counting down if finally over!

As my alarm clock went off at 5.30 AM, the first thing that went through my mind was how I could silence that small annoying thing. It took me a few tries, but after a minute or so I finally hit the right button and not totally awake yet, I crawled out of bed with a big smile on my face, after all … today was the day I was counting down for, for quite a long time if I have to be honest and although it seemed to take forever, I was more than happy to see the months, weeks, even the days pass by, so that today I could finally leave for the furthest place I have ever been.

Excited as I was, I needed a good splash of cold water to wake me up properly and as soon as I got dressed, I woke up my parents who were going to bring me towards Tania’s place, but not before we had one last breakfast together.

With my bags packed safe into the trunk of my car, the three of us left at about 6.45 AM and although we needed to drive about 30 kilometers towards Hemiksem, it felt like eternity getting there. As soon as we got on the highway, we drove from one traffic jam into another. After about half an hour we got sick of it, left the highway and took our chances at the secondary roads and the only thing I can say : thank the Lord for the miracle that is GPS.

Although we drove from one red light to another, we still managed to arrive in time at Tania’s place, a little after 8.30 AM. We crossed lots of small towns and cities, but hey, we made it in time and that is the thing that counts the most.

Upon our arrival, Tania’s parents where there as well. They were going to bring us to the airport of Schiphol, where we arrived about a few hours later and after searching for a nice enough spot to leave the car behind, we could finally begin our first important thing of the day, CHECK IN!!!

Surprisingly enough it went very smoothly, it is like Tania said, who the heck is traveling to Dubai on a Tuesday, apparently not many people, but we are the lucky ones!

As soon as we got rid of our bags, we strolled along the many shops of the airport, found a good enough place at the local Starbucks for our traditional cup of coffee and together with a sandwich, it was more than a perfect lunch for me.

Sadly enough it was also time to say our goodbyes to Tania’s parents and as soon as we got through customs and we waved our last goodbye, we could finally start our new adventure.

Because we still had a bit of time to kill before we could board, we walked along a few shops, did a bit of „window-shopping”, catched up on recent things that happened in our lives and even found time to have another delicious drink. Are we good or are we good!

Like everything else today (besides the traffic in Belgium), boarding went quickly as well and as I walked through the plane of Emirates, I must say that I liked it immediately. The design of the interior is light and cozy looking, the stewards handsome and I didn’t even began to tell you about the space… and we are in economy! Me like this so far!

Even the inflight selection of movies and music is amazing and as soon as we were airborne, I felt that the time was right to watch a movie. "Hercules" is my choice of the moment. My dad is constantly talking about that movie, so I was a bit intrigued and after watching it, I must say that it wasn’t all that bad. Not something I could say about the white wine I chose, but hey, it certainly made me feel a bit woozy and heavy in the legs, so somehow I guess it did its trick. I know what I am going to order on my next flight.

And it doesn’t stop with wine either, at any given moment, they even resort to pouring us other drinks such as water, juices to even the known hot ones. It feels like paradise in the sky, can things get even better?

Yes, it can … I forgot the ice cream … man, I died and gone to heaven! I sound like a first timer don’t I … Oh what the hell, see if I care!

With still a bit of time to spare I resorted to watching another movie. This time it is „Into the storm” and although I liked the trailer, the whole movie is kind of odd but one thing I know for sure, please don’t let it storm when we arrive in NZ coz I don’t like experience something like that.

I guess there wasn’t even a better timing coz as soon as the movie ended, we were ready to land and like predicted nothing went wrong, no storm outside only hot temperatures and me like this very much. On the other hand, who wouldn’t be happy with 28 degrees Celcius after midnight.

DUBAI you are a country to my heart, I know we will meet again one day or another!