Dubai, Day 1

It was hard waking up after getting to bed so late! Our room package came with breakfast at an assortment of restaurants. We were in the Imperial room, and we had our own spot to go for breakfast, snacks, and cocktail hour. They had delicious fruits and tried their version of bacon- which they called "rashers." Since we were in a Muslim country and they don't eat pork, we tried veal rashers- not as good as pork bacon, that's for sure! Loved the naan- it's like a flatbread. Chris ate a lot of it while in Iraq and I was glad to have the opportunity to have it cause it was good! We are all about trying new things and making sure that the kids at least try them too- doesn't matter if they like it or not. They had watermelon juice which Isabelle liked and I tried the mint lemonade- had a strange aftertaste, but it was interesting!

Atlantis had a free shuttle bus that went to a couple of malls and we decided to hit up the Mall of the Emirates. This mall was ridiculous. Every top name designer you can think of had a store- D&G, Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, Dior, Versace- and the list goes on and on! The first restaurant we see when we walked into the mall was PF Changs- a huge hit with our family! Went there all the time when we lived in Colorado Springs. It was pretty exciting! We walked around a bit, they had the call to prayer and there was a section of the mall that had rugs on the ground for prayer. They had a section that was all Arab fashion, textiles (custom made items), and gold souks. I spotted COLD STONE- and of course we had to stop! This was the coolest Cold Stone we had ever been to. There was an Asian guy working and was THROWING the ice cream around- reminded me of the chefs at Benihana- only using ice cream! We all got our favorite mixes and were happy campers!



While walking through the mall, we came across the indoor ski slopes- since we knew we were coming back to plenty of snow in Germany, we skipped it! Another one of those attractions to keep tourists coming- cause I would love to be in the snow when it's 130 degrees outside! :)



For lunch we had PF Changs- it was delicious! Had our favorite lettuce wraps and some honey chicken. Nice to have something familiar- cause we don't get a whole lot of that in Germany outside of post. After lunch we walked around for a little bit and decided to go to the gold souks in a different area of town. First we had the fun task of trying to find the metro. There were signs ALL over the place, but none of them were accurate. It had us going into a grocery store (that smelled a lot like fish). It was a bit frustrating! (But we did find Krispy Creme doughnuts along the way.) Went outside and Chris ended up asking a young couple were to find the metro- the only time he had to use Arabic and we finally got out of the mall and went to the metro station. The metro station was the nicest one we've ever seen- it was very new and very nice. Even the metro itself was very well maintained. Made our way to the Deira area of Dubai- where all of the gold, perfume, and spice souks are. The metro stop was several miles away from the souks so we got a taxi to take us closer. Ended up in a very busy area of town, which Chris says is just like Baghdad. We were the only foreigners in the area, all eyes were on us it felt like! (And they were!) It was very uncomfortable to me- I didn't feel like I was in any danger at all, but we were definitely getting a true Middle Eastern experience- I think one that many tourists will never get. Once we got to the gold souks it was back to tourist central, where busloads of people come.

This is what many of the store fronts looked like:


Before we hit the souks had to make a bathroom stop- one I will never forget! The women's bathroom had 3 stalls- one toilet one and the other two were just holes in the floor. I remember hearing stories of Chris' from Iraq (one about them not knowing how to use the port-a-john cause they were used to standing) but it was so weird seeing it. Isabelle and I come back out to meet the boys and tell them about it and he asks if I used the hole.....um....NO! LOL After the bathroom break we stopped at a little shop and Chris got a drink for us to try called Rani- it was a peach juice with huge chunks of peach in it. Not really expecting a chunk of something while drinking! Tristan LOVED it.

The prices at the gold souk were high. We knew to bargain, but even after bargaining, the prices were too high. We found a nice little butterfly necklace for Isabelle with little diamonds in it, Chris talked them down over 30% but it was still over $200. Just not worth it- we could have gotten the same thing in the States for about $100. There were tons of guys trying to sell knock off purses, watches and iphones.

After the gold souk we went to check out the spices. Everything smelled so wonderful! They had every spice you could think of. Would have loved to get something, but due to customs, didn't think I would be able to bring it back. Struck up a conversation with a Iranian guy who used to be a soldier- he pegged Chris as an American soldier, but Chris was able to convince him otherwise. That could have turned into a bad situation real quick with the wrong people!

We found a taxi and went back to Atlantis. Cab driver was from India, and was pointing out all kinds of things to us. Both Oprah and Micheal Jackson (when he was alive) had properties on the Palm, near our hotel. Many of the villas near our hotel (which we LOVED) started at $1.5 million. So once we win the lottery, we can have our winter home there!


Once we got back to the hotel there was a mini traffic jam- there was a Bollywood Awards show and all of Bollywood's top actors were there, trying to get in the same time we were. All we had to do was flash our room card and we got right through. We dropped our stuff off in the room and headed up to the Imperial Club for a glass of wine and some food. Had some sushi, caviar, fruit, and some other finger foods and headed back to the room after a long day and had a box of chocolates and a bowl of fresh fruit waiting for us.

Our Middle Eastern Winter Dream

About 10 years ago, Chris told me about plans for this extravagant hotel being built in a far away place- one that I have never even heard of-in the UAE (United Arab Emirates). Supposed to be one of the most expensive buildings ever made, created on a man-made island. At the time, we were newlyweds with no money, and there was no way we'd ever make it to this place. It was placed on our bucket lists, wanting staying in the Burj al Arab.

Jump 10 years ahead and here we are, looking at over two weeks of vacation time, another deployment looming and needing a getaway. It's been a crazy, hectic, dramatic, and stressful time ever since we moved to Germany and we deserve a great vacation- so what the hell- let's go to DUBAI!!! We knew exactly were we wanted to stay- take the kids to Atlantis for a few days and spend our final night at the Burj!

In the past decade, Dubai has grown so much! They made "The Palm" a bunch of islands in the shape of a palm tree, now creating "the World" with a bunch of islands available for purchase (starting at $6 million), created the world's largest mall and the world's tallest building. From what I understand, they are trying to make the city attractive to visitors so they have revenue after their oil runs out. Trust me, they are doing an AMAZING job of making this city a tourist spot.

While Chris was in the field for two months, I planned and planned and was able to make all the arrangements by the time he came back- hotels booked, plane tickets purchased, and nothing to do until we made it there!

DAY 1:

Instead of driving to Frankfurt and leaving our car there, we decided to go to the local train station and take the train. They had free parking, so that wasn't an issue. Glad we got on the train when we did, because the next stop filled up the train! Unfortunately we were surrounded by little teeny-boppers who were loud and obnoxious. None of us slept very well the night before and we were hoping to sleep on the train, but that didn't happen!

Emirates Air is BY FAR the best airline we have ever flown on. Coming to Germany, we were loving Lufthansa, but this airline blew them out of the water! Since we were going to UAE, it's only logical to fly on Emirates Air! As soon as we got on the plane, we got refreshing wipes and the kids were each given coloring books and colored pencils and Tristan also got a little puppet to play with. The on-board entertainment was great! They had over 100 movies and TV shows to choose from- and we all found something to entertain us for the 6 hour flight. We even flew right over Baghdad- I thought that was pretty neat, considering Chris was there for over a year! After takeoff we all got menus- and although it was airline food, it was the best airline food we had ever had! There were cameras in front and below the plane, so we were able to see outside during the flight, once it got dark it was useless, but got to see a lot! This should be the standard for flying. We were taken care of and not crammed into the plane like a bunch of sardines. Now if only American airlines had the same standard!



We had a delay at the Frankfurt airport so we didn't get into Dubai until midnight (which was only 9 PM German time). Customs was super easy and got our luggage with no issues. Hoped into a pink "family" taxi with a woman driver and got checked into the hotel around 1 AM. After looking around the room we all racked out!