Day 51 - The long one

15.02.23

We are sitting on the plane - an Airbus A380-800 from Emirates. It is probably filled to 40-50%, which makes it generally pleasant. Unfortunately, there is an older woman in our row of three, so we can't spread out. The takeoff is still on time after 20 minutes of taxiing.

During the ascent, it is still slightly turbulent due to the storm, but it works perfectly. We have checked the board entertainment system until we reach the flight altitude of 40,000 feet (12,000m). Thanks to numerous new movies and games, we will certainly not get bored. Shortly afterwards, dinner is served. With the mentioned movies and some dozing in various positions, we try to pass the flight time. About 90 minutes before landing, it becomes bright again in the plane and breakfast is served.

Despite a 14-hour flight, we land at 05:23 local time, as a time difference of 7 hours confuses our daily rhythm a bit. We pack our things and take a metro to passport control. By the time we get there, our luggage has already gone around a few times. Just before half past 6, we take the still empty metro to the DMCC station (Dubai Marina). On the 50-minute journey, more and more people get on, so the metro is sometimes very crowded.

From DMCC, it's about 1.5km to the hotel, so we quickly take a taxi and arrive at the reception at 8am. Our room is not ready yet, but they will notify us by phone. Therefore, we start a short walk to get coffee. Eventually, we end up sitting down for pancakes and waffles :) Because according to Aussie time, it is already 3pm. We rush back to the hotel and we are visibly tired. We spend some time at the pool to pass the time. And soon we receive our room with a great view!

There is not much left on the agenda for the day. We haven't slept enough. Nevertheless, we try to take a walk on the pier near the sea at 3pm. However, the oppressive heat makes us tired and we soon return to the pool. The wet clothes, shade, and wind actually make us a little cold. So we retreat to the room and take a warm bath. We are also very much looking forward to dinner, which is wonderful with a buffet. But the 31-hour day since departure with little sleep (Marco) to almost no sleep (Sarah) makes us tired and we fall into bed at 9pm. Welcome to Dubai!