Dubai...... the Final Stop

Last but definitely not least.....  Dubai....

We left Turkey on the red-eye....  not sure what we were thinking here, but in hindsight, not one of the best calls we made!!

We arrived in Dubai at 2am on Dec 31 (yes, New Years Eve)!!  After the short ride to the hotel we came to find out that our room was not ready, and there was no other room available!!!  YES!!  We were shocked b/c in Turkey we had called the hotel to ensure our room was ready early.... but the message never got relayed...  needless to say, there were 8 very tired people in the lobby of the Dubai Marriott at 3am desperately looking for somewhere to sleep!!!  With no where to turn, the lobby was soon filled with 8 sleeping people!!  Yep...  we all slept on the couches in the lobby!!  I am sure we were quite the sight.  At 5:30am we got 1 room.  Yes, only 1 room for 8 people!!  We had 5 people on a king bed!!  Again, I am sure it was such a sight!!  Then, at 8:30 we got our room.....  ahhh .....  after all that we were so glad!!  It was just what we needed.  High atop the 42 floor, a 3BR suite with a huge family room, kitchen and 2 balconies.  The kids were in heaven!!!  So after a few conversations with the hotel manager, we were able to get our room rate reduced and get free breakfast included...  I suppose that was fair for the inconvenience we endured!!

OK, all of that was just in the first 6 hours of Dubai!!!

After we got bit more rest we headed out.  The first stop...  the Dubai Mall.  Why???  Because here in this mall is one of Mira and Milan's favorite restaurants!!  Yes!!  TACO BELL!!!  We all indulged, and enjoyed!!!  Yummmmy!!  In the Dubai Mall they have a Huge Ice Rink, and Aquarium, and many, many shops....  This mall is right next to the Burj (the tallest Building in the World!!).  We spent the most of the day bumming around the mall...  it was nice.  Then we headed back towards the hotel to get some dinner.  Now remember, this was New Years Eve.....  We obviously were not up for any gala events, we were looking for a low key event...  we headed to Dubai Marina area (Walking distance from our hotel).  Had a nice Italian Dinner.  Then got some ice cream and cake to take back to the hotel.  Surprisingly all 8 of us stayed up to ring in the new year!  After the morning drama, and the lack of sleep.  I was sure that the kids (and I)  were not going to make it!!  Watching the Fireworks over Jumeriah Beach was amazing!!

Day 2 in Dubai was off to a late start...  I think that we were catching up on our sleep!!  We headed into the area called Deira and Bur Dubai for some shopping.  This was more the street shopping vs the Mall.  It was good.....  Then we headed to Medinat (another shopping area....  do you see a trend here??) where we had some dinner.  Then it was back to the hotel and we chilled out while the kids played hide and seek and super hereos.

Day 3 in Dubai we went on a tour of Dubai.....  we drove around all the sights and were able to really see the sprawling construction that is exploding everywhere.  We were able to go to 'Gold Souk', this is where they have gold shop after gold shop....  with huge necklaces all made out of gold....  lets just say, there is a lot of money exchanging hands here!!!  After our tour (which took 5 hrs), we went back to Dubai Mall for Lunch....  this time, we did not go to Taco Bell (despite the strong request from some of the little ones in the group!!).  We ended up at CPK....  yes, a little taste from home....  so comforting!!  After our lunch, we were off to another mall....  this was a mall with a mission...  mission was 'snow', mall was 'mall of emirates'.  After a long day of touring, we were going to the 'indoor ski area'.  Our initial mission was to actually Ski, but we quickly scrapped that idea when we saw how much it costs.  Instead we just went to the snow play-area.  Some sledding and tubing....  and we get our fill of winter!!  That was the end of day 3

Day 4..... our last day.....  It was a bit sad....  We started the day with a trip to the Beach and enjoyed the Arabian Sea!!  It was very nice!!  After the beach, we squeezed in another trip to get some more shopping done.  After that, we had to make our way to the airport......The goodbye's were hard....  after 2 weeks of being with the Patel's form ATL, we really got attached!!  And the goodbye, also meant an end to the adventure!!  It was sad....  We made our way to the airport to catch our 9pm flight direct from Dubai to BLR.  We were in BLR at 3 am.

I really was eager to see Dubai...  I had built up a lot of anticipation.  I was really curious to see this place that seeks to out-do everything, and do the un-thinkable (man-made islands, tallest building in the world, 7 star hotel, etc....)....  After the first day there, I could not really decide if it was what I had expected.  In many ways it felt a little bit like Vegas....  where everything is over-the-top.  It was city that want to be the best of everything.  In many ways it succeeded.  But it was a bit too much too fast.  Hence the financial woes they are facing today.  Looking at the sky-line almost 60-70% of the buildings are still under construction.  Many of them are 'on-hold' right now til they can get funding.  The 'man-made' islands are on hold too.  The Palm is done, the 'World' is still being made, but there were 2 or 3 other projects planned/started that I am not sure will get finished.  Dubai exploded to be what it is today in just a short 10 years.  It will be interested to see what happens in the next 10 years....  My thought, there is too much already invested here to see it all go under...  so, if you have the cash, invest in Dubai now...  it will eventually pay off....  : )