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!