From Perth airport we had a trouble free departure on Qatar Airways to Doha, albeit fraught with turbulence.
Qatar airways is labelled 'The worlds 5 star airline' so we were expecting something special. In my opinion it as the same as most other major airlines. The seating is supposed to be more spacious but I didn't really notice. I was hoping for a larger recline of the seats but still found these uncomfortably upright even at full tilt. But I'm not complaining!
At Doha airport we had a few hours to wait and this went by with no trouble. The airport itself wasn't anything special and as our departure approached the place got very busy. I think they are building a brand new airport due to some of the advertising around.
We boarded on time, only to be told that today was Qatar's national day and several 'fly overs' were happening at the moment. This meant all airport traffic was halted and we had about an hour wait on the tarmac until we were permitted to take off.
Once landed at Berlin Tegel airport we found ourselves in our new home city! The baggage carousel was immediately in the room after we walked from the plane gangway. Very convenient. Immigration was just before the baggage collection. This consisted of two officers in little glass cubicles and we had no issues at all - not even with my special 'family reunion' visa. The guy only quipped jokingly to Nordine about being Dutch.
Our bags came out, with my guitar coming last. The guitar case had a couple of minor nicks on the exteior, but the guitar itself was unscathed. Now we had a bit of a problem, as we had our two overstuffed backpacks, two very heavy and overstuffed checked luggage and one guitar. We really needed a baggage trolley. These were in this baggage claim area, but needed a coin to free from their little chains. We had no coins and the people I asked could not help.
Being a hero I took the two big bags, Nordine the guitar, and we walked out. The taxi stand is just after this room so at least we didn't have far to walk.
We got in the taxi and the guy didn't seem put off by our large cargo. 30 Euros later we were at our Gubener Strasse apartment in Friedrichshain.
Inside the apartment we were met by Mia and she gave us a quick rundown of the place. Its very nice and well equiped. It has a huge bedroom, a good sized living room and bathroom and a small kitchen.
After Mia left we went to the local supermarket (Kaiser's) and bought some groceries and dinner supplies (spaghetti). Back home Nordine whipped up a nice meal and then we watched TV - everything is in German except two channels, both news, CNN and BBC. We were frazzled and went to bed by 8:45pm!
Qatar airways is labelled 'The worlds 5 star airline' so we were expecting something special. In my opinion it as the same as most other major airlines. The seating is supposed to be more spacious but I didn't really notice. I was hoping for a larger recline of the seats but still found these uncomfortably upright even at full tilt. But I'm not complaining!
At Doha airport we had a few hours to wait and this went by with no trouble. The airport itself wasn't anything special and as our departure approached the place got very busy. I think they are building a brand new airport due to some of the advertising around.
We boarded on time, only to be told that today was Qatar's national day and several 'fly overs' were happening at the moment. This meant all airport traffic was halted and we had about an hour wait on the tarmac until we were permitted to take off.
Once landed at Berlin Tegel airport we found ourselves in our new home city! The baggage carousel was immediately in the room after we walked from the plane gangway. Very convenient. Immigration was just before the baggage collection. This consisted of two officers in little glass cubicles and we had no issues at all - not even with my special 'family reunion' visa. The guy only quipped jokingly to Nordine about being Dutch.
Our bags came out, with my guitar coming last. The guitar case had a couple of minor nicks on the exteior, but the guitar itself was unscathed. Now we had a bit of a problem, as we had our two overstuffed backpacks, two very heavy and overstuffed checked luggage and one guitar. We really needed a baggage trolley. These were in this baggage claim area, but needed a coin to free from their little chains. We had no coins and the people I asked could not help.
Being a hero I took the two big bags, Nordine the guitar, and we walked out. The taxi stand is just after this room so at least we didn't have far to walk.
We got in the taxi and the guy didn't seem put off by our large cargo. 30 Euros later we were at our Gubener Strasse apartment in Friedrichshain.
Inside the apartment we were met by Mia and she gave us a quick rundown of the place. Its very nice and well equiped. It has a huge bedroom, a good sized living room and bathroom and a small kitchen.
After Mia left we went to the local supermarket (Kaiser's) and bought some groceries and dinner supplies (spaghetti). Back home Nordine whipped up a nice meal and then we watched TV - everything is in German except two channels, both news, CNN and BBC. We were frazzled and went to bed by 8:45pm!
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