Sunday 28th November: Melbourne to Rome

Finally the big day has arrived, after a hurried trip around the shops this morning to pick up a few clothes and other vaguely essential items Barb’s niece Jess has dropped us at the airport and we are now, officially, on our way. Check-in, a quick snack and passport control are all negotiated with a minimum of fuss. We also passed through Duty Free………..….

It is inevitable for the infrequent traveler, that whenever you get on a plane at the beginning of a trip you always notice that the seats in Economy are narrower and closer together than they were the last time you flew while the seats in Business Class have become wider and further apart. Never the less the number of movies, games and communication options always increases.

Around about dawn, we arrived at the mega-complex known as Dubai airport, just in time to sit around for 3-4 hours waiting for the next flight. With 360 gate lounges you would think that boarding the next flight would be easy, but when the time came, we were ushered onto a bus and driven a kilometer or two out to a deserted part of the airport, presumably reserved for playing out terrorist hostage dramas, where we walked across the tarmac to climb the stairs to our plane. Despite the 1960’s style boarding procedure both our flights with Emirates were super smooth