It was a day like any other. Except for the part about flying to Europe.  Yes, after months of rigorous research and meticulous planning, Departure Day had finally arrived.  Preparations were going smoothly, with a firm focus on being ready for our airport ride at 6.30pm (thanks to Pete).  That was until a text message arrived on my phone – the sort of message you really don’t want to see.  “We’re sorry but your flight has been delayed”.  Your heart skips a beat and your palms start to sweat, as you digest what this means and start thinking fast about the arrangements you need to change.  Luckily it was only by 2 hours, pushing departure out to 1am, but it meant we would almost certainly miss the second flight.  A check of schedules showed that the next flight was 6 hours later, and we’d be arriving at our Hamburg accommodation at 10pm instead of 4pm.  Not to mention the 6 hours of enforced stopover in Dubai.  It was not an auspicious start to the holiday.  A flurry of phone calls ensued, but it seemed we would just have to wait and see, and keep our fingers crossed.

On the plus side, the airport was very quiet, and we checked in and moved swiftly through the formalities.  The Star Trek transporter style body scanner was a new experience!  As for the flight, well it was pretty much what you’d expect in economy in the middle of the night – full plane, grizzling baby just across the aisle, and a bunch of excited teenagers who spent most of the time roaming the aisles and talking loudly to each other.  Sleeping was not going to feature heavily.

As avid watchers of “The Amazing Race”, we knew that early preparation was key to fast deplaning, so we were packed and ready to spring into action well before touchdown in Dubai.  It was 8.30am, and the connecting flight was due to depart at 9.05.  It was highly unlikely, but there was a glimmer of hope.  This was quickly dashed when the Emirates staff pointed us to the queue of people waiting for new boarding passes.  We were on the 15.10 to Hamburg and we had a 6 hour wait.

We faced a new challenge – using up our meal vouchers.  We’d already had free food in Melbourne, and been fed plenty on the plane.  We were given two more vouchers each, to be used at selected outlets in the new terminal A.  I was fine, but the only gluten free food available to Ian was crisps, so he grabbed as many packets as the vouchers would allow. The only other excitement was catching the shuttle train across to terminal B, and admiring the massive waterfalls at the two station entrances.  Outside it was 46 degrees, so we were happy enough to be in air conditioned comfort, and the time passed surprisingly quickly.  We got some exercise trekking the length of each terminal.

Finally settled on our Hamburg flight, we felt like we were about to make progress – until the dreaded announcement came – “we’re sorry but there is traffic congestion and we will be waiting up to half an hour before takeoff”.  We looked at each other in resignation.  Hamburg seemed further away than ever.

Luckily we touched down only 20 minutes late, and were quickly through passport control and baggage claim.  We followed the S-Bahn signs, bought train tickets from the helpful tourist office, and boarded the S1 bound for Wedel.  I’d deliberately chosen accommodation near a station that was on the same line as the airport, and with no change to navigate, we alighted at Altona.  At 10pm, daylight was only just fading.

What did we do before smartphones?  Ian had quickly brought up the route and we began negotiating the narrow cobbled streets, which were crowded with Hamburgers (Hamburgians?) eating and drinking at outdoor cafes. Lots of people were on bikes, but there were few cars. Things got quieter as we left the station precinct behind, and after a 20 minute walk, we found ourselves outside no 15, with our host waiting outside for us.  He quickly gave us the key and showed us around what was to be home for the next 6 nights.

The apartment is not unlike the one we had in Paris, except that it is larger, with two bedrooms.  The main bed is in the living area, which has a large TV, a couch and table.  The bed is very low to the floor, and in European style, has just a fitted sheet, a doona but no top sheet, and two enormous pillows.  Bedroom 2 has two single beds.  There is a small kitchen, a large bathroom, and a narrow balcony overlooking the street.  The neighbourhood is quiet and mostly residential. It is a good spot for people watching – there are a lot of young people and kids, and bikes are ubiquitous.

Through the wonders of modern tech, Ian determined that there was a supermarket 5 mins walk away, and it was open for 15 minutes.  He made a quick dash for milk, OJ and lemonade, but had no time to fully explore the food options.  Meanwhile I experimented with the shower bath.  It has a hand held shower head with no wall hanging, so you have to sit in the bath and direct the water as best you can. Hair washing is going to be something of a challenge.  The other problem is that what I assumed was a microwave from the photos, turned out to be a wine cooler.  Cooking is going to be less straightforward, but manageable.

It’s always fascinating exploring someone else’s place.  Back home, we always travel with kitchen utensils and various spares, the type of thing that is often missing.  Overseas travel doesn’t afford that luxury.  We did a stocktake, and found the following cutlery items:

• 14 teaspoons
• 1 dessert spoon
• 9 knives
• 2 forks
• 26 wine glasses
• Numerous coffee cups

Clearly we are expected to drink copious amounts of wine and coffee, but eat very little.  Breakfast has to be consumed as a relay, using the single spoon as a baton.  There are sufficient plates and bowls, as well as two saucepans and a small frying pan.  There are no serving spoons or tongs, and I have yet to find out if the sharp knives will cut anything.  And I haven’t found a chopping board yet.  Travel would be no fun at all if everything was simple!

Ian has been having fun with his Translate app – he can photograph a food label in German, and it instantly displays in English.  Back in Istanbul, we spent hours doing word by word translations of ingredients (I’ve now forgotten the Turkish for hydrolysed vegetable protein).  Now it’s a cinch to determine if something is gluten frei – as well as homogenised, pasteurised, to be kept refrigerated, or grown on the southern slopes of a small farm in northern Andalusia.  Our shopping time should be slashed!

Today’s plan is for some serious R&R, unpacking and settling in, visiting the supermarket, then a stroll south to the river.  It’s 24 degrees, heading up to 28, and sunny.  Rain is forecast for the next few days.  Time to get working on my tan …