After completing 4 years at university and graduating from my degree in July of this year, I decided to treat myself to something amazing!
Back in August (after getting confirmation from my friend that she would be off work) I booked my flights and the countdown to my trip could begin.
I had organised to visit one of my oldest and closest friends, Kathryn. She was my next-door neighbour whilst we were growing up. We met at the age of 2, when she and her parents moved into the house next door. We spent a lot of time together whilst growing up, causing mischief as we grew. She moved to a new house (about a mile away) in about 2006 or 2007, but we have stayed close friends ever since (anyway that's going a bit off topic). After completing 4 years at university studying for her degree in Law, she now lives in Dubai working for Emirates as an air hostess.
After booking my tickets the countdown and wait until my departure date could begin. I was so excited for my trip that time seemed to pass really slowly (like it does for a child waiting for their birthday, Christmas or the 6 weeks summer holiday - if you're from the UK).
Day 1: Travelling
Sunday the 11th October 2015 arrived and I was up and out of the house at 4:30am (GMT)! My Dad drove me down to Birmingham airport and we were accompanied by my Mum and my youngest sister Sammie. We arrived at Birmingham airport at 7:30am (GMT). I checked myself in at the Emirates desk, said my goodbyes, and headed for the regular airport security checks (I passed through them without setting any alarms off - there is a first time for everything!) When I got to the departure lounge I had 1 hour 30 minutes until my gate opened for boarding, so naturally I decided it was time for some breakfast! Hot Chocolate with an all butter croissant was my breakfast of choice, let me tell you it was a good choice! I boarded the plane at 8:40am and soon it was time to say goodbye to England. The only downside to the flight was that my entertainment system didn't work but luckily the seat next to me was free (so I just used that seats entertainment system instead) also I had a window seat! (Bonus). After flying for 6 hours 30 minutes the plane finally came into land in Dubai (I got a lovely view of all of the lights of Dubai at night as we came into land). It was 7:00pm in Dubai (4:00pm GMT) when we landed and it took a further hour to get through passport control and to collect my bag. Kathryn was waiting for me at the meeting point area of the airport. She took my hand luggage off me and took me out to the taxi rank. We got a Pink taxi from the airport to Al Nahda (which is were Kathryn's apartment is). After signing me in with the sercurity guard and chatting for a while we headed downstairs: we ordered a pizza and chips from the Lime Thyme takeaway (which is at the bottom of Kathryn's apartment block), we popped to the corner shop to buy a few essentials, we then went and picked up our food and headed back to Kathryn's apartment where we ate our food and watched a film on Kathryn's laptop. By the time the film had finished and we were both ready for bed it was Midnight! When we were both tucked up in bed Kathryn sang Happy Birthday to me, and we just talked until we both fell asleep.
From what I had already seen of Dubai (in the dark) it seemed really nice and friendly. Not to mention lovely and warm, it was 36 Degrees Celsius when I landed.
Check back tomorrow for the next part to this story,
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