We are well into our ninth year of spending three months at a time in major cities around the world. Starting last summer in Copenhagen we have begun to shorten the three month stays to six to eight weeks as we find that we are now more efficient with our time and we treasure our time in the US with our friends and family. We just spent six weeks in Scotland and then a month in the US catching up on medical appointments and evaluations intermingled with visits with four of our five offspring. Now we are heading back to New Zealand for the third time to experience their summer and spend time with our very close friends Helen and Sue. Getting to New Zealand from Boston is no easy task. One can fly to LAX or SFO and then on to Oceania or go the other direction through the Arabian Peninsula. Since we have already done the western direction twice we have opted for the eastern route this time. We experienced Qatar earlier this year so now we will try flying Emirates and spend a few nights in Dubai, UAE. United Arab Emirates will be Jim’s 81st country.
Leaving Newport Sunday evening the 30th of November at 17:40. Yes it has been dark for over an hour and it is cold and rainy.If you fly Emirates business class they will pick you up and deliver you to the airport. It was a dark very rainy night, Jim was so glad that he was not driving.Only two checked bags but four carry ons.Emirates lounge had lobster rolls, cheese, olives, and Sandy specials for Sandy. (Sandy specials are vodka and cranberry juice.)Toasting with Veuve before the 13 hour flight.We both slept nine hours on the flight so were wide awake checking into Raffles in Dubai at 8pm local time.Raffles Dubai is very Egyptian themed.The staff is very attentive to the gusts. They opened the door of our car on arrival, took our bags and escorted us to the check in desk.Unique flower arrangements in lobby.Jim, checking us in.
Sandy’s video of the lobby.Heading for our room on the 5th floor.Nice king sized bed.Our view of the pool and the city from our balcony. Dubai was quite hazy our entire time there.Balcony into the room view.Lovely sitting area to relax and watch TV.TV screen welcoming us.Huge soaking bathtub.Shower and very thick bathrobes that were quite heavy.We arrived in Dubai at 7pm and here we are getting dropped off at The Dubai Mall just after 9pm.The Dubai Mall is home to over 1,200 shops, world-class restaurants, the Dubai Aquarium, an ice rink, and direct access to the Burj Khalifa and Dubai Fountain. We are here only to see the fountain show.The taxi dropped us off in the parking garage which is a ten minute walk to the beginning of the mall. It was then another 20 minutes of walking through a crowded mall to reach the fountain show. This is looking down on the Aquarium.
A video of the Aquarium with a shark at the end.We finally reached the fountain.The Burj Khalifa, presently the tallest building in the world. The Apple Store is the lighted area directly above. That would have been the best place to watch the fountain show.
A video of all the people gathered to view the 10pm show. You can see many people outside the Apple Store on the first level which looks down on the fountain giving them an unobstructed view of the water show.
A video of the Burj Khalifa.
And now for the big letdown, a three minute fountain show which we would not recommend because of the hassle to get there and the mobs of people surrounding you. The “highlights” of the show are in this video.A thirty minute walk back to the taxi stand in the garage. This is now 10:30pm. We returned to our hotel bar for a late night lite bite and then went to bed as we had early morning plans for our first full and only day in Dubai.Another taxi mall drop-off at the same point at 6:13am the following morning.Another 30 minute walk to reach the entrance to The Burj Khalifa for sunrise from the 124th floor.We had to hustle to make this on time.And here it is.Looking down from the 125th floor on all the people watching the sunrise.There are still that many floors above us.She really is no angel.Looking down on the pool where we watched the fountain show just nine hours earlier.
A video of Jim walking on a simulated glass walkway above Dubai with cracking glass.Celebrating National Day in Dubai. 54 years since the signing of Unity between the seven United Arab Emirates. We were given these flags at the ticket counter. We were also in Vietnam when they celebrated their 50 years of unity between the north and south. We had no idea about either one when we planned the trips.The Dubai Frame is an observatory, museum and monument in Zabeel Park. It holds the record for the largest frame in the world. This was the first sight pointed out to us on the four hour driving tour of the new city of Dubai.
The video and photo below is The Dubai Museum of the Future.The circular building represents humanity; the green mound it sits on represents the earth and the void represents the unknown future. The structure is an architectural and engineering marvel. We were strongly advised to go there by a friend but since we only had one day we wanted to spend it seeing more of the city.The bridge in front is the Dubai metro.On our tour we marveled at the various buildings that consisted of geometric patterns and iconic skyscrapers. Our guide told us that Dubai holds the record for the most Guiness records; tallest, largest, deepest, longest, most impressive. It has over 400 Guiness World Records and continuously adds more.Our first stop on the tour was to see the Jumeirah Mosque which is large enough to hold over 1500 worshippers. It is built entirely from white stone with towering twin minarets. Dubai has over 2,100 mosques with new ones continually being inaugurated, 16 of them in 2025 alone. Fortunately for us it was closed.In the plaza of the mosque we saw these camels and decided to pay the small fee to see them up closer. It was a mother and baby.They were quite curious and friendly. This one reached over the fence to nuzzle with Sandy.We also got to hold a falcon which was very heavy and fortunately did not want to nuzzle. Look at that camel with his nose right between us.Our guide took this selfie of us infront of the Burj Al Arab Hotel which is a 7 star luxury hotel located on its own artificial island connected to the mainland by a private curving bridge. It has 202 suites ranging in price from over $2,000-$3,000 per night. It is shaped like the sail of a ship. The helipad on the roof was the setting for the world’s highest tennis court for a promotional event featuring tennis legends Roger Federer and Andre Agassi in 2005. Yup you guessed it. The Ain Dubai is the world’s tallest Ferris Wheel. One rotation takes 38 minutes. It consists of 9,000 tons of steel which is 25% more than the Eiffel Tower. The length is equivalent to 15 London buses lined up end to end. Regretfully we did not have the time to go on it. Atlantis The Palm Hotel was the first resort to be built on Palm Jumeriah which is an archipelago of artificial islands built in the shape of a palm tree. This hotel has 1,544 rooms, two of which are underwater. There are 35 restaurants, one of which is underwater with many celebrity chefs and Michelin stars. It also has Aqua-venture Waterpark which of course is the largest waterpark in the world.Atlantis The Royal is another ultra luxury hotel just down the road from Atlantis The Palm. The 795 rooms start at $500, a bargain compared to Burj Al Arab Hotel.Another view of Atlantis the Royal from a different angle. This building is a combination of residences and hotel rooms.The Dubai Marina is a pedestrian friendly promenade with cafes, restaurants, and shops along the canal. It is a perfect spot for strolling and people watching.Our last night’s meal was at Al Khayma Heritage Restaurant which provides authentic Emirati cuisine. No bar and no alcohol.We opted to share a meal of grilled lamb, saffron rice and spicy tomato and onion salad. There are small green very hot peppers hidden in this salad.These treats awaited us when we returned to our room at Raffles Hotel. We thought the camel was plastic but later discovered it was pure chocolate. Those are stuffed dates in the foreground.
We went to Dubai with low expectations as we thought it was going to be like Las Vegas on steroids. Our take away was that we were grateful for the break in our long journey getting to New Zealand and we were surprised that we actually took a liking to it and wished we had some extra time there. We considered another layover on our return to the US but decided we will just power through. Our return will take a total of 40 hours of traveling.
Next stop is Wellington New Zealand through Sydney Australia.
All these pictures are terrific! Thanks for sharing.
We are in the hussle of Christmas merriment!
We wish you a Merry Christmas and have fun, as you are. Hard to believe you have traveled for 9 years!!!
My thoughts, Jan❤️😘
I’ve always loved the notion of your extended city trips. Definitely something I want to do but the timing is never right ( so far!!). Have a wonderful trip….
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