We fly out from Frankfurt on Tuesday morning, but we figured we'd stay overnight there a see a little bit before we go as none of us have ever been to Frankfurt before. It doesn't really make it onto to too many bucket lists, but I have to say it was a nice city - at least what we saw. Although the city has a population of 5.6 million it has many forests within the metro area. The Altstat (old section of town) is quaint and we just happen to be there during the city summer festival with a carnival along the banks of the river. We had a superb traditional german dinner, took a stroll through the carnival and we watched the fireworks display, which was very good. During the stroll I managed to have another wtf moment with this fur covered covered bike. Now, a lot of people cycle in Europe, especially Germany, so I guess this must be the their equivalent of our bogan HQ Holden panelavn with sheepskin covers and the odd foxtail from the antenna! (Bringing back any memories?)
Our flight from Frankfurt to Dubai was good, although Shirley had come down with a good dose of fever and nausea during the flight that had us at the airport medical centre right after we landed. The people at Dubai airport were fantastic, very helpful and nothing was a bother. Somebody was always willing to take us where we need to go ( cause Dubai airport is massive). Having got some treatment and medicines, we headed for our overnight stay at the new Sofitel Jumeirah Palm on Palm Island. Wow, what an awesome place, just a shame we're only here overnight.

Dubai is growing massively, in 1991 the had 1 skyscraper, today there are over 900! The freeway we were on from the airport was 6 lanes each way, and got to see the Burj Kalifa building (currently tallest in the world at 830m high with 163 floors. But nothing is bigger than its temperatures - today was 45deg but don't worry it cools down at night to a measly 35deg. But don't worry, everything is air conditioned and it works well.We had a good night sleep and were back at the airport at 7am to grab our flight home, but not before Shirley had another visit to the medical centre, looks like she has picked up a stomach virus somewhere along the way, and by now I'm starting to feel a bit off as well. We were luck enough to jag a business upgrade and settled in for the final leg - a lazy 14 hours back to Sydney.
We were all so glad to be back home, but oddly we are also are a little sad that its all over. It's amazing how fast these 5 weeks flew by, and yet how little we saw of Europe. Mind you, we didn't set out to do a whistle stop tour, we figured that just wouldnt work early on, so instead focused on the stuff we really wanted to see and tried to give each spot enough time to do it well. Looking back, there's not a lot I would change, but there is always more to see and do. Maybe next time?

For those that are interested, I did over half a million steps or 400kms of walking and climbed 1054 floors (just over 10,000 feet) - not bad for an old bloke, but you know what, after 5 weeks of travelling, I can feel every one of them! After all that, next holiday Im thinking resort, pool with a bar, masage facilities, multiple onsite restaurants, warm tropical locale, room service and no where to walk, Any suggestions?