Wednesday 13 August 2014

14 hrs Sydney to Dubai and our 9 hr stop over

This time we are traveling with several books to read and drop, last time 3 months without some sort of English to read and no TV even I the one that never reads was looking to read. So I have books on Kylie, Michael Jackson, couple of others that will be great mindless trash to amuse my little mind on the cruise with several glasses on our private deck while floating on the Med leaving Rome west of Italy around for 7 days to Pisa across into France, Spain. Then in a couple of weeks leaving from Venice for 12 days down the east coast in the Adriatic Sea through the Greek isles and around into Turkey. My first book is call Confessions Of a Qantas Flight Attendant.....and already that is creating flutter amongst the flight crew so many dropping by for a bit of a chat, needless to say not getting much reading but lots of socialising. Sandy has bought Tony Windsor and other more intelligent books hmmmmm that sounds like fun Sands!!!

Arrived into Dubai at 1am local time Monday morning or 7am Monday morning Aus time after a great flight but being totally brain dead from the last month so was keen to sleep and sleep and more sleep and the flat bed seat certainly help with that... So no real info on food or any anything really but I'm sure that I will find my blog mojo before the week is out.

Had a great long early morning walk in the Dubai airport and still 38 deg so with my Japanese fan in hand to keep as both cool and being sent for desk to desk to find our driver that was booked to take us to of hotel for the night to get to sleep in a real bed. There was a bit of confusion as we looked like Aussie backpackers and didn't look like the Dubai business class travellers all in their designer outfits and jewels. Once they realised there mistakes life seamed to change some what and we were whisked away in a private car with an upgrade as an apology ... Albeit still to the wrong motel but what ever at 2am all we both wanted is a BED and don't care what it looks like, but it was fantastic shame we were only sleeping there.

The bed was soft and within seconds we are both chucking ZZZZ's until an 6am early morning wake up call as we had to be back at the airport 2 hours prior to takeoff ... oh and a chance to get some duty free. I was already up and had already starting on my blog.
Fantastic shower and down to breakfast as the hotel breakfast was part of the stopover and included in our ticket and what a traditional breakfast it was. Why have cornies when you can sample some Middle Eastern/indian and Lebanese food. Shame we didn't have more time to soak up the atmosphere.

Started with the best birchler muesli, I have never had it quite like this it was a litter sweet, beautifully cold which was great as it was already high 30 degs outside and was served with dried fruits and nuts, stewed grapes and dates but with a hint of nuttiness from the rice so it was sort of like a rice desert / birchler muesli. Then it was to the India section for some soft white rice cakes about the size of a patty cake with darl and a potato curry hot and spicey. Lastly Hammom a style of smoke white fish, hommus, labnar firm yoghurt balls rolled in parsley. I just had to have a little bit of everything can't miss out on a cultural food experience. Meet a waitress name Pearl and got to talking about our food adventure and she is looking into some local cooking classes for us to do when we return.

As we were waiting for our driver in the lobby I was admiring the ornate silver coffee pot sitting proudly on a central table, Isaac appeared from thin air dressed in his traditional outfit and offered us a little cup of traditional coffee which was very mild with a hint of cardamon, and saffron a lovely way to finish our breakfast served with a date as the sweetness.
7 am our driver came to take us back to the airport in readiness for our flight from Dubai to Rome. The airport is just massive so modern in glass, chrome and so tall it was like a town in a bubbled dome with palm trees and huge walls stretching up several stories of modern waterfalls.

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