I had initially settled on a 13 hours direct SQ flight to Rome but the dates didn’t fit my schedule well, so I opted for Emirates instead. It was also good chance to explore Dubai Airport, which I heard is amazing. There was an 8 hour layover for the connecting flight to Rome so Emirates provided a Copthorne hotel room for some decent rest, FOC. Sweet !

Dubai Airport is ginormous. The infrastructure I feel, is excellent and definitely on par with Singapore’s Changi Airport, but I think in terms of customer service and ease of navigation within the airport, the latter is still better. After getting off the tarmac there were no clear signs indicating where arrivals should head to and many of us were lost for a while searching where to go.

(above & below) Some familiar franchises and their respective brand names in Arabic. Upon inspection, the menus aren’t all that different from any other country.

(above) My favourite past time on planes; cloud gazing. If its a daytime flight I always get a window seat.

(above) The first glimpse of the Italian coastline. The Eternal City, here we come !