Oman & Dubai

Jan 29th - Feb 8th 2012

Sunday 29th January 2012

Home to Gatwick

Quiet start to a Sunday. Danny came round for a coffee and chat and ended up helping me set up the blog so I could use the Mac when in Oman.

Had lunch and set off for Gatwick at 13.40. Very easy journey down. Took about an hour and 40 mins all in. Checked in at the Crowne Plaza. They’d put us in 651 as requested. Checked out my new wi-fi router which worked a treat - so free wi-fi for all our various devices!

 

Went to the Club Lounge for coffee and a nose while Nikki had a short nap and then went back up to get her about 17.00. Stuart joined us around 17.15 and had already popped into Toby Carvery to book our table so we chatted and drank coffee until it was ready.

Excellent food at the TC - followed by some McFlurries back at the Club Lounge.

Quite knackered by about 22.00 so headed off to bed!

Monday 30th January 2012

Gatwick to Dubai

An early morning alarm call is never easy. This one was booked for 05.45 - but we were already awake and up by 05.30. Had some coffee and showered and then went down for breakfast. We were on a tight schedule so needed to get a move on.

Checked out and were in the car by 06.40 for the drive to Gatwick Airport. I’d figured on there being some Monday morning traffic - but there wasn’t anything really. Were due to be met by Purple Parking (Meteor) at 07.30 but we were there by 06.55. Called them and they met us early.

Now pushing a wheelchair PLUS a luggage trolley with 2 cases on it isn’t easy - but we managed it. Basically we just needed to maintain forward momentum at all times so anyone who got in our way just got swept underfoot. Got to the Emirates desk and were taken to the Business Class check in - if only it were for a Business Class Flight. Check in was very straight forward and we went off to security. Long wait there while various parents and children unloaded everything they owned. I’m always amazed how much of a surprise the security screening is to people!

Off to get some cash for the UAE and then for a coffee in Cafe Rouge. Very pleasant sit down there watching the world go by. Headed down to the gate under our own steam and were told we could board when we felt like. We felt like - so we did. Quite a long walk up the plane to our seats 38A and 38B. The lay-out is 3-4-3 but we’d gone for seats right at the back so it was 2-4-2 which was nicer.

Took off a few minutes late because of an air traffic control delay. Within minutes the Emirates crew were coming round with drinks - followed by more drinks, more drinks and then some food. Not bad at all but we’ve now discovered if you ask for “vegetarian” then you get “vegan” - which means no things like butter, cream etc. From now on we were advised to go for Asian-vegetarian which means no meat, but still all the naughty stuff!

Watched a couple of films - Contagion with Kate Winslet and then some 30 Rock and some Modern Family and then it was food time again. This time it was sandwiches followed by scones. I say scones in the plural as I snaffled a few extra!

Landed in Dubai at 20.30 local time. We waited for everyone to get off and then the chap came with the wheelchair and helped us off. We’d booked a meet and greet service with Al Ahlan and they were there at the top of the air bridge. A very nice lady and chap whisked us off to their lounge where they gave us drinkies and comfortable chairs while they went off and found our luggage and sorted out our visas.

They escorted us to the taxi rank and got all our luggage loaded and off we went. Took about 15 minutes to the Crowne Plaza in Deira. When we arrived 3 chaps came - one to push the wheelchair, one for the luggage and one to point the way! Check in took a little longer than I’d hoped for but they’d upgraded us to the Club Floor with access to the lounge. Did a quick bit of unpacking and then went into the Club Lounge for coffee and nibbles.

Caught up with Stuart on FaceTime thanks to the free wi-fi and gave him a virtual tour of the lounge.

As we had an early start we decided to be good and hit the sack early. Our alarm call was for 05.45 and it was already 23.00 local time so figured we’d sleep. Sadly not. It’s as if our internal clock KNEW it was only 19.00 UK time so decided we should lie there and NOT sleep. Gave up at about 01.00 and watched Sky News for a bit. We then must have dozed off until 03.00 when the sodding phone in the room rang!!! And there was no-one there for me to shout at.

Eventually got to 05.15 so I decided to give up and get up.

Tuesday 31st January 2012

Dubai to Oman

After a pretty much sleepless night I was expecting to feel like rubbish - but surprisingly I was OK!

Nipped in to the Club Lounge at 06.00 for a quick bite to eat and then got the chap to come for our bags. Looking back on it, I think we would have been better off to come straight down to Muscat. There was a flight from DXB at 02.30 which would have put us in the IC in Muscat by 04.00 - but at least we’d have already arrived. Oh well.

Quick return journey to the airport. One of the porters grabbed our bags and we went to check-in. Was expecting it to be like a bear garden but it was pretty much OK. We picked up a wheelchair pusher on the way and he whisked us through security. We were put into a waiting area - I went off to try and buy some currency for Oman but couldn’t find anywhere. By the time I got back they had come for us and we were boarding.

The flight time from DXB to Muscat was 38 minutes. It took longer to board the plane than to do the flight. We were in 24A and 24B. Amazingly they served us breakfast. Orange juice, almond croissant, muffin, coffee and yoghurt. By the time we’d finished we were on final approach into Muscat.

I was expecting an arid desert landscape - it was surprisingly mountainous and green. Go figure. Muscat Airport is quite old so it didn’t have an air-bridge. We waited for the chaps to come in the ambu-lift. They got us off quite quickly and took us through to baggage reclaim. We’d picked up a porter by this time so we were all set. I discovered if you enter Oman via Dubai then you don’t need to pay the £30 each for an Omani visa. They accept the Dubai visa which is free! Result.

Stopped at a cash point and got some money out. Not sure of the exchange rate so it might have been £1,000 or £1 I got out! Asked the guy at the taxi window about the money. He said OMR1 is about £1.60 so got that figured. At least I didn’t tip the porter £160.

Cab ride to the hotel was OMR 7 - it was about 10 miles out. We were met by Jaleel al Belushi, the reservations manager. He told us a suite had been arranged. I asked about Club Lounge access and he explained it was a suite OR lounge access - we went for the lounge and a Club Room!

Unpacked all our worldly goods and went to the lounge for some nibbles and drinkies and then hit the sack for a good 2 hour sleep.

(Nikki) After our sleep, headed downstairs for an explore of the pool area and beyond!!!

Stopped at Tomato for lunch (poolside restaurant/bar). V. nice panini with salad and fries with coffee and juice. Spent an enjoyable and relaxing hour and a half having lunch, people and bird watching.

There are 2 pools, one is set out with lanes and there was a swimming lesson going on, whilst the other was more ornamental with little bridges going over it. Decided against a swim at this stage instead opting to explore off-piste in the surrounding area.

Success!!! Found a cute little arcade not far away with some (much cheaper) restaurants, cafes, a WH Smith (where post cards were purchased), a dry-cleaners, ice creamery and dive shop. Fabulous menu at the one restaurant, and they’re open until 22.00 so we’ll probably head back there for tea.

Back to the Club lounge for coffees then back to the room for another nap!!! Huw phoned Jaleel - who wasn’t around but another person confirmed that the mini bar was complimentary to Royal Ambassadors, so we cracked open the seal.....only to find there was nothing very exciting in there :( (no champagne....) Next task is to find a supermarket to get some milk for coffees in the room (we do like a challenge!)

Huw started the blog (evidently), so working on that for a bit before heading back out for some tea.

(Huw) Tea was taken in the nearby shopping centre at the wonderfully named Stomach. Very obvious name for a restaurant. All things should be so. Proctologists will now be called Arse - and dentists will be known as Teeth.

Despite the unedifying name, the food was amazing. Both had a salad to start then I had a Vegetables Au Grain while Nikki had a veggie pepper steak. She rated it as one of the best veggie meals she’s ever eaten.

Throughly full and ready for bed, we popped in to the Club Lounge for a last coffee of the day and hit the sack around 22.30.

Wednesday 1st February 2012

Oman

Woke up around 09.00 local time feeling like I’d slept for an age. Very restful - great IC bed.

Had some coffee on the balcony while listening to the birds. Now being a bit of a twitcher, I like bird spotting. But maybe shouting to Nikki to “come and see these Boobies” is not a good idea. As well as Boobies they’ve also got parrots flying around so a riot of colour.

Nikki had a shower and we headed down to breakfast. Decided to give the Club Lounge a miss and try the main restaurant. Very good spread of fruit, the cooked food was OK and I was a bit disappointed by the bread but overall it was alright. They then presented us with a bill for OMR 35 which is about £57. I queried it and was told it was complimentary as we were on the Club floor. Phew!

Had a shower myself after breakfast and then decided to head down to the pool. Now there are a lot of Italians here - I reckon it’s someone like AC Milan or Roma doing some training as they seen to be running up and down the beach a lot. Plus very few of them are smoking which is not normal for Italians - oh, and they are incredibly fit. Nikki was quite appalled by all the fit men running around so insisted we’d better sit close to them to keep an eye on them.

After a while they were too noisy, so we moved - and then more of them turned up!! Well they were friendly enough.

Sat and sunbathed for a couple of hours before heading to the Club Lounge for some lunch. Tomato and mozzarella sandwiches, melon and cake plus coffee.

Back down to the sun-loungers where we stayed put until around 16.00 when the shadows started to lengthen. Came back upstairs for more coffee and cake before going to the shopping centre again.

I’d spotted a place that does wet shaves so really fancied that. The chap spend ages lathering me up with the old badger bristles before starting on me with his cut-throat razor. Very, very close shave indeed but not one single nick. Result.

After I’ve had a shave I often like to have an ice-cream - so we found an ice-cream place before walking back to the hotel for a shower and a much needed sit down! After a break for coffee and Sky News, we decided it was probably time for dinner.

(Nikki)

Off across the road to the shopping centre again. This time we opted for a terribly twee restaurant called D’Arcy’s. Decor was powder blue and yellow, with the waitresses kitted out in the same colours with little white pinnies and hats.

Menu again, very comprehensive with lots for us weird veggie types to have.

Huw had a late breakfast with a strawberry milkshake whilst I had vegetable cannelloni (although it wasn’t so much 

pasta based as rolled up pancakes) with a pomegranate juice - quite delicious!

Very full, so no choice but back to the lounge for a coffee and then crawl into bed.

Thursday 2nd February 2012

Oman

Around an 8.30 start, although I’d been mostly awake since 02.00 (why?????)

Decided to go to the club lounge for breakfast for a look to see what they could offer for us. Very nice indeed - we were both thinking it would just be a continental breakfast, but we were able to have potatoes and scrambled egg as well.  Nicer bread than yesterday in the restaurant so both very happy indeed.

There are 6 restaurants in the hotel. The Musandam cafe and restaurant on the ground floor (where we had breakfast yesterday); the Al Ghazal pub specialising in English pub grub; Senor Pico in the lower lobby which is a Mexican bar and restaurant; Trader Vics which is a Polynesian bar and restaurant; Majlis Al Shams, serving Arabian snacks and pastries and ‘Tomato’ - the Mediterranean poolside restaurant we had lunch at on Tuesday. Good variety as you can see, but we much prefer the ‘no-cost’ element of the club lounge and the much cheaper restaurants across the road!

(Huw) Got down to the pool by about 11.00 and claimed our sunbeds. AC Milan are still here making a lot of noise and not looking fat enough for my liking. Went in the pool and had a splash around for a bit. Didn’t manage to persuade Nikki to join me today!

Went up to the Club Lounge for some lunch. Sadly today was non-veggie day so ended up with some cakes and some coffee.

Back down to the pool for more relaxing. I was convinced that Nicole Scherzinger was on a nearby sun-bed so made sure I kept a close eye on the situation. Both dozed off for a while before heading back up to the room for a shower and a relax. All this sitting down in the sun is quite tiring.

Decided we should go out and see some of Muscat. Spoke to Jaleel in reception and he suggested we try the Muscat Festival which was nearby. It’s kind of a traditional County Show type of an event - but obviously all about Muscat.

Got a Town Car to take us there. He drove up to the main entrance and got shouted out by some policemen to pull over. He got out and started to get the wheelchair out of the boot and they all rushed over and shouted at him to take us right in. Poor bugger couldn’t win! He dropped us as close as possible to all the action.

It’s basically a huge area covered with stalls and exhibitions about Muscat. We wandered around looking at camels, people on horseback, people cooking amazing looking food in huge urns. The sights and smells were incredible. We seemed to attract quite of lot of attention ourselves, clearly being the only non-local people there. Everyone was quite friendly but they seemed fascinated by me pushing Nikki in the wheelchair. They obviously thought I was some servant and she was a princess!

Very enjoyable wander around for about an hour before we made our way out to the front entrance and found a cab back to the hotel.

After our food discoveries in the nearby Mall we decided to head there again for some dinner. Wandered around a bit and ended up in Pizza Express - how we embrace the local delicacies and traditions. Really good meal. As we’d left the hotel there were loads of Ambassador’s cars pulling up with the little flags on them. Some sort of diplomatic reception. We had a nose at the cars on the way back!

And so to bed.

Friday 3rd February 2012

Oman

Quiet start to the day. Back down to the main restaurant for breakfast. Service wasn’t brilliant but the food was OK.

Decided to head out and see some more of Muscat. It’s Friday so a lot of places were closed for Friday Prayers. We got a taxi from the hotel. Really friendly chap who took us a scenic way into Muscat. He was obviously very proud of his city and kept pointing out things on the way. He also took us up a mountain so we could see the view over old Muscat.

He dropped us outside the King’s Palace. Very quiet. Hardly another soul around. And it was HOT. We looked around and took some pictures before wandering back the way we came. Ended up outside a Mosque where they were starting Friday Prayers. Listened to the call to prayer in the deserted streets while we waited for a taxi.

We’d planned to look at the Souk but the driver told us it wasn’t opening until 16.00 so we decided to give that a miss and headed back to the hotel.

By this time it was lunchtime so we made our now traditional visit to the Club Lounge for some nibbles!

After lunch it was pool time again. We got some beds in a really quiet part of the poolside and apart from some children messing around throwing shoes into the pool for a bit, all was peaceful.

Back up to the room for a shower and a cool down and then off to the Mall again for dinner. We decided to revisit Stomach again as we’d had such excellent food there previously - and they didn’t disappoint.

And so to bed.

Saturday 4th February 2012

Oman

Club Lounge for breakfast this morning. Today is going to be a day of relaxing - our last full day in Muscat.

Hit the pool by around 11.00 and went straight in for a swim. Not as warm today but still warmer than at home!

Up for lunch in the Club Lounge and back to the pool for the afternoon. Went back to the wet shave place for a shave while Nikki had a look at nearby shops. Dinner was taken in Stomach which has become our restaurant of choice!

Early night.

Sunday 5th February 2012

Oman to Dubai

It’s transfer day so we set the alarm for 06.45. Never nice getting an alarm call on holiday.

Went straight to the Club Lounge for breakfast and sorted out the check-out. Very smooth service indeed. Very sorry to say goodbye to them all.

Had a shower back in the room and got the rest of our stuff packed. Emirates are very generous with their baggage allowance - 30kg compared to 15kg on Ryanair so no worries about the weight of our cases.

Rang down and got a chap to come for the bags. It was my ambition to not carry our cases from the moment we checked in at Gatwick - and so far, so good!

Got a taxi from the hotel which whisked us off to the airport. A porter rushed up to help us and escorted us in to check-in. Bags have to be X-rayed before check-in, as do the passengers! After check-in you then have to go through security again.

The chap pushing the wheelchair dropped us off near our gate in a rather shabby looking area. We found out what time we needed to be back and then went upstairs for a nose around. Very nice area - lots of little shops and places to sit. Very unhurried feeling to the airport.

Went back to our designated pick up place and waited for someone to come for us. They wheeled Nikki out and popped us on a coach to take us to the plane - just the 2 of us! At the plane there was a short wait while the Ambu-Lift came and we got on board. They’d moved us to the bulk-head seats at the front so this made getting on a little easier.

Straightforward 1 hour flight up to Dubai - again they served us breakfast in record time and almost before we’d settled down, it was time to land again.

Met off the plane by the wheelchair people. They took us down to baggage reclaim where we got a porter to help with the bags. They escorted us out to a taxi and we were off to the Intercontinental Festival City.

As soon as we arrived we were met by 3 or 4 staff who helped us out of the car with our bags and whisked us in to the hotel. Went to the main check-in desk but was immediately told to go around the corner to the dedicated Ambassador check-in! Met by Ana who I’d been corresponding with on email. She informed us that we were getting Ambassador benefits for the whole of our stay - despite the fact we’d booked two of the three nights on Nikki’s points!

Were taken to an Exec room on the 23rd floor. Very nice indeed. Nice view out over the creek - and the nightclub that used to be outside the hotel has now gone.  Our bags were brought up and we did some unpacking before deciding to check-out the Club Lounge. Had a coffee and a nose around before we got quite peckish so decided to go to the Food Court in Festival City for some lunch.

Had a Subway while watching the world going by and the went across to the cinema on the 3rd floor to see if we could get into a showing of Mission Impossible 4. Very friendly security guard helped us out with the automated machine while the manager took us in the actual cinema so we could see how it would work with the chair.

Back to the hotel and a quick change and we hit the pool for a bit. Cinema tickets booked for 21.00 so a bit of time to fill.

Had a swim in the pool. It was quite warm - though this may have been down to the fact that it wasn’t boiling your skin off in the sun so the contrast was more comfortable!

Back up to the room for a shower and a change and then back to the Club Lounge for some nibbles. Created our own concoctions of bread, cheese, fruit salad and some nice deserts. Nikki had some champagne and I stuck to a rather nice latte.

Back to the room and watched a bit of TV - they have Sky News here so that kept me quiet for a while and then we found some Modern Family and Friends which gave us a giggle.

Nikki took a call from Ana on the Ambassador desk asking if we’d mind being upgraded to a one bedroom suite tomorrow! We said we’d struggle through! In fact there’s a big conference on at the hotel so I think they figured they could sell our room and move us to an un-used suite which they’d probably be hard pushed to sell to a conference delegate. Either way - we win!

Walked across to Festival City for the cinema and went to go in - and realised I’d left the tickets on the table in our hotel room. I thought I’d chance my arm at the box office rather than walk all the way back. The woman was really helpful and found our booking and wrote us out a piece of paper with “lost tickets” on there! Got some nibbles and went in to the cinema. We were the first there so found our seats and got settled. Just as the trailers started a question occurred to us - will this actually even be in English?

Luckily it was! Silly film with lots of crazy stunts including Tom Cruise jumping off the side of the Burj Khalifa. The reason we wanted to see it in Dubai is that we’re going up the Burj tomorrow evening!

Monday 6th February 2012

Dubai

Woke up around 08.00. Nikki made coffee in the room and then we got ready for breakfast. We can either eat in the Club Lounge or go downstairs to the amazing Anise restaurant. We voted for downstairs.

They greeted us and sat us quite a way from the main buffet. We had fruit and drinks to start and then I asked them to move us closer. No sense in walking a long way when you’re at a buffet! Both went for some cooked breakfast and I did us some toast. They brought me practically a vat of latte. I think they pride themselves on having just about every food type possible on offer. Certainly didn’t want for anything!

Back up to the room to scrape the jam off my elbows - not sure how I manage it. We then packed everything up again for our move to the suite. We were hanging around a bit so Nikki decided it was time for me to take my daily blood pressure tablet. Sadly she decided to give me one of her muscle relaxant pills. Within about 10 minutes I was back in bed convinced my wife was out to poison me. Fell asleep for a bit but woke up no worse for wear.

Spoke to Ana about the room move and she said they’d do everything and then bring the new keys to the pool where we were planning to be. She rang back 2 mins later saying the suite was ready if we’d like to move now. We did! A chap came with a baggage cart and our keys and escorted us to the 33rd floor. It has its own separate lift meaning we don’t need to mingle with the other guests on floors 1 to 30 which is rather nice!

Suite is a good size with its own living room with a guest bathroom and then a bedroom with walk in closet and a huge bathroom. Very nice indeed.

After a bit of unpacking we went down to the sunbeds for a doze! It seems at this time of the year it gets windy in the afternoon in Dubai. We had some lunch by the pool and listened to music and swam in the pool until it got a bit TOO windy so called it a day. We had an appointment with the Burj Khalifa at 18.00.

I’d checked with the concierge where to get our tickets. He arranged a Town Car to take us there. It’s in the Dubai Mall which is right next to the Burj. He dropped us off in the parking garage right next to the ticket office. We walked in and realised they haven’t quite got Intercontinental customer service here. Lots of waiting around while people picked up their pre-booked tickets. Limited numbers allowed up and you have to stick to your time slot!

Eventually a woman escorted us through and took us up to the lift. We were with a group of Chinese tourists who don’t really seem to understand the idea of waiting in line. Oh well, I managed to catch a few heels with the wheelchair - accidentally, you understand. We were whisked up in the lift to the 124 floor. When the door opens you are greeted by floor to ceiling windows with the most incredible view. There’s a section you can go outside onto a large balcony and look down - really makes the knees go wobbly. We stayed up there as the sun set - there was some mist in the distance but it didn’t detract from the stunning views. Well worth a visit - we watched all the lights come on across Dubai and picked out landmarks like Palm Jumeirah, the Burj al Arab and our hotel.

Headed down around 19.00 and figured it was time for some tea. Decided to stay in the Dubai Mall and see what we could find to eat there. Found a nice Italian place near the Burj Khalifa Fountains and had some nice bruschetta and pasta while turning round to watch the fountains go off every 15 mins.

I’d decided I wanted a couple of new shirts so we decided to tackle the shops after dinner. We walked for miles and came back with nothing! That essentially sums up our visit to Dubai Mall - enjoyable if tiring.

Grabbed a cab from the taxi rank (once we found it) and went back to the hotel. On our last Dubai trip we’d become fans of Coldstone Creamery at Festival City so decided to end the night with some ice-cream. The mad woman working there insisted on calling me “boss” but she made a mean ice-cream. Crushed up Twix and M&M’s mixed up with vanilla and chocolate ice-cream with extra nuts on top along with a large latte. We sat and ate our ice-cream inventions for a bit before paying and heading back to the hotel.

A few Skype calls later and it was time for bed.

Tuesday 7th February 2012

Dubai

A bit of a lie in this morning - surfaced around 08.40 for coffee.

Back down to Anise for breakfast - much better table today and stuffed ourselves silly once again. Breakfast is the main meal of the day so it’s wrong to scrimp!

Today was mostly going to be aimed at relaxing - again. Went back up to the room to get changed for the pool. We were on our usual sun-beds by about 11.00. Went for a dip and sat in the jacuzzi for a while and just enjoyed the warmth of the sun.

Lunch-time came around so we decided to have lunch by the pool. Yesterday I’d had a gorgeous club sandwich while Nikki had soup - today she decided to join me. Two great big sandwiches with chips and salad on the side along with some nice, steaming hot coffee. What a life!

After lunch the wind started to pick up again. I wandered up to the Crowne Plaza pool and decided it was less windy there so we moved. After about 15 mins there, the wind picked up there so we decided to call it a day. The guys at the Intercontinental pool wouldn’t hear of it and took two beds to a sheltered area - so we complied!

Dozed off for a while listening to music before calling it a day around 15.30.

Had a shower and brief lie-down before we started discussing what we could do. Nikki came up with the mad idea of driving to Abu Dhabi for the evening - genius! Rang down to reception to see if they could get us a hire car. They informed us there was a Hertz desk in the travel centre. Got all our bits and bobs ready and dashed down only to find the person on the Hertz desk was off today. Went to the concierge who rang Hertz at the airport and did some amazing negotiating on our behalf - things like they’d bring the car to the hotel, not charge us for the delivery and then pick it up later! Sadly we couldn’t get it delivered in time so we figured we’d be driving to Abu Dhabi in the dark so bailed on that plan.

We then went back up to the Club Lounge to regroup. Over champagne, coffee and more nibbles than you could shake a stick at we decided to go out and see more of Dubai and ride their new metro.

Got a Town Car down to one of my favourite places in Dubai - Madinat Jumeirah. Love the atmosphere there - really relaxed with lots of little shops to look around. I know it’s very Disney, but I don’t care!

Wandered around for about an hour before getting a cab across the Mall of the Emirates to tackle the metro. Found the way in easily enough and bought two tickets so we could go up about 7 stations which takes us up into the business district. Great metro. Very clean, very air-conditioned and felt very safe. Enjoyed all the views out of the windows on the raised tracks.

Got out and had a sight problem with the lift. Two workmen were taking it apart but they happily stopped and let us use it. At least if we’d got trapped in THAT lift we’d have had two lift engineers with us!

Wandered down a street for a while until we saw a taxi and got him to take us back to the hotel.

Another restful, but interesting day.

Wednesday 8th February 2012

Dubai to Home

Final day of the holiday - back to cold, snowy Britain. But not until we’ve had one more go in that pool!

Quiet start to the morning. Did our back-timing and knew we needed to be on the move from the hotel around 12.15.

Had our final breakfast at Anise - I wasn’t that hungry - something I later regretted. Nikki had a good feed while I stuck to toast and coffee.

The packing was to be tackled later so we were at the pool by 10.00. Really nice sitting there with some sparrows having a bath in the pool! I joined them after a while and then came out and sat on the sun-bed drying in the sun.

Had some coffee while enjoying the sun but were beaten by Father Time! Up to the room around 11.15 for a shower and some packing. Got everything sorted and rang down for someone to come for the bags. It’s going to be a culture shock at Gatwick when I need to carry my own bags.

The hotel got us a Town Car to take us to the airport. Took about 10 minutes. Got a porter and a wheelchair pusher and off we went. Check in was quite quick - a few more delays regarding the wheelchair but nothing major.

Wheelchair lady pushed us through to the departure lounge and said someone would come back for us at 13.45. We went off and found a French patisserie for lunch.

Went back to our pick up point and a nice chap came to take us to the plane. Boarding was quite relaxed. Emirates crew very helpful. One of them got the on-board wheelchair to take Nikki back to our seats. I’d booked seats pretty much at the back of the plane but it did mean we got two instead of a three.

We’d changed our meal to Asian Vegetarian and this seemed to work - at least now they were giving us butter and bread again rather than dry Ryvita. Watched Johnny English 2 which was predictable. Nikki watched some Hawaii 5-0 and then we went for Modern Family. Flight seemed to start dragging somewhere over Turkey so I got up for a wander around.

Before landing they gave us some sandwiches and more drinks. Captain was telling us the outside temperature was 0 degrees. This became quite obvious when we got off the plane - snow in places and just looked dreary.

Wheelchair man came for us and then left us to it. He whisked off two other people who couldn’t walk very well in his little van and expected us to follow. When we got to baggage reclaim I explained we’d booked assistance but it’s not possible to go with 2 suitcases and 1 wheelchair. He then escorted us to the car.

Stopped off at a garage for some nibbles and headed home. Journey was pretty good and we arrived back around 21.00. Watched some TV for a bit and then hit the sack. Need another holiday now!