Home Again!

Even though it was a long time to get home, it was a fairly uneventful journey. Our flight from Dubai was delayed due you fog but we ran into friends from the cruise so the time passed quickly. That delay cut our connection time in Chicago from 3 to 1 hour but with Global Entry we made it with 10 minutes to spare.

I'm happy to be back in MO but John is moaning that it's too cold and it snows here!! We had a wonderful adventure, saw things we have never seen before and probably won't see again; cruised the Mediterranean, the Red and the Arabian Seas; learned a lot of ancient history and spent time in a very modern city; learned more about Islam, Jewish and Christian traditions; walked on three continents (Europe, Asia,and Africa); and made new friends we hope to see again.

We are now getting ready to head out again on a brand new adventure after the New Year!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

The Second Biggest, Tallest and Best!

Indoor ski lift.

It was late morning when we got on the Metro and rode to the second largest mall in Dubai, the Mall of the Emirates. This is considered a swanky shopping destination of over 500 retail stores, a big kids play area, Magic Planet and dozens of eating establishments. But the big draw is the indoor ski area! With real snow!! It has 6000 tons of snow, ski lifts and t-bar lifts, toboggan runs, tubing, and of course skiing. The bad part is that we were going to have to pay just to go take a picture so we settled for looking through the windows. For a moment it felt like Christmas!!

We grabbed a cab to go over to Madinat Jumeirah next door to Burj Al Arab. Madinat is a modern hotel complex with two hotels on either side of a shopping and dining Mecca along a maze of waterways and walk ways on the beach. It has beautiful Arabian architectural styles. We explored as best we could since we are not guests of either hotel but the main reason we came here is to get a close-up picture of Burj Al Arab or the Arabian Tower, an iconic symbol for modern Dubai. To go inside the building we would have to have a reservation for tea ($80 each) or for cocktails ($76 each) or for dinner (reservations needed months ago). It is 1053 feet tall and is considered the tallest all-suite hotel. It is considered a 7 star hotel. Probably one of the most expensive buildings ever constructed but the cost has never been revealed.

A cab back to our hotel and naps - we are running out of steam!

The Tallest, The Biggest, The Best

We missed the fireworks! They didn't last very long and we were in the wrong spot to see them. We had a nice evening walking the Marina and checking out resorts and restaurants. The bad part is that my cough is back and I think I've caught a cold on top of it.

Today we figured that riding the Metro Link and exploring on our own would be cheaper and more interesting than a hop-on-hop-off bus. It took about 30 minutes to ride to the Dubai Creek area. This is the Old Town of Dubai that is divided by a waterway they call The Creek. It is actually quite wide and deep, more like a river than a creek, and fed by the Arabian Gulf. Most of the city's Souq or bazaars are in this area. We walked the Gold Souq and the Textile Souq but missed the Spice Souq. John and I are not real fond of their sell tactics in the souqs. They are constantly yelling " Hey, Lady! Pashima, pretty scarfs!" It's very annoying!

River taxis, called abra, cross the Creek often so that is how we got to the other side. We had lunch Creek side then found the Dubai Museum with a fort and wooden boat outside of it but we didn't have time to linger as we wanted to get to Burj Kalifa for our 5 PM ride to the top.

We hopped on the Metro and arrived at the stop for the Dubai Mall, the worlds largest undercover shopping mall with over 1000 stores, an ice rink, huge aquarium, indoor waterfall, and over 150 places to eat on four levels. It was at least a 20 minute walk from the Metro to the mall. Then we had to navigate the mall to find the ticket area to go to the top of the world's tallest building - The Burj Kalifa. Once we had our tickets we explored the mall, which was amazing in its size, the number of stores, the variety of stores and restaurants, it tall ceilings, decorated domes and water features.

Our reflection in the shiny wall with the sunset to our backs.

At 4:30 pm we lined up for our tour to the top, or the 148th floor which is as far as we could go although the buttons on he elevator went to 153. The tower is 818 meters tall (2684 feet). We were give tea and dates while we waited. Then we were crammed into the elevator which got us to the top in under 90 seconds and when we got off we were offered juice and candy. Then we wondered all the way around the 148th floor. Its a shame there is so much air pollution but we still enjoyed the view, the sunset and then the city lighting up for the evening. On the 124 & 125 floors we were able to go outside. On the ride down my ears clogged up and it was over an hour before they cleared!

You can see the lights and pipes for the fountain show in the lagoon 148 floors below us.

The Palm Jumeirah.

Every 30 minutes the Dubai Fountain show burst into the night. It's a show that rivals the Belagio in Vegas. They say that the water shoots into the air higher than anywhere in the world (500feet). After each song we are enthralled with the Tower lighting up with is own light show.

The 148th floor where we went is at the top of the green section.

It was a day of tallest, biggest and best and we were the tiredest!

Sharjah, UAE & Marina

The U.A.E. or United Arab Emerates is made up of 7 Emerates, or royal families ruled by an Emir, that came together as one county on Dec 2, 1971. So we are in Dubai on a National Unity Day celebration. Fireworks tonight!

The ship docked in Port Rashid around noon on Thursday and we went on a 4-1/2 hour tour to one of the Emerates called Sharjah. Two of the other Emerates are Dubai and Abu Dahbi. Sharjah is the 3rd largest Emerate.

The center of the city/Emerate is Cultural Roundabout where government buildings, a mosque and a library are on four sides of the roundabout and a sculpture of an open Qu'an is in the center.

We drove past the Ladies Club where women can swim on a beach or pool then stopped at the Fort of Sharjah which was built in 1820 and restored in 1998. It depicts life in the 1800's when this was a residence and the seat of the government.

Our next stop was at the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization contained in a building that was once a meat market and souq. We then got to shop in the Blue Souq which was a long, two-story shopping mall full of independent shops selling rugs, pashmina and gold jewelry as well as clothing and household goods. The building itself was impressive with a blue arched roof topped with big rectangular wind towers. A wind tower would funnel a breeze into a building or home to keep it cool. Today they have A/C.

This was our last night on the ship. We have made some good friends on this voyage and hope we can maintain those friendships in the years to come.

Today we found our hotel and went exploring along the Dubai Marina walk, a 7 km sidewalk along either side of a canal, until our room was ready. We are surrounded by magnificent skyscrapers! We'll head out again shortly to find a dinner spot and to watch fireworks.