Homeward Bound

 Our last day in Europe was spent with a relaxing sleep in. We knew what was ahead …… 

We checked out of the conveniently located airport hotel at 11.30am and caught the shuttle to the airport. Checked in and waited for our 2.30 pm departure. We had come full circle in our 5 weeks away as we were back to the same spot where we started our amazing adventure. 

We tried our ‘book the window and aisle seat’ hack again, could we be lucky a second time???

Yes, we were. So a reasonably enjoyable 6 hour flight from Geneva to Dubai. Just having that extra room makes an amazing difference. We can say this with absolute confidence because the next flight was 14 hours from Dubai to Brisbane and the plane was full! Smaller leg room so it makes for a less than enjoyable flight. The destination was our focus. We taxiied into Dubai (local time 1.15 am) and we had to exit the plane and board a bus, the heat of Dubai hit you like a brick wall 36 degrees. At 1.15 in the morning!! The bus had it’s air conditioning pumping. Nice. 2 hour wait over in Dubai then the big 14 hour flight directly into Brisbane.




The food and service on the Emirates flight was lovely. Lots of meal times not sure if it was breakfast, lunch or dinner as we had travelled through several time zones so we just ate what they delivered. 

So 14 hours in a big cylinder filled with people - less said the better. The fastest part was the check in with Peter taking a chance to bypass the big check in queue by showing his silver Qantas status - it worked,  as we made it to the front of the first class gold/silver line. We even stood under the first class sign. One day - maybe? 

The line of people waiting to check in, we used the ’empty’ bays to the right.


Having collected our luggage and cleared customs we were ready to get home.  Megan was there to collect us at 10.30pm.  

Home sweet home! Sooooo good. So good on so many levels - family, our place, familiar environment, the driver sits on the ‘correct’ side, all the signs are in English, know the money and the common language is English. Ahhh it’s good.  Even the kookaburras were in fine voice this morning with a ’welcome home’.

A hot shower, a hot milo and we were done.

This has been a remarkable trip that has seen us trek, explore, discover and experience parts of Europe together. We travel very well together, basically Peter does everything and I just get to play tourist. I will acknowledge Peter here and thank him for all his behind the scenes ‘stuff’ - organising it so well, saw the trip run smoothly and he had booked many opportunities for us to explore areas more deeply. His calmness and attention to detail was amazing. Thank you Peter, we had a wonderful adventure together. We created some wonderful memories and completed a super big trek. 

So we slept till 6.30 am and we’re feeling refreshed and ready for the day ahead. The day stated rather bleakly but the rain cleared to showers in the day. 

Megan, Stephen and the boys had looked after our place so well in our absence. We arrived home to flowers on the table, milk, bread, outside neat and tidy and special notes that said Never Go Away Again!!

We worked on unpacking today, washing, sorting mail, Peter was keen to get his ‘long’ hair cut, getting some groceries, catching up with Bob and Ronda, phone calls to Brett, Charmaine and Lilith and getting to see our grandsons. Don’t know who was more excited!!

Thank you for sharing this adventure with us as you read our blog.  We know that to comment on the blog was a difficult process  but just knowing that you were reading about our trip makes it all worth while. Special mention to Karen B who managed to break through the difficult to comment barrier - thank you. This blog now becomes a printed book that serves as a reminder about all that we saw and did. 

Peter has reminded me that if anyone is interested he is working on an Army Tank PowerPoint presentation and reckons he can keep the slides  to just under 200. He will supply the popcorn. 

Till next time.


Peter and Karen Jeffrey

26th June to 2nd August, 2023



P.S Following the blog enteries we will create some pages just for some incidental photos that capture the everyday.

P.S.S This certificate was waiting in our email's. 








Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dresden

Image
 A couple of hours on the autobahn, heading north-east.  The autobahn network remains fascinating: the protocols of who keeps right, the overtaking and the outright speed of some cars.  We peaked at a little over 140km/h and were still overtaken and left behind.  It was amazing how quickly a car could appear in the rear vision.  My estimate was that there were many cars doing 160km/h and handful even faster! Bottom line, we saw some more of Germany.  In fact we entered the former East Germany.  There was a sign on the autobahn marking where the border had been.  There were a couple of guard towers type structures but we’re not sure that they were part of border protection. We arrived in Dresden in the afternoon and checked into our hotel.  There was an immediate sense of a different character to the city.  There was much more ‘recent’ style buildings. OK, short history lesson.  On 13 February 1945, Dresden (a non-target: no war indu...
Read more

Driving

Image
 A new approach to our German visit: unleash Peter on the German road system. After another hearty breakfast we finalised packing and checked out of the Hotel.  We quickly found the Avis dealership and our booking was ready.  A grey Ford Fiesta!  I was hoping for a Volkswagen. Sadly, not to be. Das Auto! The first challenge… driving out of Munich during Monday morning peak hour traffic.  It required considerable concentration: driving on the right-side (not left-side), navigating medieval streets, watching out for cyclists (they’re everywhere), listening to the GPS.  Eventually, we were free of the clutches of Munich streets.  Then, we were on the Autobahn!  Woohoo! It’s not quite ‘no speed limits’.  There are quite a few rules/protocols for the autobahn: trucks to the right lane; no overtaking on the right; etc etc.  But there are opportunities to put the ‘pedal to the metal’ or ‘go mental, it’s a rental’.  Todays top speed ended a...
Read more
Image
 At last, off and walking!   The quick description: short vehicle ride to the cable car at Les Houches; then 15km through some beautiful and spectacular countryside; a coffee in a farm house with the barn next door-in the farmhouse; lunch was a three course meal (kind of coleslaw entree, steak for main and a fruit mousse for dessert); then to our quaint chalet hotel.  Some light rain and mild temperatures throughout the morning. All up a pretty good day!  Boots and pack are all good. A bit more info and pictures. After waking up and having a hot shower, it was down to the buffet breakfast.  The Mercure put on a very good breakfast. Bacon, eggs, those little sausages, fruit, yoghurt, crepes, breads, jams… juice, coffee and tea. Then we met with our No Roads coordinator, Irene, to get the final briefing and drop off luggage etc.  Our man Luca (Mr Big Hair- frizzy, Afro, Rumanian) turn up as one of the drivers.  Unfortunately, after a quick chat with him,...
Read more