Scott K
Member
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2017
- Posts
- 266
Keen to lose some weight? Feeling you need a little extra activity to help your endurance training for a marathon? Getting connecting flights at DXB is for you!
Dubai's new airport is a beautiful piece of linear tubular construction that is scenic and amazing to visit at any time of day. The wildlife there is also just as astounding. With this in mind, let me tell you my little - and by no means unique - tale of discovering the DXB endurance workout.
I thought we had Dubai nailed. We'd been here before and had an idea of the lay of the land. Our flight from Venice would disembark at C concourse, and we'd catch our next plane also at C concourse. How hard can that be? So close!
Relatively speaking that is. C concourse is only 750 meters long. Everything seemed manageable in two hours. Right? Right!
I glanced at my Apple Watch (no, I am not promoting this product) had clicked over to a new day of activity tracking during the flight and now registered pretty much no steps. It was 2 am. We exited the plane and walked out onto the concourse and headed right to the security screening area about 50 meters away. So close! Yet I find a lengthy line snaking from the gate with the appearance of barely moving. Upon seeing us all approaching security stepped into the doorway and gestured us on.
So we walked on looking for the next point.
And walked.
And walked.
And walked past further bogged security gates or closed gates. We walked and walked. It had been winter in Venice so I had a woollen coat on when I boarded our flight which I now continued to wear to make it easier to carry along with my usual onboard extras - and some of the wife's.
Anxious that we were increasingly sliming down our time until our next flight. We found ourselves twisting into another area off to the side of the building that had broad spaces and lots of screening gates. Finally!
Oh. not so finally. Business and first passengers only here. The rest of us Y plebs had to keep walking. Finally we arrived into a huge area with lots of non-working screening gates. We also seem to have run out of building. It was about this point that I realised that we were on A concourse, and had walked the entire length of the building and were now at the main immigration area.
Upon passing through the gates (my wife had a knitters measuring tape confiscated so we got a lovely little search) we descended the escalators and headed back to C. It was about this point that I started to try and find the train that was featured in the video on the plane. Could we find it? Nah. The signage hinted it was there. But where? Sweat was dripping down my back and my wife was complaining about. Oh, I don't know. Her feet or something.
Carts aggressively aimed at us to run is down, all carrying passengers that fortunately probably couldn't understand the mixed expletives I wanted to deliver. We walked through seemingly endless duty free traps. Looking for the train. I thought I spotted it, only for the site to be closed for construction. We criss-crossed walkways to avoid other construction areas. By the time we arrived at our gate in C - physically one position further along the concourse than where our plane had arrived at, my coat was draped over my bag and my wife was glancing at me with extreme annoyance. And I wished I had lounge access to get a massage on my baggage dragging torn shoulder.
My Apple Watch amusingly informed me that we had just walked nearly 3 kilometres. And yes, we did use the travelators - or at least the ones that worked. I did find the train, but sadly it had been shut down for servicing over that evening.
Oh well. It did mean I racked up some further points while I was using the Qantas Assure app.
Dubai's new airport is a beautiful piece of linear tubular construction that is scenic and amazing to visit at any time of day. The wildlife there is also just as astounding. With this in mind, let me tell you my little - and by no means unique - tale of discovering the DXB endurance workout.
I thought we had Dubai nailed. We'd been here before and had an idea of the lay of the land. Our flight from Venice would disembark at C concourse, and we'd catch our next plane also at C concourse. How hard can that be? So close!
Relatively speaking that is. C concourse is only 750 meters long. Everything seemed manageable in two hours. Right? Right!
I glanced at my Apple Watch (no, I am not promoting this product) had clicked over to a new day of activity tracking during the flight and now registered pretty much no steps. It was 2 am. We exited the plane and walked out onto the concourse and headed right to the security screening area about 50 meters away. So close! Yet I find a lengthy line snaking from the gate with the appearance of barely moving. Upon seeing us all approaching security stepped into the doorway and gestured us on.
So we walked on looking for the next point.
And walked.
And walked.
And walked past further bogged security gates or closed gates. We walked and walked. It had been winter in Venice so I had a woollen coat on when I boarded our flight which I now continued to wear to make it easier to carry along with my usual onboard extras - and some of the wife's.
Anxious that we were increasingly sliming down our time until our next flight. We found ourselves twisting into another area off to the side of the building that had broad spaces and lots of screening gates. Finally!
Oh. not so finally. Business and first passengers only here. The rest of us Y plebs had to keep walking. Finally we arrived into a huge area with lots of non-working screening gates. We also seem to have run out of building. It was about this point that I realised that we were on A concourse, and had walked the entire length of the building and were now at the main immigration area.
Upon passing through the gates (my wife had a knitters measuring tape confiscated so we got a lovely little search) we descended the escalators and headed back to C. It was about this point that I started to try and find the train that was featured in the video on the plane. Could we find it? Nah. The signage hinted it was there. But where? Sweat was dripping down my back and my wife was complaining about. Oh, I don't know. Her feet or something.
Carts aggressively aimed at us to run is down, all carrying passengers that fortunately probably couldn't understand the mixed expletives I wanted to deliver. We walked through seemingly endless duty free traps. Looking for the train. I thought I spotted it, only for the site to be closed for construction. We criss-crossed walkways to avoid other construction areas. By the time we arrived at our gate in C - physically one position further along the concourse than where our plane had arrived at, my coat was draped over my bag and my wife was glancing at me with extreme annoyance. And I wished I had lounge access to get a massage on my baggage dragging torn shoulder.
My Apple Watch amusingly informed me that we had just walked nearly 3 kilometres. And yes, we did use the travelators - or at least the ones that worked. I did find the train, but sadly it had been shut down for servicing over that evening.
Oh well. It did mean I racked up some further points while I was using the Qantas Assure app.