Day 1 - Melbourne - Munich

Long, long day, but not a bad one all things considered.

Checkin in Melbourne no hassles and even though I got there more than 2 hours ahead of departure, by the time I'd meandered my way to the departure lounge, only had to sit and wait about half an hour before the flight boarded. Etihad board early it seems.

I'd recommend this airline to anyone wanting to travel internationally. Not only are ticket prices very reasonable, the service on their planes is exceptional, the food is pretty damned good, the choice of movies is fairly broad and numerous, everything is clean and as it should be and generally speaking the whole experience was by far the least hassle of any international travel I've done so far.

The seat next to me on the Melbourne to Abu Dhabi leg was empty, so I had room to enjoy and got a fair bit of sleep too.

Landed in Abu Dhabi just as the sun was rising, so got to see the place from the air - lots of nothing for a fair while, then gradually more signs of life as we got closer. The city itself is very spread out but just before we got to the airport we overflew the F1 track with the huge odd-shaped building that's nearby. The track and it's environment though is impressive al on it's own. Pete would love it. Oh yes, there's a huge palace too - with spiked towers that have navigation lights on them. Not much else though other than a number of very tall buildings dotted around in an otherwise fairly sparse and flat landscape. The arrivals area of the airport is a huge half torus shape with blue and yellow tiled central arching pillar that becomes the ceiling and continues as the walls and floor.

Trying to get information on a city tour was very hard. Got different advice from different information kiosks, but the general thing seemed to be a bus or taxi from the airport to "the mall", then locate the tour place and there should be something from there. It all seemed too vague for my liking and all the quoted estimated prices were fairly expensive. On top of that there were no lockups available to leave my bags in - so I chose to just stay in the airport. Headed back in through immigration again, grabbed a hot chocolate and tuna bagel and found a quiet corner where I ate, then curled up to catch some sleep - something I was not the only one doing. The pic here I took from the Transit lounge window - the curved building in the background is the flight tower and is as impressive as it is unusual looking.

Flight from Abu Dhabi to Munich was full, so not as comfortable but again, service and food good. Same movie choices as before, so amused myself for several hours watching The Big Bang episodes.

Arrived in Munich ahead of schedule and was too tired to even consider working out buses, so got in the first taxi in the line and headed to the hotel.

As with Etihad, I'd equally recommend Ghotel to anyone wanting to come to Munich and looking for a not-too-expensive-but-very-good hotel.

Single room with ensuite and small kitchenette for what you'd otherwise pay twice as much for in Sydney and 3 times as much for in Canberra during the week. All new and clean - and reception staff have all been cheerful and helpful.

Good speed WiFi connection for a reasonable daily price and very close to the underground, cafes, restaurants, bars and some attractions I'll explore before leaving.

Bed was way too inviting to think about anything other than sleep though.