We are now at the Emirates lounge Dubai airport waiting for our flight to Sydney after the smoothest ever check in and pass through security.
Dubai has been great and we had a busy day on Wednesday starting with breakfast outside overlooking the beach, sea and The Palm, just a lovely way to start the day.
We then took the tram from our hotel to Dubai Marina and then the Metro to the old town either side of Dubai Creek. We had been told that a visit to the Gold Souk was a must and we dutifully did this in spite of the fact that this type of bling is not our thing! It was quite astonishing and the vulgarity of some of the jewellery was beyond belief (photos to be added when we get to Sydney). No visit to the textile Souk was planned but Ray was thwarted since they seemed to have moved it into our path (probably had been told of the visit by the LLW) and within five minutes a scarf had been purchased! The local traders knew they were on to good customer and in the next few alleys we were constantly hassled, but actually in a very pleasant way which seems to be the norm in Dubai where absolutely everyone is courteous.
Have extractated ourselves from this textile Souk we sought for the Spice Souk and just about caught the edge of it before deciding that it was time to rest for a while and and nearby there was an Indian restaurant which had been spotted whilst walking from the metro station. This turned out to be a real little oasis and whilst we had not planned to have much of a lunch, a very large chicken curry and lamb and okra curry with mounds of rice appeared for the princely sum of £14. And very good it was too.
The LLW now proposed a visit to the Dubai Mall and this was duly put to the management committee (which consists of one person) and the proposal was unanimously agreed. Off we then went on the excellent metro to Dubai Mall which is next to the Burj Khalifi, the worlds tallest building. The walk from the station was quite something and whilst most of it was on travelators, it was still a long way. The mall is enormous and divided into sections such as electronics, children's shops and fashion, more fashion and yet more fashion. The LLW decreed that she should be left alone to visit said fashion shops and we agreed to meet later at the Star Atrium. Ray visited the Waterfall and the Ice Rink and walked all around the rectangular mall. He was amazed when rendezvousing with the LLW to discover that nothing of real interest had been seen so the plastic had emerged undamaged.
There was some mention of a potential handbag purchase and the team went off to inspect. However, it was decided that whilst the handbag was quite nice, at the price of a small car it wa perhaps a little extravagant!
At the lower ground level there is access to the plaza and the lake next to the Burj Khalifi (BK) and this was were we were heading now. The plan was to walk around the lake for a while and then watch the famous "dancing fountains" display which takes place every 30 mins after sunset.
We had time to kill so found a very pleasant bar/cafe to have firstly tea and then delicious fruit and soda concoctions. This proved to be the ideal spot to linger and then view the display which was very good and enhanced by the stunnng skyscrapers all illuminated. BK is unbelievably high and even in a sea of very, very tall buildings absolutely soars above everything else. We thoroughly enjoyed the visit to the mall and the plaza.
Time to return to our hotel via metro and tram just in time for our 8pm dinner booking at our hotel, which happened to be in the Indian restaurant Nina. You might get think that two Indian meals in one day is a bit much but since a) a very large percentage of Dubai inhabitants are Indian and therefore that cuisine is "local" and b) the LLW's Fitbit tracker had registered a new world record in steps taken and calories expended, the management committee decided that this was fully justified.
The meal was excellent in a beautiful setting with some interesting people watching. Having walked from the hotel entrance to the Arabian Court which is part of our hotel we decided to get the shuttle back since the distance between the Arabian Court and our part of the hotel, the Palace is about 1 mile!
One innovation of international importance at the Nina restaurant was the use of handbag pouffe's positioned at the lady diner's right hand where crucial and expensive handbags can have their own comfortable seat. The LLW was so taken with this soon to be "must have" that you dear reader, should watch out for this exciting innovation appearing at Skinners Cottage. No doubt this will cause a sensation in West Sussex!
Dubai has been a revelation. We were very lucky to have stayed at the One and Only Royal Mirage hotel which once one gets over the pretentious name, was just delightful. The hotel is enormous but instead of ascending upwards as most new hotels, this very traditionally decorated hotel is spread across 3 different resorts (the Palace, the Residence and Spa and Arabian Court) in beautifully tended gardens measuring about 1 mile by 1/4 mile. Bordered by a lovely beach by the very clear Persian Gulf it is a low rise oasis in the vertical madness that is the modern Dubai. We were very lucky in that the hotel gave us a half board tariff so we only paid for drinks. This was just as well because it would have been very, very expensive if the meals had not been included.
People everywhere were unfailingly courteous and helpful without being obsequious, probably to an extent we have not experienced before. Clearly the entire country is very safe and welcoming to people of all races and creeds as long as they can get a job. Our taxi driver this morning who is Egyptian was a great pains to explain how good Dubai was and how lucky he was to have escaped Egypt.
The growth of the city state is quite extraordinary and you cannot help but wonder how this enormous investment can be sustained by an economy which is still developing and a country which is not oil rich. Dubai must achieve its aim of becoming and sustaining its position as the financial and trading centre on the middle east.
Unexpectedly we really enjoyed Dubai enormously and would be very happy to return.
Web are now on the plane and the LLW has her glass of Chablis so all is right with the world.
Dubai has been great and we had a busy day on Wednesday starting with breakfast outside overlooking the beach, sea and The Palm, just a lovely way to start the day.
We then took the tram from our hotel to Dubai Marina and then the Metro to the old town either side of Dubai Creek. We had been told that a visit to the Gold Souk was a must and we dutifully did this in spite of the fact that this type of bling is not our thing! It was quite astonishing and the vulgarity of some of the jewellery was beyond belief (photos to be added when we get to Sydney). No visit to the textile Souk was planned but Ray was thwarted since they seemed to have moved it into our path (probably had been told of the visit by the LLW) and within five minutes a scarf had been purchased! The local traders knew they were on to good customer and in the next few alleys we were constantly hassled, but actually in a very pleasant way which seems to be the norm in Dubai where absolutely everyone is courteous.
Have extractated ourselves from this textile Souk we sought for the Spice Souk and just about caught the edge of it before deciding that it was time to rest for a while and and nearby there was an Indian restaurant which had been spotted whilst walking from the metro station. This turned out to be a real little oasis and whilst we had not planned to have much of a lunch, a very large chicken curry and lamb and okra curry with mounds of rice appeared for the princely sum of £14. And very good it was too.
The LLW now proposed a visit to the Dubai Mall and this was duly put to the management committee (which consists of one person) and the proposal was unanimously agreed. Off we then went on the excellent metro to Dubai Mall which is next to the Burj Khalifi, the worlds tallest building. The walk from the station was quite something and whilst most of it was on travelators, it was still a long way. The mall is enormous and divided into sections such as electronics, children's shops and fashion, more fashion and yet more fashion. The LLW decreed that she should be left alone to visit said fashion shops and we agreed to meet later at the Star Atrium. Ray visited the Waterfall and the Ice Rink and walked all around the rectangular mall. He was amazed when rendezvousing with the LLW to discover that nothing of real interest had been seen so the plastic had emerged undamaged.
There was some mention of a potential handbag purchase and the team went off to inspect. However, it was decided that whilst the handbag was quite nice, at the price of a small car it wa perhaps a little extravagant!
At the lower ground level there is access to the plaza and the lake next to the Burj Khalifi (BK) and this was were we were heading now. The plan was to walk around the lake for a while and then watch the famous "dancing fountains" display which takes place every 30 mins after sunset.
We had time to kill so found a very pleasant bar/cafe to have firstly tea and then delicious fruit and soda concoctions. This proved to be the ideal spot to linger and then view the display which was very good and enhanced by the stunnng skyscrapers all illuminated. BK is unbelievably high and even in a sea of very, very tall buildings absolutely soars above everything else. We thoroughly enjoyed the visit to the mall and the plaza.
Time to return to our hotel via metro and tram just in time for our 8pm dinner booking at our hotel, which happened to be in the Indian restaurant Nina. You might get think that two Indian meals in one day is a bit much but since a) a very large percentage of Dubai inhabitants are Indian and therefore that cuisine is "local" and b) the LLW's Fitbit tracker had registered a new world record in steps taken and calories expended, the management committee decided that this was fully justified.
The meal was excellent in a beautiful setting with some interesting people watching. Having walked from the hotel entrance to the Arabian Court which is part of our hotel we decided to get the shuttle back since the distance between the Arabian Court and our part of the hotel, the Palace is about 1 mile!
One innovation of international importance at the Nina restaurant was the use of handbag pouffe's positioned at the lady diner's right hand where crucial and expensive handbags can have their own comfortable seat. The LLW was so taken with this soon to be "must have" that you dear reader, should watch out for this exciting innovation appearing at Skinners Cottage. No doubt this will cause a sensation in West Sussex!
Dubai has been a revelation. We were very lucky to have stayed at the One and Only Royal Mirage hotel which once one gets over the pretentious name, was just delightful. The hotel is enormous but instead of ascending upwards as most new hotels, this very traditionally decorated hotel is spread across 3 different resorts (the Palace, the Residence and Spa and Arabian Court) in beautifully tended gardens measuring about 1 mile by 1/4 mile. Bordered by a lovely beach by the very clear Persian Gulf it is a low rise oasis in the vertical madness that is the modern Dubai. We were very lucky in that the hotel gave us a half board tariff so we only paid for drinks. This was just as well because it would have been very, very expensive if the meals had not been included.
People everywhere were unfailingly courteous and helpful without being obsequious, probably to an extent we have not experienced before. Clearly the entire country is very safe and welcoming to people of all races and creeds as long as they can get a job. Our taxi driver this morning who is Egyptian was a great pains to explain how good Dubai was and how lucky he was to have escaped Egypt.
The growth of the city state is quite extraordinary and you cannot help but wonder how this enormous investment can be sustained by an economy which is still developing and a country which is not oil rich. Dubai must achieve its aim of becoming and sustaining its position as the financial and trading centre on the middle east.
Unexpectedly we really enjoyed Dubai enormously and would be very happy to return.
Web are now on the plane and the LLW has her glass of Chablis so all is right with the world.
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