We were waiting for our ride to the airport before 6:30 am. It was as smooth ride and easy check-in on Emirates.
The flight time is was a bit over four hours. Emirates Airlines still offers a pretty good free meal. Jay and I had chicken biriyani and the sisters had salmon. In the airport, Jay was the only one who made it through the smart gates, where one just puts the passport on the scanner, looks at the camera and the gate pops open. Jay's sisters must've not looked directly at the camera as they had to join me. My passport is new and the system must be cleared at a real person during one's first entry. It didn't take us long.
The airport taxi van got us to our hotel in Deira on Bayias Street in about fifteen minutes. We took a bit of time moving stuff out of bags. Then, the sisters changed some money into UAE dirhams. We popped into a couple of stores. Last, we found a place to take away chicken and falafel shawarmas.
There is a 2.5 hour time zone difference. The clock shows it is earlier than it feels. We will be in bed by 9:00 local time. We like the view across the restored traditional historical Emirati village on the Bur Dubai side of the creek, then across the area of Karama where Jay and I lived from 1991 to 1996, and finally on towards the new buildings to the west. The Burj Khalifa is something that we've seen at least six times during the last ten years. However, even when far away, it doesn't fall to impress as the world's tallest building.
