Goodbye Antiparos. Hello Paros. Goodbye Paros. Hello Athens.Goodbye Athens. Hello Dubai

None of our group was happy about leaving our beautiful Antiparos villas. We had lunch, cooked by Magda and her husband, before we left. It was a fish meal - fish soup, fish, bread and vegetables with scrumptious sauces to accompany.

Off we went to the final destination of our wonderful trip. Michel (Magda’s husband) loaded the van up with all of our luggage and 5 of us - the other 3 men went in a friend’s car for the short trip (11kms) to Antiparos port. Here we had some last minute shopping time before heading to the ferry to cross over to Paros. Michel took the van on the ferry to save us from having to unload and then load again in Paros. Magda had arranged for a taxi to be waiting to collect those of our group who wouldn’t fit in the van to do the short drive to Paros International Airport. Taree Airport is larger than Paros International Airport. It was goodbye to Michel - such a lovely man.

We had quite a wait for the departure of our flight to Athens. It was a small plane - only able to take 18 passengers. There was a bit of a kerfuffle with some people who wanted to fly on our flight but had not reserved their tickets. They were told due to the wind they could not fly. The plane was less than half full with passengers and the flight was smooth. We suspect all the weight of our totalled luggage was the real reason but we haven’t got that confirmed. Needless to say the 3 passengers who were denied the flight were very unhappy putting it mildly. Voices were certainly raised!

Our flight to Athens only took 25 minutes - the one cabin crew staff member just had time to give a small pack of peanuts or biscuits and a drink to each passenger.

All good when we arrived at Athens. We arrived there about 7 pm and couldn’t check our luggage in for sometime as our flight to Dubai was not due to depart until 11 pm. This meant time to stroll around Athens Airport and time to have a bite to eat.

Our flight to Dubai actually loaded early and departed 10 minutes early. Again, it was not a very full plane so Marie, Liz and I quickly headed to empty rows of seats enabling us to spread out and have a snooze after the meal was served. The flight only took about 4 hours - so a couple of hour's sleep was good. We arrived at Dubai in the wee small hours of the morning and it was then we said farewell to Marie and Dave who were then headed back to Sydney. The remaining 6 of us went through passport control and then a security check as well before heading to the luggage collection carousel. Dubai airport is HUGE! Just prior to exiting the airport there were more ‘on-the-spot’ security checks. Too many staff with nothing to do I suspect.

A necessary stop about this time was to find an ATM to again stock up with dirhams the UAE currency. The current exchange rate is A$0.32 which means the AU$ price is about a 3rd of the dirham amount.

We were greeted at the airport and were soon on our way to our hotel. We arrived at the Metropolitan Hotel about 5.30 am. Fortunately, Liz had arranged for us to be able to check in then - normal check in time is not usually until after noon. We encountered very little traffic during our transfer which Liz and Gert have explained as most unusual.

We were all tired when we arrived, so we retired to our rooms for a couple of hours sleep and then headed down for a late breakfast / early lunch. Again there were many staff - all extremely attentive. I think someone would have shelled Ron’s egg if he asked. Breakfast consisted of a large buffet with everything you could possibly imagine and more. Being such a melting pot of cultures and a frequently used stopover destination by peoples of many countries, the array of dishes was fascinating. Liz and Ron were adventurous with their selections. Liz found a fiery morsel that sent her requesting water and juice to quench the fire. John and I settled for known cuisine. John is not a lover of curry or any spicy food at any time.

John and I have quite a full program of tours here in Dubai. Gert, Steve, Liz and Ron have all been here before so we are doing most excursions without them. Our first is this afternoon - in about 2 hours time.

John is not feeling 100%. The cabin pressure during the flight has created pain in his head which is attributed to his split forehead. He is currently lying down after taking some pain relief. Liz, Ron and I have just wandered around this hotel’s huge complex. The pool is large but is quite a way from our rooms. It is an outside pool. The board near the pool states todays temperature of the pool water to be 29 degrees. The outside air temperature is 42 degrees - and it certainly feels every bit of it. The temperature when we arrived at 4.30 am was 35 degrees. There is a definite haze outside - don’t know whether it is pollution or heat haze or what.

There is much excitement here with a large screen being erected in a garden setting below our room, many chairs put out, for the World Cup soccer competition currently happening. Might be a bit of a wild night here for some tonight - but not for I said the fly. We will need a reasonably early night.

Of course, all rooms are air-conditioned. Dubai’s electricity bill must be astronomical.

Our hotel ( the Metropolitan Hotel Dubai) is part of the Habtoor chain and has a sister property, The Habtoor Grand Resort and Spa.We can get a shuttle to it. It has a beach-front and we can use the beach and hotel facilities there. Liz and Ron will check this out whilst we are on our first tour.

The hotel we are staying at was one of the first hotels built here - in 1978 - and is on the iconic Sheikh Zayed Road. It is a beautiful hotel with extravagant and grand furnishings. I suspect it has been refurbished many times. It has several restaurants - Italian, Indian, Fish, Chinese, English Pub, plus the breakfast restaurant and a coffee shop.

This hotel is not located on a shopping strip - sadly. We can get shuttles to shopping malls also - hopefully we can do that tomorrow morning.

The view from our hotel room is of skyscraper after skyscraper. There still appears to be much building construction underway despite what we have heard about Dubai’s flagging economy.

Weather-wise, June is not the best time to visit Dubai, but it was all included in our deal with Emirates and it is breaking our return flight which is a plus.