Arabian Adventures

[dolphingirl47]

Prologue

Those of you who know us or those of you who have followed my past trip reports know that our holidays do not always quite go according to plan. This one is no exception.

We are going to renew our wedding vows later this year and the original plan had been to go to Dubai some time in the early summer to get new wedding rings for this. We both love Dubai so that seemed to be the obvious choice, especially as the price for gold is much lower in Dubai than this is the case over here and the choice is much better, too.

Of course, this was before we decided to do the Panama Canal cruise. This was eating up a lot of my leave and also a nice chunk of money. So we had scrapped the idea of going to Dubai.

Still, it was never going to happen that we would not go on holiday between the end of April and the end of September. Add to this that we were told at work towards the end of the year that we would be able to carry forward 3 days of leave and then the extra bank holiday was announced and things started to look brighter.

I then ended up getting a couple of free standby tickets for some emergency response training that I had done a year ago and quite frankly had forgotten about. Suddenly Dubai looked very tempting again.

I decided to write to a couple of hotels that I know offer staff rates to us and got some good deals. We had planned to go at the end of May, but I had one day in the middle where I could not get the leave. So we decided to go at the beginning of May instead.

So welcome to Arabian Adventures.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Day 1

We had packed most of our stuff the previous evening. I just had to pack my hand luggage and then we were ready to head for the airport. I can’t remember when the last time was that I headed from home to the airport for a holiday. We either have spent the night before at an airline hotel or I went straight from work to the airport.

It was a beautiful day and we walked to the station to get the train to the airport. When we got there, the airport was nearly empty. I have never seen it so quiet. I suppose everybody was watching the Royal Wedding. I headed to our ticket desk first to check what I needed to do. They have changed the procedure for flying standby since we last had done this. Now you have to register online from 24 hours before and you get a standby receipt. My colleagues checked the loads on the flight and then sent us straight to the online check in desks. We were checked in straight away.

Once we were checked in, we headed through security and again this area was empty. I had forgotten that the shoes that I was wearing have metal pins in the heals so I ended up setting off the the alarm. So I got to experience the full body scanner. I know that this techmology is somewhat controversial, but I much preferred this to the old system. I had to stand still for a few seconds and then I was asked to put my shoes through another x-ray machine and I was good to go. The whole process was quick and painless.

Once we had cleared security, Graham decided that it was time for some breakfast. He had a chicken and bacon roll, a cup of coffee and a piece of carrot cake. I tried a bit of his roll and then I left him to it. I had wanted a book for a while and decided to check out if they had this available as an airport edition. They had and they also had a special offer where if you bought one book, you go a second book for half price. So that was my holiday reading sorted out.

Once I had my books and Graham had eaten his breakfast, we browsed the shops and then Graham found himself a seat, where he could see our plane. I went off again as I wanted to get a few make up items that are cheaper at the airport then this is the case in the city centre. Once I had my eyeliner and mascara, I headed off to get a coffee and something to eat and then joined Graham. He was taking an interesting photo. A tiny KLM plane was passing in front of our huge Airbus A380.

As soon as I had my coffee, I noticed that the gate was now published and we headed over there. The gate area was incredibly busy. Our flight was nowhere near full, but it was very crowded by the gate. I really do not want to see what it is like if the A380 is at capacity. Fortunately we did not have to wait very long until they started boarding.

I have been in the A380 three times now, twice to fly and once for a tour and it will never fail to amaze me. It is just incredibly spacious and also light and airy. We ended up having a 4 seats between the two of us so we had plenty of room. The legroom on this particular aircraft is also very generous. The aircraft also has some neat toys including our new widescreen entertainment system with over a 1000 channels. The only problem is to decide what to watch.

Once we were at cruising altitude, they brought round drinks. I had a Gin and Tonic, which was my last alcoholic drink until I was on the flight back to the UK. I also discovered a taste for mango juice. I then settled down to watch a film. There were a total of 6 films that I really wanted to watch. So I started with Eat, Pray, Love, which I had wanted to to watch for a while.

Half way through the film, they started to serve lunch. Fortunately I could pause my film and get back to it later. Lunch was rather nice. We got a Shrimp and Corn Salad. I then had Grilled Chicken Breast served with a mushroom and leak sauce, accompanied with sauteed potato noodles and vegetables. They also have introduced something that I rather liked. Part of the meal was a snack box that contained crackers and some kind of soft spreadable cheese, plus Focaccia sticks and a sour cream and chives did. Dessert was Stickey Toffee Pudding with a toffee and vanilla sauce. Graham had pretty much the same, but had Lamb Rendang with steamed Basmati rice, sugar snap peas and red peppers for his main course.

After lunch I carried on watching my film. Once this was finished I watched “ Never Let Me Go”, which is another film that I had wanted to watch for ages, but this was a bit to heavy for my taste. So once that was finished, I decided that I had watched enough films for one day. I played some of the games for a bit and then put some music on and read. It has kind of become a tradition that I listen to Les Miserables whenever I fly Emirates.

Another nice little extra on our flights is that all our planes have mood lighting that is adjusted in line with the time of day at the destination. What this normally means, is that on night flights, after the meal service, the cabin lights are switched off and a starry sky is projected on the ceiling. I always thought that this is a nice touch, but this time we went one better. The light was progressively getting softer and we were even treated to a sunset before we got the starry sky.

When we got close to Dubai, we were informed that due to congestion at the airport, we were in a holding pattern. We spent a good 45 minutes circling over Dubai. This was the one situation where I wished that I had a window seat. Still, when we were finally given the clearance to land, we actually were allocated a gate right by the terminal and we did not have a long way to go from the runway to the gate. Whenever I had flown into Dubai before, we had to park off stand and were taken to the terminal by bus. I also always had the feeling that they were parking us half way to Abu Dhabi.

Immigration was quite smooth. We arrived at the busiest time at Dubai airport, but we did not wait any longer than 20 minutes to clear the formalities. Graham was being brave. We noticed that they kept sending people away at the immigration desks. So Graham asked our immigration official why those people were sent eleswhere. The official was very gracious and told us that they have an electronic visa confirmation and now needed to go to a special desk to obtain the physical visa. I am not sure what the response would have been if he had asked the same question in the USA.

Once we cleared immigration, we had to clear another security check point where our hand luggage was x-rayed and we had to walk through a metal detector. I never understood the reasons behind this. Anyway, it took just seconds and then we were in the baggage hall. As soon as I approached the baggage carousel for our flight, I could see Graham’s suitcase. Mine was not far behind. Once we had our luggage, we went through customs and then headed outside to wait for our shuttle bus.

The shuttle bus area is very congested at the best of time. On the confirmation that we had received from the hotel, it had stated a rough zone where they normally stop, but it also advised that they will stop as close to this area as possible. Fortunately I have stayed at the same hotel in November and knew to look out for a bright purple minibus. Graham used our waiting time to stretch his legs and to take some photos of the fountains that are just outside the airport.

The minibus arrived shortly afterwards and stopped a fair was away from where we were waiting. Still, it was no problem and there were quite a few people who were waiting to get on. As soon as we were all on the bus, the driver gave everybody a bottle of ice cold water. This was very nice especially as even at 1:00 am, it was still very hot. Normally the shuttle stops at terminal 1 as well, but it was full and we went straight to the airport. When we got to the hotel, we were checked in straightaway. One of the staff at reception remembered me from when I stayed there in November. As soon as we were checked in, we went up to the room and went to bed.

 

[irongirlof12]

airplane sounds very good indeed. I love Les Mis music as well off to a good start Corinna.

 

[mandymouse]

A great start Corinna

 

[dolphingirl47]

Day 2



Considering that it was after 2 am by the time we finally made it to bed and that my body was still on UK time, I was awake quite early. Graham was still fast asleep. As we did not have any plans until late afternoon, I let him sleep. I read my book for a while and then fell asleep again as well.



When we were both awake, we decided to head up to the roof top pool and get our first dose of sunshine. I had stayed at this hotel when I came for my interview last year and had loved the pool then. Not only is the pool a decent size, but the view from the pool deck is stunning. Apart from us, there was one other family in the pool. We swam for a while. The water was about bath tub warm so that somewhat limited the amount of time that we could swim for.

We decided try out the hot tub, which is right next to the pool. I was really surprised that the water in there was actually colder than in the pool. It was positively refreshing. After a while, we decided we had enough and rinsed off under the outdoor shower. Contrary to the shower in our room, this was lovely and warm. We enjoyed the view while we were drying off.

Once we were almost dry, we headed back to the room to get changed. We then headed downstairs to get the shuttle bus to the airport where we then got on the metro to head to the Dubai Mall.

I remembered from my last visit to Dubai that access to the metro at Terminal 3 was somewhat confusing. We followed the signs for public transport and came to a dead end. Eventually we did find the access to the metro. I topped up our Nol cards, which work the same way as the Oyster cards in London while Graham checked out the lay of the land.



When we got up on the platform, we just had a couple of minutes to wait until our train arrived. I love travelling on the metro. Most of it is on an elevated track with only a short stretch being underground where in goes underneath the Creek. I especially love the stretch that goes through one of the main business centres where you are completely surrounded by skyscrapers.

Soon we arrived at our stop. Even though the stop is called Dubai Mall/ Burj Khalifa, it is a fair way from both. They do run a feeder bus, but we decided to walk. It is actually a very pretty walk. The Downtown Dubai area is lovely with marble sidewalks, quite ornate buildings, flowers and palm trees and the off statue dotted around. However, it was the hottest part of the day and with 37 degrees, it was hot.

I was happy when we reached the Dubai Mall and it was nice and cool in there. The area where we entered is called Arabian Court. There is a whole area of shops selling traditional clothing and cosmetics. I love the traditional dresses and a lot of them are very ornate. The ones the sell at the Dubai Mall are also very expensive running to 100s of Pounds. Still, I love browsing there.



We still had not eaten anything that day. Indeed, we had not eaten anything since the meal that we had on the plane the day before. So we decided it was time to get a snack. I wanted to pick up our tickets for the Burj Khalifa anyway and the Food Court is in this general area. We decided to go for a sandwich at Subway.



Once I had my sandwich, I went across to the ticket office to collect my tickets for the observation platform on the Burj Khalifa. I had booked them online and had expected that I would get print your own tickets, but all I got was a reference number and instructions to pick up my tickets. Still, I am glad that I did it this way. It did not take long to pick up the tickets and they were actually sold out for the next two days.



Once I had my tickets, I went back to where Graham was sitting. We still had a good 90 minutes until our slot for the observation platform opened. So we decided to have a bit of a wander around. Something caught Graham's eye as we went past the gift shop for the Burj Khalifa. They actually got a gold ATM in there that dispenses gold coins or gold bullion instead of cash!

We wandered around outside for a bit. We had a look at the lake that features the Dubai Fountain. The area around this is really pretty. We enjoyed the view for a bit, but decided after a while that we had quite enough sunshine in a day and headed back inside.

We carried on exploring for a bit and happened upon a place that sold Gellato. I had a quick look at what flavours they had and one caught my eye, Green Tea. Graham liked the sound of this as well so we decided to get some. He sat down while I ordered our Gellato. It was nice to just sit and watch the world go by while we enjoyed our sweet treat.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Once we had finished and had paid, we headed back towards the ticket office for the Burj Khalifa. We were still a little bit early, but they directed us to the waiting area. There they had all kinds of interactive displays including one where you could add the Burj Khalifa to the skyline of cities around the world. I think it works well in London.

With about 5 minutes to go, we joined the line. Our belongings were put through an x-ray machine and we went through a metal detector and then we were on our way. They took a photo of us and then we were on our way. The check in for the observation platform is inside the Dubai Mall, but the Burj Khalifa is actually a short distance away. First we had to go down a moving walkway that was surrounded by displays about the history of Dubai. We then went up a set of escalators and then walked down a long hallway, which had displays with facts and figures and about the history of the Burj Khalifa.



When we reached the doors for the elevator lobby, we had a brief wait. They only allow a certain number of people in this area at any given time. Soon it was time to get on the lift. This is how a space shuttle launch must feel. The observation deck is on the 124th floor and the lift travels at a speed at 10 meters per second. It took just over a minute to get there. I have never had problems with my ears on take off and landing when flying, but on this lift, I thought my ears were going to explode. Even the lift was multi-media.



When we got to the 124th floor, we were directed to the balcony. This was a pretty scary experience. We were very high up and the floor was just wooden decking that bounced a fair bit. The view, however, was absolutely stunning. I had expected that the observation area would be enclosed and therefore had not brought any sunscreen. I could feel that I was burning and decided to head inside. There they had floor to ceiling picture windows and the view was brilliant as well. I have to say that I felt happier in an enclosed space.

We had spent about an hour up there when we decided that we had seen enough. I had thought that the way up was bad as far as my ears were concerned, but it was worse on the way down. Fortunately it did not take long. Near the exit, they were trying to sell us the photos that they had taken. I liked the photos, but they were expensive for what they were. So we declined.



After this, we had some business to take care of. Our wedding rings have not fit for quite some while so neither of us has worn one for well over a year. Part of the reason for going to Dubai was to get new wedding rings.



They have a Gold Soukh area at the Dubai Mall. This is a lot less trouble than the real Gold Soukh, which is overrun by people trying to sell fake designer goods. There are a huge number of shops at the Gold Soukh and the choice and quality of the jewellery there is fantastic, but is like running the gauntlet getting to the shops. I discovered the Gold Soukh area at the Dubai Mall at Christmas 2009 and decided to have a look there first. So I was quite keen to start shopping for the rings. I was a little disappointed that there are a lot of empty shops in this area now. I suppose people to not have as much money for jewellery.



Jewellery in Dubai is on the whole quite fancy and flashy with big stones. This is the kind of jewellery that the term "bling" was created for. This is not really my style. However, some shops had plain wedding bands in their windows. In the first of those shops, I saw a ring that I really loved, a plain white gold ring with yellow gold edges. Unfortunately the rings that they had in stock were either too big or to small and they did not offer to see if another branch had them in stock or offer to alter the ring. They did not even give me the price. So I decided to give up and went to another shop.



There they had another ring I liked. This one was yellow gold in the middle with white gold edges. It was a perfect fit for me, but they did not have one in Graham’s size. They did phone around their other branches, but none of them had the right size in stock. They showed us some other rings. They were nice in a contemporary style with white gold in the middle and gold edges. They were too big and heavy for me and they also had diamonds in, which I really did not want. They offered to make a lighter version without the stones, but I rather would try on something like a ring that I will wear every day before committing myself to buy it. I took the card and decided that I would have a look elsewhere, but if I did not find anything to my liking, I would go back and order the custom rings. The shopping experience was an absolute pleasure though. They asked us to sit down and offered us tea, water or juice. I was very grateful for some water.



It turned out to be a case of third time lucky. There was another area of shops that we had not even seen last time round. I just casually looked in one of the windows and knew straight away that I had found the rings that I really wanted. Again they were white gold in the middle with yellow gold edges, but the white gold was not plain, but slightly textured. I decided to go inside. To my delight, the rings that they had were a perfect fit for both of us. They are also very light and extremely comfortable. I could not believe how good value they were either. Here are a couple of photos:

Unfortunately the photos don’t do the ring justice as jewellery is so difficult to take photos of. I so want to wear this ring now, but I will resist until our vow renewal.



Again, we were asked to sit down and were offered refreshments. It was just a lovely way of doing business. I was really impressed that the sales person did not try to sell us something more expensive. I asked him to see the rings that I had seen in the window, we tried them on and when he saw how well they fit, he told us that they are made for us. I tend to agree.



Once we had finished the shopping, we decided that it was time for some dinner. We had a great dinner at Macaroni Grill the last time we were in Dubai. So we decided to go there again. We had a pretty good view of Dubai Aquarium from where were sitting. Restaurants outside hotels are not licensed in Dubai and therefore only offer soft drinks. This is fine by me. Out of principle, I do not drink any alcohol when I am in Dubai. There is a huge variety of fresh juices and non-alcoholic cocktails on offer in Dubai. Graham had some ice tea and a steak with vegetables and mashed potato. I went for a Mango-flavoured Italian soda. I had the Mama's Trio, which consisted of Lasagna al Forno, Chicken Parmigiana with Capellini Pomodoro, and Roasted Chicken Cannelloni. We did have a look at the dessert menu and quite fancied the sorbet, but this had all gone. This was just as well. We were both seriously stuffed and might well have burst if we had a dessert. Instead, Graham did have a filter coffee and I had a double Espresso and then we paid and were on our way.



There is one thing that I still wanted to do before we headed back to the hotel. We wanted to spend a day at the Aquaventure water park at the Atlantis as we really enjoyed this in 2009. The problem is that I burn very easily even with the highest factor sunscreen available. When we were at the Atlantis before, we saw local women wearing full length swim suits and I wanted a swimsuit like this. So we decided to head to the closest information desk to ask if any shops sell them. We were advised that there used to be one shop that had sold them, but this shop was now closed. So we decided to call it a day and head back to the hotel.



We decided to take a different route back to the metro station and walk around the lake. We saw the end of one of the shows of the Dubai Fountain and it was stunning. We decided to come back to watch the fountain show another day rather than waiting half an hour for the next one. The walk around the lake was really pretty even after dark. On the lake itself, there were all kinds of water features like fountains and waterfalls and there were loads of plants and flowers along the walkway.

We did not have to wait long for a train once we got to the metro station and once we got to the airport, we only had to wait a couple of minutes for the shuttle to the hotel. When we got back to the hotel, we were both tired so we went straight to bed.

 

[John's Mom]

Corinna,

Great start! Your trip report and pictures are very interesting. Love your wedding rings.

Is there a reason why you don't drink alcohol in Dubai?

Kathy

 

[dgbg100106]

I am here!!!!!! Took me awhile but I made it, going to go back and read.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Corinna,

Great start! Your trip report and pictures are very interesting. Love your wedding rings.

Is there a reason why you don't drink alcohol in Dubai?

Kathy

Dubai is first and foremost an Islamic country and as such alcohol and pork are forbidden to the locals. Both is readily available for tourists and non-muslim residents. However, I am a firm believer of "When in Rome, do as the Romans do". So if the locals are not allowed those things, then it would feel wrong to me personally to have them. This is my personal choice.

Corinna

 

[dolphingirl47]

I am here!!!!!! Took me awhile but I made it, going to go back and read.

Welcome I am hoping to update the next installment tonight.

Corinna

 

[Muscateer]

Glad you got your rings, they look lovely.

Your photos are identical to a lot of mine. I love spending time outside the mall looking at the fountains. We often eat over at the Souk some lovely restaurants there.

I found my ears kept popping going up the Burj Khalifa. Now I send my visitors up on their own and sit and have a drink while people watching.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Glad you got your rings, they look lovely.

Your photos are identical to a lot of mine. I love spending time outside the mall looking at the fountains. We often eat over at the Souk some lovely restaurants there.

I found my ears kept popping going up the Burj Khalifa. Now I send my visitors up on their own and sit and have a drink while people watching.

I think this is a wise decision. I am glad that I have been up on the observation platform once, but I doubt that I would do it again. The Dubai Fountain is another matter.

Corinna

 

[dolphingirl47]

Day 3

We were not in a great deal of hurry this morning as we were changing hotels that day. We had set the alarm for 10:00. Once we were awake, we got up and got dressed, packed the few things that we had unpacked and went downstairs to check out. On the way to the lift, we enjoyed the view over the airport at the end of the hall way. I am always amused by the mosque that is in between of the different lanes of the motorway.

We checked out and went to Costa Coffee in the lobby to have some coffee and a cake. Once breakfast was taken care of, we used the free computers in the lobby to check our email and to keep on top of our online chess games. With everything done, we decided that there was no point hanging around any longer and asked reception to call us a taxi. As soon as we had walked out of the hotel, the taxi pulled up.

I was very excited about the next part of our holiday. I had stayed in the marina area for a couple of nights on my very first visit to Dubai, but had not been back since. Graham had never seen this part of Dubai. Well, I have to say, I barely recognized this. What used to be just empty land when I was there in April 2008 now has skyscrapers on it, what used to be building sites has long since been finished and more building sites have sprung up instead.

We got a first taste on what the rest of our holiday would be like. As soon as the taxi stopped, one of the bellmen retrieved our luggage. Other bellmen opened the doors for us. We were then escorted up to the lobby. We were not even allowed to go up to the reception desk, but were asked to sit down, were served a welcome drink and cool towel and the paperwork was brought to us to fill out. They also offered to enroll us into their loyalty programme. Once we were checked in, the reception staff called one of the butlers, who escorted us up to our room and showed us how everything worked. There was some serious technology in our room. Next to each bed was an environmental control pad on which we could set the temperature, set a wake up call, switch lights on and off and set the “Do not disturb” or request for our room to be cleaned. Shortly after the butler left, after making sure that we had everything we needed and how w could contact her, the door bell went and our luggage arrived. I could get used to this kind of service.

Once we had a good look around the room and I had taken some photos, we decided to check out the pool. I had read in various reviews that the pool deck at Grosvenor House only gets some sun first thing in the morning and is in the shade from mid morning onwards. This suited me just fine. Indeed, when we go there, the pool and most of the sun loungers were in the shade. We put our clothes on a spare lounger and one of the pool attendants came straight away to see if we wanted to sit down. We explained that we just wanted to have a swim and were left alone. For the most part we had the pool to ourselves. The pool is huge. It is very shallow at one end, but nice and deep at the other end.



Once we had swum for long enough, we decided to enjoy the warmth for a bit while we were drying. A pool attendant came and covered our loungers with huge soft towels and passed us another towel to try off. We were also given a tray with two bottles of ice cold water, glasses with ice and two plums, which we were told was the fruit of the day. I could get used to this treatment.



Once we had pretty much tried off, we headed back to the room where we tried out the fabulous rain shower. The Bulgari toiletries that we had in our room were also very nice. We had timed this perfectly. We had both showered and got dressed again, when the door bell went. It was house keeping delivering our fruit of the day. This was a very nice touch. Every day we had the fruit of the day delivered to the room. That day we got 4 plums.



We decided that it was time to explore. We started in the hotel itself and checked out the Mezzanine floor where most of the restaurants are. When reading through the information that was in our room, I spotted that there is a tea lounge in the hotel that serves high tea. As we had not eaten much that day, this was very appealing. So we headed down there. We had a pot of Earl Grey team and an assortment of finger sandwiches including salmon, prawn, chicken with caramelized onion, roast beef, mozzarella and tomato and egg mayonnaise. Next up were mini raisin scones and mini vanilla scones with clotted cream, lemon curd and strawberry jam. Last but not least we had a number of different cakes including carrot cake, banana and nut muffin, Victoria sponge with a chocolate frosting, fruit cake, short bread and cheesecake. They kept coming to ask if we needed more food, but we were absolutely stuffed. It was a nice surprise when we got the bill and saw that we were only charged for one person.

We had a look at the menus of the other restaurants on this floor. Apart from the tea lounge and a bar area, there is also a buffet restaurant. This is where we would have breakfast. There was also a restaurant by Gary Rhodes on this floor. We both needed the toilet and I have never seen a bathroom quite as glamourous. I asked Graham what the gents was like and his description was very similar to what I had seen.

We then went downstairs and had a look at the menus of the restaurants there. On the ground floor, there is a Turkish restaurant and an Indian restaurant sponsored by a Michelin starred chef. I was quite surprised that the prices were not totally over the top. There was also a little shopping arcade with a coffee bar. What I liked best though were the beautiful flower displays.

Once we knew our way around the hotel, we decided to venture out and explore the local area. We walked along the stretch of the Marina closest to the hotel. There were lots of restaurants with outdoor seating and the whole area had a very vibrant and colourful feel to it. We then went to see where the closest metro station was before looking at the stretch of the marina that I was familiar with. This had changed quite considerably as well and there were now a whole lot of restaurants in this area. I wanted to find a lovely oriental restaurant that I had eaten at during my first visit to Dubai. Unfortunately all the landmarks that I remembered have been surrounded by other buildings so navigation proved a little difficult. In the end, I did manage to find it.



On the way back, we decided to look at the Royal Meridien, which is the sister hotel to the one we were staying at. This hotel is on the sea front and we were allowed to use their private beach and their pools. There is a free shuttle bus that runs between the hotels every 15 minutes, but we wanted to find out if we could walk this. Well, we managed this, but had to cut through multiple building sites. After this adventure, we took the shuttle. We had a walk around the hotel. They have three pools there and we found two of those. Both those pools had a swim up bar. I preferred the pool set up at our hotel. We also had a look at the beach, which looked very nice. Graham of course had to test the water and I just stuck a toe in the water as well. The water was nice and we decided to come back on another day. We walked back to the front of the hotel and took the shuttle back to our hotel.



We quickly got changed and then decided that we would check out the local restaurant scene. We ended up at an Iranian restaurant that was right around the corner from the hotel. Neither of us had ever had Iranian food before, but they had a nice outdoor seating area, the evening was lovely and mild and the view was nice, so we decided to give this a go. I had a water melon juice and Graham had some strawberry juice. They also brought out a basket with traditional flat bread, which I loved and a plate with cheese and herbs, which I was not brave enough to try. Graham had vegetable rice with friend fish and I had chicken marinated with yoghurt and black pepper and saffron rice. We both enjoyed our dinner.



After dinner, we went back to the hotel. I was very impressed. There was some beautiful classical music and I just assumed that this would be a tape, but they had a pianist and a violinist in the lobby. They also had lit tea lights in little glass bowls all around the flower arrangement. It just looked stunning.

We headed up to our room and decided to check our emails. We had complimentary internet access in our room. However, when trying to log in, it asked us for an access code. Still, a quick phone call to the butler took care of this. Once we had checked our emails, we headed to bed.

 

[cannp123165]

Great start so far - your rings look lovely.

 

[dgbg100106]

Everything sounds lovely so far, thanks for the updates!

 

[Muscateer]

Looks like you had a fab day, the Marina area has grown so much. The level of service in the hotels here are excellent, you definitely feel you have been looked after.

 

[dolphingirl47]

Day 4

We had no particular plans for the day. We decided that we would not set the alarm and just get up when we are good and ready. This happened around 10:00. We got up and got dressed and then headed down to the mezzanine for breakfast. I did not really know what to expect. Up to this point, I had not been to impressed with breakfasts in Dubai. This was about to change.

When we were shown to our table, I spotted a sushi bar. Now, I don't eat sushi or fish in general, but this was the first sign that this is not your normal breakfast. So after our server had taken our order for coffee and juice, I went exploring. Next to the sushi bar was a long table with various salads and typical Middle Eastern dishes.

Across from this was an area with virtually every bread known to humankind plus pastries and muffins. Around the corner from this were breakfast foods like baked beans, hash brown, chicken sausages, turkey bacon and boiled and scrambled eggs. However, they also had more exotic offerings like samosas, spring rolls and wontons in that area.

Following this area around, there was soup, an omelette station and some kind of potato dish that changed daily. Around the corner again were lunch type foods. They had steamed rice and some kind of dhal every day as well as poppadoms. Then there was a selection of vegetable dishes, a quiche, veal sausage rolls, a stew that changed daily and some kind of stir fry. They also had some snacks that changed on a daily basis like freshly cooked crisps, prawn crackers, banana chips and vegetable pakora. Further along was French toast and various preserves.

Across from this area was a table with loads of different cheeses plus crackers, grapes and walnuts. A bit further down was the contraband, bacon and pork sausages. Opposite the omelette station was a huge area with fresh fruit, cereal, a waffle and pancake station, ingredients for make your own muesli, smoothies and desserts.

We both started our breakfast with some fresh fruit. I then went for the lunch foods and had a mixed bean dhal, rice, chilli beef stir fry and my one concession to breakfast, hash browns. Graham went for more traditional breakfast food and tried the chicken sausage and the turkey bacon. I could not resist the hoummous and the Arabian bread and I finished off breakfast with a couple of pieces of mini Baklava. I thought Graham would have to roll me to the lift. I was that stuffed.

Once we were back in the room, we decided what to do next. We wanted to go for a swim at some stage, but thought that we would sink if we went swimming after such a big breakfast. So we decided to give the spa a try.

I knew that the sauna and steam room were segregated, but I assumed that the relaxation room could be used by men and women. This was not the case. There was one relaxation room for men and another one for women and they were at opposite ends of the spa. Graham and I arranged that we would meet by the pool later and we both went our separate ways.

The spa area is stunning. There are bowls with floating flowers everywhere and the whole area smelled of Frangipanis. This is one of my favourite scents. I had been given a locker key and in the locker, I found a lovely soft bathrobe and some slippers. I then headed to the relaxation area. On the way, I passed a very luxurious shower room and a waiting area with heated benches and all kinds of cushions. In the relaxation area itself were two showers, the sauna and steam room, an ice fountain, a hot tub and what I had come for, the heated tile loungers. They were huge and more comfortable then the ones that I am used to from our cruises. I was the only person in the spa. I settled down on one of the heated tile loungers with my book.

This was not as much of a pleasure as I had expected. Normally they do not have too many problems with overactive air conditioning in Dubai, but this was a prime example. I had the dressing gown on over my swimsuit and had covered myself up with one of the towels they provide and I was still freezing. The hot tub looked tempting, but I knew that I would feel twice as cold if I was wet. So I passed. After about 30 minutes, I decided that I needed some warmth and headed out to the pool deck.

People must have thought that I was mad. It was about 37 degrees that day, but I had got so cold that I was still wearing the dressing gown and had wrapped a towel around myself. It took a little while until I warmed up and took off my extra layers.

I was spoiled rotten. As soon as I got to the pool deck, I was asked if I wanted a lounger in the sun or in the shade. I opted for the shade. The pool attendant moved one of the huge umbrellas that they have so that my lounger was in the shade. I was brought a tray with water, ice and an apple and throughout my time there, they made sure that I always had water and ice. For the most part, I just enjoyed the warmth and read my book. I had a short swim and then a longer swim when Graham came to join me. When we had enough of the pool, we retired to our loungers to dry off. By then I had finished my book and had to resort to one of the glossy celebrity magazines that they had on the pool deck.

Once we had dried, we decided that we had enough sunshine. We headed back to the room to get changed. We decided to go to the Mall of the Emirates. Graham had never been there before.

As we had Internet access, I decided to see if I could find a stockist of the traditional full length swimsuit. The irony was that I found a company in Dubai that makes them, but they did have a list of stockists on their website.

So I decided that I would consult the guest services desk to see if they had an idea where I could find a full length swimsuit. I had little idea just how involved this would get. First of all, the poor guy at Guest Services had no idea what I wanted. Once I had described precisely what I needed, I got a bit of a funny look. I don’t think he quite understood why a European woman would want to wear a full swimsuit. Still, the customer is always right and he got to work. After a lot of frantic clicking on the computer and a couple of phone calls, he did confirm that there is a shop in the Dubai Mall that stocks them and did have them in stock. He told me where I could find the shop in question. Unfortunately we were not intending to go to the Dubai Mall. So there was more frantic clicking and more phone calls were made. He then advised that there is also a shop at the Mall of the Emirates that should stock them, but he had been unable to contact them directly. I thanked him and we decided to try our luck.

We headed to the metro station and Graham decided that he wanted to take the metro to the new terminus at Jebel Ali. This stretch of metro was not open when we were in 2009. So we got on the metro to Jebel Ali. There is not much down there and it is very industrial. So once we got there, we got straight on the train heading in the opposite direction.

When we got to the Mall of the Emirates, we were ready for a snack. Fortunately there is a branch of Coldstone Creamery right next to the entrance closest to the metro station. So this was too good to pass up. Graham had cheesecake and coffee ice cream and I had cake batter and butter pecan ice cream in a chocolate dipped waffle cone.

Once we had finished our ice cream, we went exploring. We saw another unusual cashpoint machine. This one was for making donations. Charitable giving is one of the five pillars of Islam and I thought it very fitting to find a machine for making donations near the entrance of a shopping mall.

We then had a good look around. Most of the shops are completely over the top. Just about every designer brand is represented and luxury goods are to be had around every corner. I have yet to figure out where ordinary people shop in Dubai.

There are a few more down to earth shops at the Mall of the Emirates, but they are few and far in between. There is a huge Carrefour hypermarket and we also found something that is best described as Dubai's answer to Primark.

One of the more amusing aspects of the Mall of the Emirates is Ski Dubai. For me this is strictly a spectator sport. They have multiple slopes for skying and snowboarding in there complete with ski lifts. They also have various "tobbogan runs" that people can go down on inner tubes or on mats. More adventurous or crazy people can sit inside a huge plastic ball, which is then rolled down a slope. They had the good sense to install large observation windows so that people in the shopping centre can watch.

Another part of the Mall of the Emirates that I quite like is their version of Arabian Court. Apart from shops selling traditional clothes, they also have got some shops selling souvenirs like Arabian coffee sets and shishas, traditional incense and even sweets made from camel milk. It is still the case that the prices for anything worth buying are totally over the top, but I love browsing there.

Another thing that I noticed is that more an more American brands seem to break into the Dubai market and seem to be thriving. I found Tommy Bahama, Bloomingdale’s, Borders Books and Bath and Body Works. I was glad to be able to browse in Bath and Body Works. It is even more noticeable when it comes to restaurants that US brands are moving in. Chilis, Ponderosa, Applebees, TGI Fridays, Rainforest Cafe and Macaroni Grill have been in Dubai for a while, but they are now being joined by California Pizza Kitchen, Red Lobster, Outback Steakhouse, P.F.Chang’s, Ruby Tuesday and Uno Chicago Grill.

Once we had finished our exploring, we thought that we better check out the swimsuit situation. It took us a little while to find the shop, but a member of staff from the Mall of the Emirats pointed us in the right direction. It was a good job that we knew that this shop was supposed to stock the swimsuits that I was after. I would never have considered going inside otherwise. The shop in question was a fairly large sports shop that was absolutely packed with long rows of clothes rails and what little floor space there was left seemed to be filled with boxes and baskets of stuff. Still, I decided to have a look. Fortunately I had chosen the right aisle. Halfway down, I found a good selection of the full length swimsuits. I tried one on and it was a perfect fit. So I decided to get two. They will come in handy for future cruises as I can enjoy swimming without worrying about burning.

Once the shopping had been taken care of, we decided that it was time for dinner. We were both hungry and went to Chilis. I had a real graving for their Southwestern Eggrolls and fortunately they were on the menu. For my main course, I had a chilli burger with fries. Graham went for the Skillet Queso for his starter and had a Ribeye Steak with loaded mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables for his main course. When we had been to Dubai in 2009, I discovered that Chilis has very yummy Virgin Margaritas on the menu. So I had a Virgin Mango Margarita and Graham has a Pina Colada. Neither of us had any room for dessert.

While we were having dinner, I experienced something new. It was the time for the sunset prayer and all the screens changed to advise that it was prayer time. The call to prayer was also broadcasted via the speakers. This is the first I had ever experienced and I had been in various shopping centers at prayer time before. What kind of surprised me was that there were a number of locals in traditional Islamic dress in the restaurant and they did not seem in the least bit concerned about the call to prayer.

Once we finished our meal, we headed back to the metro to go back to our hotel. Again the train arrived shortly after we got to the platform. Once we got back to the hotel, we had a nice surprise. Housekeeping had been to do our turn down service while we were out. They had put a bowl with a lit tea light by the bath tub and we had a tray with all kinds of information like the weather forecast, activities that were going on at the sister hotel and what services the hotel can provide. We also got some rather yummy chocolates. We decided to get an early night as we had a busy day ahead of us.

 

[Chilly]

Brilliant photos, it all sounds very glamerous, love the sound of the high tea.

 

[PJB71]

Just manged to catch up with your TR Corrina

So glad you manged to find your swinsuits

Dubai sound amazing and cant wait to read more

 

[TotallyAngelic]

Very interesting to read your trip report ... it all looks immensely glamorous and your photos are stunning. The food alls sounds wonderful too.