My R&R is off to a great start. I woke up stressed thinking about all the things I had to accomplish before I left. As I sit here in Doha, Qatar I feel like a completely different person, calm and relaxed.
A guy from my district back home was also going on R&R the same day. He works up at the Soo Locks and we hadn’t met before Afghanistan but we get along great so it was fun to have him to explore Dubai with.
When I return from R&R the first of the two new billeting buildings should be complete which is where my new room assignment is. Because we are tight on space I needed to pack up and move out so they could put someone new in my room. While J4 would have stored my stuff, I preferred to leave it in my office. There are two other people on R&R who are storing their stuff behind my desk as well. It looks like a storage locker but it is only temporarily. I wanted to wash all my bedding before I boxed it up so I was busy doing laundry and moving boxes into my office all morning. Surprisingly I got it all done.
My boss took the other guy from my district and I to chow then dropped us off at the airport. The flight to Dubai was uneventful. My friend is also married and has three little girls back home so we had a lot in common and talked the whole flight. It was only about 2 hours but we had a complimentary Heineken and full meal service.
When we arrived at Terminal 3 we grabbed our luggage and each got $40 worth of Dirham. We had to take a taxi over to Terminal 1 as it was too far to walk. We found the luggage storage place that I had read about and for 20 Dirham per bag (about $5.50 US) they would store our bags up to 12 hours.
I do not do very well “playing by ear”. Part of what was stressing me out so much before R&R was that I had not been able to do my normal detailed planning for the trip. The contractor in my office has traveled quite a bit and showed me some pictures of one of his trips to Dubai when he went to the Dubai Mall. Being luggage free, we decided to head to the Dubai Mall and check it out (this isn’t the one with the ski slope you may have heard about).
We asked the luggage guy how to get there and he said we could take the metro. Both of us wanted to keep the expense of our adventure to a minimum so we decided to try that instead of getting a taxi. We easily found the station and the English speaking attendant gave us tickets and told us which stop to get off at. One thing that is absolutely stunning about Dubai is how absolutely spotless it is. The metro was no exception. Once at the Dubai Mall stop we saw signs with arrows that said “bus to Dubai Mall”. We thought the metro would take us right there but what the heck. Our timing was perfect and the bus was at the curb right when we exited. After a very short ride, the first stop was the mall.
Calling it a mall was an understatement. This four story monstrosity was more like a little city. Every store from the States you could imagine was there in addition to about hundreds of others. We wandered through the gold souk first. My travel companion was also former Air Force and he too had been TDY in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia so we both hoped this gold souk would be like the one we got fantastic deals on gold there. Not even close. One ring I was interested in was $450. We quickly moved on.
We found our way to the amazing waterfalls, then to the aquarium before we set out to eat. Normally I like to try local food but after three months of less than desirable meals, I was ready to have a good familiar meal. Having seen a California Pizza Kitchen earlier, we managed to navigate our way back to it. Once there, we realized there was an outdoor patio and requested a seat outside.
I could have sat there for hours. We split lettuce wraps and pizza while people watching. While we found plenty of eye candy for him, there really weren’t much of a selection for me which we found fascinating. There was an assortment of different nationalities and ages. Then as the sun started to set the speakers kicked up a little louder and the fountains started to “dance” to the music (similar to the Bellagio Fountain in Las Vegas).
We had fantastic layover for just $40 each (transportation, meal and luggage storage). We found our way through the mall back to the bus which took us back to the metro and then on to the airport. I thanked my friend for the “date” and then we went our separate ways. He was flying back to Michigan on United and I had a flight on Qatar Airline. The Dubai airport was nice and well organized. Right after you enter the airport there are several doorways with airline names above them. I found Qatar and as soon as I walked through the entry I was in line for security. It wasn’t until I had passed through that I was then able to get to the counter to check in. They took my bag then I had to go through security a second time. Once through I was at Passport Control. The way the airport was set up there was little room for error. Each step funneled me into the next. We had cut it a little too close getting back to the airport so I had only enough time to use the restroom and get on the plane.
Qatar Airline was very nice and after a short 1 hour flight I was in Doha. The airport was small and bland but the three hour layover passed easily. The flight to Rome was the longest at 6½ hours. I slept most of the flight and arrived in Rome at 0630. Clearing customs went smoothly then using the directions the flat owner had e-mailed me, I made my way to the train.
My first impression of Italy wasn’t that great. The people seemed cold and it is filthy. The train was covered with graffiti which I knew to expect but it was still a turn-off. I knew that my impression was exaggerated because I was tired and grumpy and I had just come from Dubai which is well manicured and spotless, but I was still not impressed as I watched the trash laden landscape pass by the scratched and filthy train window.
I managed to get off the train at the correct stop but I wandered a bit before I found the flat (apartment) we rented. I sat on the steps about 30 minutes. Because I didn’t have a cell phone to call them when I arrived the owners said they would watch my flight and estimate the time to meet me. It worked out well.
The wife arrived first to let me in and the husband a few minutes later. They were super nice and the flat is adorable. When I initially looked for a place to stay in Rome I looked at hotels but they are much smaller than in the US so we would have had to get a suite or two rooms to accommodate the four of us. That would have taken up a sizeable chunk of our budget for just a place to sleep. I found this flat on VRBO.com and crossed my fingers. Once inside I was relieved to find that we had stuck gold. It was perfect!
The owners, parents of two tween boys, gave me lots of advice on where to eat and how to get around. After they left, I freshened up a bit then headed out. I was going to go get groceries but when I saw an electronics store I decided to stop and get a converter. They were out but gave me directions to another electronics store. Success. Next stop, groceries. I easily found the tiny market and got a few basics (milk, honey nut cheerios, crackers and cereal bars). I was hungry so I also got a frozen dinner (even thought it was 10am). Back at the flat I ate my dinner and watched a show on my laptop. (My loving husband has been burning DVDs from TiVo for me.)
My plan was to take a quick nap then get up and go through the gobs of tourist materials in the flat. Good in theory…
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