We were not able to get 4 seats together so the three others got seats next to each other and I was in the row behind. Without even asking the boys ended up in Row 69, with Neil getting 69C.
I had a pretty solid man next to me and as I always do asked the flight attendant if there was any spare seats where there was two empty seats next to each other, explaining that it will be awkward for the person sitting next me cause of my size. They said they will check. After the doors closed they come up to me and said that I could move and it was into Seat 69D across the aisle from the boys.
They served us an evening meal pretty well straight away once we took off. It is a 14 hour flight to Dubai. The video screen on the seat in front of you had over 100 movies plus T.V. shows and documentaries plus thousands of songs on it. I looked at a couple of movies and six episodes of the TV show Nurse Jackie and listened to some music in between a few naps.
During the flight the staff came around with some snacks and we then had a morning meal before landing in Dubai.
I have had people say to me how much better Emirates is than other airlines you travel on but after my first two flights with them I would say it is just the same as V Australia or Singapore Airlines.
When we landed in Dubai we entered the new Emirates terminal and it is a real eye opener. I don’t know when it was built but I don’t think it is that old and it is all marble and gold leaf.
Neil got us to line up in front of the sign that pointed to the Prayer Room.
I went off to try to find a card reader to hook my camera disk up to the computer and told the boys I would meet them at the gate in one hour for the next flight. I could not find a card reader anywhere so looked around and found a couple of Arabic writing Pringles cans for my collection, Original and BBQ.
When I caught up with the others, Neil was all excited telling me all about the spray hose you can use in the toilet cubicle to help clean yourself. Also about how he hit up the barman for a pint glass in exchange for some of his beer items he had with him.
The man said he will ask his boss and we can see when we come through on the way home.
We got on the second plane, another A380 but slightly different configuration. We all got seated next to each other in the centre section of seating. The boys got a beer each and we were then collecting all the empties. There were Amstel, Heineken and Budweiser cans to collect. The Heineken was a special for the European Cup soccer. I was drinking coke and getting the small cans of Coke and Diet Coke to give away when I get home. Also we were getting some small spirits bottles for future use on the trip.
I watched a couple of documentaries, one on The Great Train Robbery in England, I have been under the bridge where the robbery took place a couple of times when I have been visiting cousins in Buckinghamshire as they live close to the site. The other one was on the Afghanistan Cricket team and how they won three tournaments in three years and qualified for the 2009 Cricket World Cup.
When we landed in Heathrow we arrived at Terminal 3 and had to go to Terminal 1. After clearing immigration and getting our luggage we started off for Terminal 1. You go down underground through a series of walk way tunnels to the terminal. You can go into that area to get the train to Central London.
It took us about 20 minutes to get there. They have the moving walkways, which we used but there is of course there is a trap. You get on the last walkway which is about 50 metres long but when you get about 30 metres along there is a side tunnel that states you must go that way with the trolleys. So when you to the end of the walkway you have to go back 20 meters to go the correct way.
On the way we heard that NSW had lost the first game of Rugby League State of Origin.
To make the 20kg weight limit I took the back pack out of my luggage and I had picked up a spare duty free bag and put the back pack in it. It looked like I had picked up Duty Free and nobody checked it all the way through. The two duty free bags and my laptop case and my hard Pilot style carry-on bag I had about 20kg in my carry on.
We then got our luggage sorted for the flight for Aer Lingus and onto Customs clearance. Dave kept his record by having his luggage swapped and double checked through the scanner.
We went to a bar called the Tin Goose for a cleanser,
where Neil worked his charm on the Bar Manager and got a Peroni Nastro Azzurro tall thin pint glass.
I searched for a card reader and bought one from a music stand but when we went to use it in Dublin it does not have my card size on the reader.Neil then could not find his boarding pass to get through the double check for the terminal entry. After searching a while he found it. We had to walk a long way to get to the gate, which is now typical on this trip. We sat waiting to get onto the plane Neil was talking with a couple of people and showed them his brewery stuff he had in his bag. When we went to get on the plane he again could not find his boarding pass. He had put it back into his case with his other items.
We got the plane to Dublin which was a bit late but it was only a 50 minute trip so it went quick.
Since I was last in Dublin they have built a second terminal and we landed at that terminal. Of course we were the second last gate on the terminal and had to walk a very long way to the luggage carousel and then cleared customs in no time at all.
On my last trip to Dublin I had used the Airbus, which is a coach you get from the airport to the city. I had pre-booked four tickets which gave us a 20% discount per return ticket. The only problem was I got the boys down the lift to the ground floor only to find out the way to the Aircoach was an overhead walkway from the first floor, so back up we went and crossed to the coach bay.
We only had to wait about 10 minutes and the bus arrived, 20 minutes later we were in O’Connell Street in the centre of Dublin. We only had to walk 600 metres to The Castle Hotel where we are staying. It was slightly up a gentle slope but that did not cause a problem.
The hotel itself is a 200 year old Georgian Style building which has been converted to a hotel. It is a bit of a rabbit warren of corridors and doorways. We were on the second floor in a family room. I asked before we came over if it had four beds in the room and was told it did. Well it is three beds and a pullout cot. The pull out cot takes up about 25% of the remaining floor space in the room after you count in the first three beds.
We are on the second floor, from reception you need to go up five stairs to a corridor then along the corridor to the lift. Once you go up the lift you need to do a right turn then right again, through a door and then go down seven steps. Then along five metres and turn right then turn left go five metres then turn left again, then turn right and down five steps, through another door then turn left, then through another door and turn right before finally getting to our room.
We settled in by 7pm and then went out for the first drink on Irish soil. I had received a letter from one of our collecting club mates Peter Doyle from Shepparton in Victoria before we left. Doyley had sent me a cheque and the letter attached said for us to have our first drink in Ireland on him. What a great friend.
So I got the boys into a taxi and we went to the other side of the River Liffey and went to the aptly named Doyles Bar. I had not told the boys about this and bought the first round and read the letter out to them. We toasted Peter Doyle and also to a very successful trip.
In the pub we had a few rounds and Neil spoke to the bar manager and ended up swapping a Great Aussie Beer Shed sign and some stickers for a pint beer glass. The manager put the sign and the stickers up behind the bar straight away.
After this we left and walked a short way to the Temple Bar. It is a large area of buildings that house quite a few pubs and is a favourite place for all locals and tourists alike in Dublin. At nights it is a very lively area and a lot of street musicians perform as well as most of the pubs having some live music playing. We walked through the area but our long flights were catching up with us so we went to a fancy Pizza Restaurant and had a meal. Whilst waiting for the pizza a couple of our tourists took turns in nodding off.
After the dinner we caught a taxi back to the hotel. It was about 11pm Dublin time which was 31 hours since we had left Sydney Airport Tuesday night.
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