VIVA EUROLAND...

The blog lives...

So I get to the airport to board Emirates flight to Dubai, and am dismayed to find that a red-eye flight on a monday night appears to be full... worse still, it is late (thanks a lot auckland), so I lose some cash to Steve playing gin while the rain pours down outside so much that it leaves me questioning how an A380 will leave the ground...

Regardless the plane does its job, and the 13hrs 40min doesnt seem a shade over 13hrs 20min and we arrive in Dubai, I guess I slept around 4 hours.

Dubai airport is a monstrous place, dwarfing Hong Kong airport considerably. We go thru security who, interestingly, didnt appear to even check our passports/tickets or look at the xray screen while our stuff went thru the scanner; perhaps more interested in the conversation they were having at high volume - no doubt discussing international economics or fine arts.

We have around an hour to kill and play some more gin where I claw back some of my earlier losses and we board the flight to Munich. We get on a bus from the gate and it takes a good 20 minutes to reach our plane, and the entire journey all I could see were jets out both windows (and lots of arabs).

Flight went quickly and we got thru to Munich customs. Two young ladies at the desk, one seemed very pleasant, the other the sort of kindergarten teacher that would scar one for life. Obv I get the latter and she demands information of me which I hurriedly provide. After grilling me for 2 minutes she plays the cruel joke of smiling and telling me to enjoy my stay; before telling me I'm welcome despite me not recalling thanking her.

First beer in Europe was a Hofbrauhaus Original while waiting for the 1hr flight to Berlin.

Our lodgings are actually quite acceptable given that it seems the suburb we are in, Kreuzberg, is akin to Kings Cross, though perhaps without as much overt deviancy...

One wouldnt think that $AUD would be a difficult currency to exchange; alas, no one seems to want it over here... I mean, having arguably the strongest currency and 5th-8th largest id guess on your hands is financial suicide apparently... Couple this with the fact that the casino the tourneys are on at didnt accept wire transfers of any nature meant we had to cop an 8% vig or so at some exchange joint in the city...