And we're off! My 2nd foray into Europe begins with a stopover at Dubai. Emirates' service was pretty below average in spite of what I've heard. Flight took about 8 hrs from Perth & got into Dubai around 2 pm local time. The view of the city from within the airport was all brown & sand. Freshened up & walked about...nice looking airport. Didn't buy anything as too lazy to get Dirhams or USD.