Day 1, December 22-23, Traveling to Dubai

randolf50
Dec 24, 2024
4 min read

The departure day has finally arrived. We woke up early -- early for me at least -- got dressed and fixed breakfast. After which, a last minute check on everything, said good-bye to Bella (i.e. She who is in charge of the house), and then loaded up in Darrell's (our brother's) car for the ride to the airport. Originally, we had planned to take a Lyft, but he graciously offered to drive us to the airport instead. He is also taking care of Bella and our home during our absence.

We went through the airport at Hartsfield-Jackson with plenty of time to spare, before beginning the first leg of the journey, a flight to Houston. When we arrived in Houston, we had a six-hour layover scheduled, so we found some other things to do. First, we ate at a restaurant. There were not many choices in this concourse, and so we ate at a place that required you to order and pay the bill using a QR code. (This caused me to think about older people or people who are not tech savvy or equipped. How do they manage in this increasingly digital, cashless world?)

While waiting for the food to be delivered, Patrise watched the television behind me which showed a match of pro golfers and their kids in a match called the PNC Championship. The big moment was the hole-in-one made by Tiger Woods' 15-yr-old son, Charlie. Meanwhile, I followed the Falcons' football game on my ESPN app. This was the first start for our rookie quarterback, Michael Penix, Jr. The Falcons won 34-7, and he played a decent game, albeit against a terrible team. After lunch, Patrise went to find a place to get a massage in the airport, while I went to the American Express Centurion Lounge -- an airport lounge to relax, eat, drink, and work in, as you await your next flight.

We met back up at the departure gate, D16, and after about twenty minutes of delay, we boarded the flight.

Flying Emirates -- and earlier this year, flying Singapore Air -- is about as good as it gets other than a private charter. We each had a business section compartment -- "seat" is not an adequate description -- complete with our own information and entertainment screen, a work station, electrical outlets for various devices, and the coup de grace, a seat that lays down into a bed. Furthermore the food quality and the service are excellent. Highly recommended for a future trip, if the airline is going your way. A little cultural tidbit, I had been wondering how Christmas would be treated in the United Arab Emirates, an overwhelmingly muslim country. I got a hint when we boarded the plane, before it took off. The Muzak being played on the background speakers was a loop of traditional Christmas music, "Jingle Bell Rock" for example.

The flight was smooth at first, but subsequently, we experienced three distinctly long periods of turbulent sections before finally landing. Fortunately, the choppy portions of the flight did not occur as the crew was serving our in-flight meals.

Top row: (1) Breakfast before leaving, (2) the flight path from Houston to Dubai, (3) loading up to head to the airport.

Second row: (1) Doug's compartment on Emirates flight, (2) Patrise examining gift bag for Emirates flight, (3) soup, salad, and roll, before the main entree (lobster thermidor).

Both of us tried to sleep on the plane, but the choppy parts of the flight made it challenging to get consistent sleep. Nevertheless, we arrived safely, around 8:04pm December 23, about a 15-hour flight. The airport in Dubai is an statement of modern architecture, well lit, tastefully artistic, spacious and well organized. We walked a bit to get to the immigration and customs area, and after exchanging currency -- $700 for 2,478 AED (Emirati Dirhams) --we made it through the various checkpoints, picked up our luggage and met our driver, Mohamed from Pakistan. He took us to our hotel, the Paramount, patiently answering our questions along the way, including a recommendation for a local, Arab cuisine restaurant. We decided we would walk the city a bit, and head to that restaurant, after checking in.

Upon checking in, my questions about Christmas were answered immediately and obviously. From the "Merry XMAS" in big lights on the side of the hotel, to the Christmas tree with reindeer in the hotel entry, to the playing of Christmas music in several places we ventured into or by.. Clearly, the idea of celebrating Christmas was not being suppressed. Now that is not to say that Christian worship concepts are endorsed: I don't know. However, Christmas as a commercial, secular expression is on full display.

We checked into our spacious room, and immediately left the hotel to head to the area where were told we would find our restaurant. The weather was quite pleasant -- low 70's, low humidity, very slight breeze -- and the streets were full of cars and trucks headed one way or another. We saw people walking around and at every retail establishment we passed, there were plenty of people out eating, shopping, or strolling. So we ended up at Barbar (authentic Lebanese cuisine) for dinner, strolled to a local bakery (Grandiose Prime Bakery) for a post dinner pastry and latte, then made our way back to the Paramount, to head immediately to bed and a good night's sleep.