleet.

We have been flying by this African company for some years now and we can confidently say that it has become our first choice: the airplanes are new and spacious, the staff is always very kind and attentive, the onboard entertainment has a wide choice and the food is very good.

We flew in business class and our seat was practically a single bed, it is perhaps the most spacious business class compared to all those we have tried until now.

They welcomed us on board with an excellent champagne; probably there's no better way to start a journey.

As soon as we reached the altitude we were served a drink and some canapes, a sort of snack / appetizer, shortly after we landed.

This first route will take us to Addis Ababa but, along it, we make a stopover in Rome to board other passengers; the comfortable thing is that we do not have to exit the aircraft, we can safely wait on board drinking a bit of champagne.

We take off again at 11.00 pm and head towards Ethiopia and Addis Abeba.

The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is a spectacular plane, it is very quiet and you do not even notice that it is taking off or landing, it is one of my favorites and Ethiopian Airlines can boast several in its fleet.

When we arrive at altitude they serve us the dinner, in fact we are a bit hungry!

The quality of Ethiopian Airlines's meals never disappoints us, they served us smoked salmon and then we chose the beef fillet, which was cooked to perfection, finally they brought us pastry mignons... how to say no to such delight!
 

After dinner we lay down and we went off to sleep, the chairs recline completely and become a very comfortable bed ... good night!

We woke up little before landing and the hostess were serving breakfast with croissants and pain au chocolat ... are we maybe landing in Paris? Ah no we are in Addis Abeba!

We get off the plane and enter the terminal; in the International airport of Bole there are always a lot of people, at any time of day or night, even from this it is understood that Ethiopian Airlines serves over 100 destinations worldwide.

We do not have a long stopover so we decide not to go, even if a little reluctantly, to the business lounge; we take a ride and then pass the control and wait for our boarding, fortunately we have the fast track because there are really many people :)

We get on board our flight that will take us to Johannesburg, we still have 6 hours of flight but traveling on an Ethiopian Airlines flight is a real pleasure and so we are happy.

As soon as we get to high altitude they give us a drink with a typical Ethiopian snack: the kolo, it's really good!

The kolo is nothing but roasted barley, probably flavored with some spices, that we cannot identify, they serve it instead of our peanuts.

We would like to see one of the many films in the onboard entertainment program but the temptation to recline the armchair and sleep is too strong!

We wake up that they are serving lunch, they bring us again some very good smoked salmon, then they give us, as an extra from the menu, a taste of some typical Ethiopian dishes; besides being all very good we were very pleased that the airline wanted to make us live a culinary experience of their land, this made us feel pampered.

They brought us the ngera, the typical Ethiopian bread, accompanied by various stews, or wast; one was of chicken, one of beef and one of vegetables, I cannot really say which one was the best!

After that they brought us a chicken stew with a potato flan and finally some pastries, basically a half-wedding dinner!

While flying over places we have in our hearts, like Kenya and Tanzania, we cannot wait to get to South Africa; our car is waiting for us, it's been a year since we left it in a parking lot and it's been a year we are looking forward to drive back on the African tracks, finally this moment has arrived!

At about 1:00 pm we land in Johannesburg, by Ethiopian Airlines we flew very well, as usual; this company is a certainty.