Eurotrip2011: Day 4

Dubai - Munich

We were up early, excited about seeing all of our wonderful friends in Germany and escaping the overbearing heat of Dubai. Coming through immigration, the airport officer processed my beloved's passport with no hesitation, but when it came to mine, spent around 10 minutes looking quizzically at my documentation, at his computer screen and then up at my face. He beckoned his superior who asked me to "please come with me, Ma'am". At this stage, even knowing that I have never and would never do anything illegal, I was feeling most uncomfortable (perhaps I've been watching too many Border Security shows?!?). I was ushered to a small room with two friendly staff who explained that when my passport was scanned, the details of another passenger were entered (likely the result of the a distracted employee coupled with the obscenely long queues at immigration upon entering the country). I breathed a huge sigh of relief and continued towards our gate to wait for what was to be a slightly delayed plane.

We landed in Munich just after lunch and were greeted warmly by our hosts Betty and Peter. Betty and I lived with each others' families for three months in 1999 and have stayed in contact ever since. After offloading our bags, we (naturally!) headed straight to the nearby bakery to pick up a number of cakes for kaffee und kuchen.

With full bellies, we drove to a rather scenic part of Bavaria - Tegernsee, where we stretched our legs and generally took in the beauty of our surrounds. The fresh air and natural splendour of the place was a welcome change after our three nights in Dubai.

Dinner with our hosts was at a very quaint Italian restaurant only 100 metres from their front door. Some rather inspired pizza flavour combinations were enjoyed - gorgonzola, speck and broccoli for me and oyster mushroom, prawn and garlic for my beloved. All of this was washed down with a glass of Prosecco.

At home, Mike fell into bed, but I stayed up for an extra hour or so, drinking wine and enjoying a long overdue catch up with my wonderful German friends. What a great first day in Europe!