February 16
Day 1
We were up at 5:30. Time to shower and do last minute tidying.
David picked us up at 6:40. At the airport we learned that our bags will need to be cleared through customs in Calgary but will be tagged all the way to Muscat.
Our flight was on time and good. In Calgary there was no line through customs so we were having our second Timmy's of the day when Gillian and Maribeth arrived. We bought a bagel with cream cheese for our lunch as there is no meal service to Chicago.
In Chicago we got our boarding passes for the rest of the flight and went for a drink and snack. Bruce and I shared pulled chicken tacos and I had a Corona.
The Swiss plane is nice but the arm rests do not go up all the way. The service started with zesty ranch snacks with an open bar. I chose a red wine. Then we had dinner: spinach ravioli, carrot/lettuce salad, cheese and a brownie. I had another red wine which I managed to spill part of- on me.
Tried to sleep and did doze off a bit. Breakfast was a croissant with yogurt and juice.
We arrived in Zurich on schedule and had a little over an hour to walk around and find our gate. Managed to just have a Star Bucks salted caramel coffee. There were many cute things to buy but resisted.
The flight to Muscat is not full so I moved back a row so we each have two seats. Much better. This flight is 5.5 hrs to Dubai and then it continues one more hour to Muscat. The long day caught up with us. We all slept until Dubai. Of course we managed to wake up for the dinner service- polenta with a beef stew and carrots and beans with sour dough buns. For dessert it was a plum cake that I remember having a similar one at Andrea's parents place in Germany. Before landing we had chocolate ice cream.... It was kind of an ice cream/mousse mix. Delicious! Coming into Dubai the lights of the city were beautiful.
We stayed onboard and after the plane figured out why the power went out onboard we left. We are behind schedule about an hour.
The 40 minute flight fly by. We landed and breezed through customs. Stamp, stamp we are ready to go! It is pouring outside. The guy from the hotel is holding a sign with my name on it. Good thing as it is very crowded with local people of all ages. He asks us to wait while he gets the van. We must have waited 30 min. Good time to people watch. The drive to the hotel was a good 40 minutes with no traffic. Check in was efficient.
Our room is lovely but FREEZING. Bruce turned off the AC and they brought a small heater to our room. We ordered Coke from room service to go with our duty free spiced rum we bought in Zurich. Need to start the holiday with a toast.
We then crashed..... Mind you it was close to 2:30 in the morning. At 9:30 Maribeth called. Yep we slept. We would hate to miss the breakfast that is included in our room price. So a quick shower and we are ready to go.
Breakfast is perfect- many choices including an omelette station. Today I had fruit and French toast with a bit of cheese and a piece of pound cake. Tomorrow I will be more adventurous.
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