Monday, April 21, 2014

Dubai Part 1


Our trip to Dubai was
amazing!
I'll be honest..
I didn't think I was going to like it.
The newness of it..
The racy cars..
the shiny skyscrapers..
the desert.
But, 
I did.
I truly loved it.
It was so very different than anywhere
I've ever traveled.
And boy was it HOT!


We stayed at the Marriott on the marina..
this was our view from our balcony.
We arrived late Saturday night..


after a 6 1/2 hour flight on Emirates!


Our view at night.


Sunday morning we walked
along the marina.


Dubai is one of the 7 emirates in the 
U.A.E. ..
the United Arab Emirates.
About 85% of it's population
are expats. 
Mainly Indian, Pakistani, Filipino and 
Bangladeshi.
We met so many interesting people.
And some of the friendliest!






The culture here revolves around
the Islamic religion and traditional 
Arab activities..
like shisha smoking.
This is a social activity..
similar to Westerners meeting
at a pub or cafe for a glass of wine or beer
as there is not alcohol served.
I loved the smell of the shisha!
It's nothing like cigar or cigarette smoke.
I tried it when we were on safari in 
the desert!
And five times a day,
Muslims are called to prayer.
We would hear the beautiful music
coming from the mosques.





This was a cool looking outdoor 
cafe..
at night filled with people smoking
shisha!



Sunday afternoon
we took the hotel shuttle 
to a Souk.
This was a touristy Souk..
filled with shops and places to eat.
(visiting the traditional Gold souk and the spice market
was one of the things we didn't get to do..
hopefully on another visit!)


We bought a shisha pipe
to bring home for decoration!




Sunday night Steve and I made
reservations at the SkyView Bar
at the Burg Al Arab!
(pictured above)


This was the coolest building
I've ever been in!



I took a picture of this from
the menu..
We did NOT order this
$4,000 drink.
Maybe next time
:)




Monday we drove out to Atlantis
on the Palm Island.
We spent the day at the water park.
Hannah swam with the dolphins!
Not many pictures to share
as we were in the water all day!


Monday night we went out 
for Middle Eastern food...


Delicious hummus,
grape leaves, tabbouleh, 
chicken tagine...
So good!


I will share the rest of the week
later..
Will and Griffin and I are off
to London for a few days
to see the Lion King!
Steve and Stephen flew to the States
yesterday to visit colleges
and Hannah is flying to 
Romania tomorrow with
her volunteer group!



























3 comments:

  1. Amazing Pam! Glad to see you are all doing great:)

    ReplyDelete
  2. So great to experience another culture! Glad it was fun.

    ReplyDelete
  3. How wonderful. Your photos are lovely.

    ReplyDelete