3rd May 2016...................Cold and raining 10C

After sitting in The Outback bar at the airport, drinking coffee, we finally made our way through security.  After filling in all the appropriate details, we wandered into the next area where we sat people-watching and posting the blog.  Then to our departure gate and boarded about 7.30 pm.

Seated at the rear of the plane, not too bad as far as seating goes.  The captain comes over the speakers,  “Would all ground staff please depart the plane,” followed by “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain speaking,” in his smoothest, I’ve got your life in my hands kinda voice.  He proceeded to provide all the flight details and I could see women swooning in their seats, whilst the men waited eagerly for the plane to get off the ground, so the bar would be open.

This is the longest long haul flight in the world…and believe me, after the full 17 odd hours, it felt like it. Throughout the journey we were up doing our usual stretching and strength exercises, whenever possible, at the rear of the aircraft….that’s when we weren’t making room for the passengers who were praying on their prayer mats.  We had the perfect view of all the alcohol hungry, stewardess chat-up type of guys on the plane who seemed to have no problem blocking up the access to the toilet and in and out of the kitchen area.  The stewardesses looked about as impressed as we were.

First time flying Emirates and couldn’t fault the plane, the food, entertainment or service….it was efficient to say the least…..however…and for me it’s a massive however…..No personality!  We had been informed that the crew spoke in total, 9 different languages, however they couldn’t smile in one of them.

Disembarked in Dubai and what a huge airport. It’s a city in itself and an expensive one at that. Paid $20 for two Costa coffees, although they weren’t too bad.  

Then took a long walk through the terminal to our departure gate, where we sat talking to a German girl from Regensburg. Through the opaque designer windows we could see the very modern architecture that is Dubai, but unfortunately this cancelled out any photographs.

As I write, we have just over an hour to wait for our flight to Munich, which fortunately is just over six hours in length. Let’s see what our European flight crew are like…!?

Well it seems the crew were as delighted as we were that this next flight from Dubai to Munich was only six and a half hours long and nowhere near as full as the last one.  They were very chatty and smiley and between them spoke seventeen languages.  Makes you feel very ignorant and uneducated being only able to speak one.

We touched down safely in Munich at 1.40pm. After the first leg of the journey taking so long, we were beginning to feel very tired.  Julia had watched eight films, whilst I had seen seven, with only the odd few minutes napping between us.  AC/DC, Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple kept me awake between viewings.  After waiting in line for customs for a while, we eventually entered the baggage area, where we spent another twenty minutes waiting for our bikes to arrive.   But the main thing was they did arrive…..and safely!

Through the main doors into the arrivals area, to be met by a smiling Katja and Stefan. The journey to their home was approx. 150kms, but didn’t take long as we took the autobahn for part of it.  The weather when we had touched down had been a pleasant fifteen degrees, but now the rain had set in, heavy at times and the temperature had dropped.  We had managed to remain awake in the back seat of their van, for the majority of the trip, but the final leg had us both out cold!  Once settled in and after a cup of tea (Yes….we are in Germany…not England…) we went for a stroll along the country lanes and wooded glens, to help get the muscles working again and relieve some of the swelling in our feet.  Mine were actually worse than Julia’s, something I’ve never had before.  

Did the trick anyway and this morning they are fine.  Although we had rain jackets and borrowed an umbrella, our shoes did get damp and a bit muddy on the soaked wooded lanes, something we’ve got to watch, as they, apart from our jandals, are the only footwear we have.

We had a very enjoyable dinner with a glass of wine but by 8pm we couldn’t keep our eyes open so took ourselves off upstairs to bed.