Most of us slept for a good portion of the flight to Dubai, thanks to the wonder drug, Ambien. And, if you can believe it, they actually still serve hot meals on United Airlines. (I promise, it's true!) I was sitting next to a window at the back of a plane; which, for most of the flight across the Atlantic wasn't much of a perk. Our flight path did, however, take us across Iraq, and directly over Baghdad; M and I saw the sun setting over this war-torn city. Baghdad wasn't quite the metropolis that I had imagined - and urban sprawl was non-existant. Dubai, on the other hand, was this ENORMOUS city that was glowing from the sky. Before I saw the city, I could tell it was quickly approaching from from the groups of oil rigs and boats chillin' in the Persian Gulf.
The Dubai airport screamed "oil money." (The kind with lots of dollar signs, like the expensive restaurant in Zagat's. $$$$$$) We flew out on Emirates Air, whose new terminal had opened in October 2008. It was complete with gardens, grocery stores, an Irish Pub, duty-free shopping, Starbucks, Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, and much more. M and I had heavy lids, and stopped by the new Starbucks for a java. Two incorrect beverages and $15 (USD) later, we were on our way to our gate. I guess that oil money didn't make its way to our pockets.
Emirates Air was a throwback to the old days of air travel. It reminded me of the way airlines and stewardesses were glorified in the movie "Catch Me If You Can." The highlight of Emirates Air was the AMAZING in-seat entertainment systems. Complete with hundreds of on demand movies, seat-to-seat calling, and video games there wasn't anything not to like. In fact, I was kind of sad when we got the "prepare for landing" announcement. (I wasn't done with my game of Tetris just yet.)
And then, we arrived in India...
The Dubai airport screamed "oil money." (The kind with lots of dollar signs, like the expensive restaurant in Zagat's. $$$$$$) We flew out on Emirates Air, whose new terminal had opened in October 2008. It was complete with gardens, grocery stores, an Irish Pub, duty-free shopping, Starbucks, Burger King, Dunkin Donuts, and much more. M and I had heavy lids, and stopped by the new Starbucks for a java. Two incorrect beverages and $15 (USD) later, we were on our way to our gate. I guess that oil money didn't make its way to our pockets.
Emirates Air was a throwback to the old days of air travel. It reminded me of the way airlines and stewardesses were glorified in the movie "Catch Me If You Can." The highlight of Emirates Air was the AMAZING in-seat entertainment systems. Complete with hundreds of on demand movies, seat-to-seat calling, and video games there wasn't anything not to like. In fact, I was kind of sad when we got the "prepare for landing" announcement. (I wasn't done with my game of Tetris just yet.)
And then, we arrived in India...
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