Day 1 - Dubai

Arrived in Dubai after a long flight. The Emirates flight was not as bad as I thought it was going to be, the food was good and I loved the stars on the cabin roof to simulate the night sky. Good selection of movies and I didn't find the seats too restricted. We ended up in the very last seat at the back of the plane which in the end weren't too bad. No-one banging the back of the seat and a lot more storage room behind you. We arrived on time but the airport was busy so we had stay in a holding pattern for 45mins which was a pain; at least they turned the entertainment system back on.

So much for the tough customs laws, saw no one, they checked nothing. Noel grab some beer from duty free; lucky as we have found none for sale anywhere. Hit the hotel for a shower and met Mark and Donna for a wander in the Deira City Mall over the road from the hotel for an early lunch and look around. We then decided to chill out for a while and have a nana nap before spending some time at the hotel pool. The weather is 40 degrees and fairly humid which surprised me I thought it would be dry heat. The hotel we are staying in is the Novatel Deira City near the airport which is very nice, good sized rooms and bathrooms. Was worried at first as our room is right next to and overlooking a Mosque however the windows are obviously double glazed as you cannot hear the call to prayer so no early wake up call.

We headed back out at 7pm and caught the Metro to Dubai Mall. We decided to go Gold Class, very nice. I must say the thing that I have noticed is this city is so clean. Everything is clean, public toilets, car parks, trains, train stations, roads, everything. Everyone speaks English, shop assistants, cleaners, restaurants, we haven't found anyone who doesn't. With no problems on the train we arrived at Dubai Mall station and took the sky bridge which seemed to go for miles to the Mall and the Water Fountain Show. We just missed one so we waited the 30 minutes for the next one. While we waited we checked out the lights of Dubai and the tallest building in the world the Burj Khalifa.

 

 

The water show was good, not great but we can tick it off the list. We then went into Mall for dinner and headed back on the Metro to the hotel as we are now feeling exhausted.

Athens tomorrow, flight at 10.05am. Time now for some shut eye.