Well dear family and friends, I have finally fully arrived – I’ve moved up into the room that I will have for the duration, have had a good day’s rest and prayer on Trinity Sunday and finally been given a network cable so now I can access hi speed internet from my own room. And wait there is more. The Benedictine Tutzing sisters, who run this persione which we use each year, have renovated the ensuites in this part of the house. No more the hip bath which I never really did work out how to use properly. Yes, I was very clean from the knees down, but always felt dubious about the rest of me. Now a nice modern shower, and still there is more, the rooms have been painted!
The trip over was good, even though I got very dehydrated. The first leg of the flight wasn’t fully booked out and I had a spare seat next to me. The second leg, I had a delightful mother and child. And I have no complaints about the food. It never ceases to amaze me that 350 plus people can be feed so many kilometres up in the air.
Dubai, I found fascinating. It looks as though every ethnic group in the world is walking through the place, but the strange thing was how quiet they were. It is now one huge shopping mall with many upmarket brands having a store. Nearly everyone was carrying a shopping bag, and milling around looking for more to buy. There was no background music, just occasional quietly spoken announcement. Even large groups would only be speaking gently amongst themselves if at all. What made them so quiet? I noticed something similar waiting in the Passport queue at Rome airport, and wait we did. No body spoke, or hardly did. Even those amongst family or friends said little. Is it because we do not know the dominant language, we are reluctant to allow our voice to be heard. (Hint: Never get in the queue next to the EU passport queue. That queue moves much quicker and there are a regular number of non EU passport holders who ‘accidentally’ make the mistake of taking the wrong queue and when they get to the top, instead of going back to the end of the line, just move across, or rather push in, to the head of the adjoining queue. There that betrays my Aussie/English origins!)
I’ve been into St Peter’s already – no, not to pray but to use the Vatican postal service. The only place to post in Rome – but then they wouldn’t let me. The parcel I had to post to Geoffrey in Greece was over two kilos which is their limit. So I’ll break up the parcel and try again tomorrow. (Hint 2: Keep your parcels small for the Vatican service, and at all costs avoid the Italian system.)
The trip over was good, even though I got very dehydrated. The first leg of the flight wasn’t fully booked out and I had a spare seat next to me. The second leg, I had a delightful mother and child. And I have no complaints about the food. It never ceases to amaze me that 350 plus people can be feed so many kilometres up in the air.
Dubai, I found fascinating. It looks as though every ethnic group in the world is walking through the place, but the strange thing was how quiet they were. It is now one huge shopping mall with many upmarket brands having a store. Nearly everyone was carrying a shopping bag, and milling around looking for more to buy. There was no background music, just occasional quietly spoken announcement. Even large groups would only be speaking gently amongst themselves if at all. What made them so quiet? I noticed something similar waiting in the Passport queue at Rome airport, and wait we did. No body spoke, or hardly did. Even those amongst family or friends said little. Is it because we do not know the dominant language, we are reluctant to allow our voice to be heard. (Hint: Never get in the queue next to the EU passport queue. That queue moves much quicker and there are a regular number of non EU passport holders who ‘accidentally’ make the mistake of taking the wrong queue and when they get to the top, instead of going back to the end of the line, just move across, or rather push in, to the head of the adjoining queue. There that betrays my Aussie/English origins!)
I’ve been into St Peter’s already – no, not to pray but to use the Vatican postal service. The only place to post in Rome – but then they wouldn’t let me. The parcel I had to post to Geoffrey in Greece was over two kilos which is their limit. So I’ll break up the parcel and try again tomorrow. (Hint 2: Keep your parcels small for the Vatican service, and at all costs avoid the Italian system.)
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