The Richards in Scotland

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Day 3)

Today we had breakfast at Kaleidoscope, a big buffet! We swam at the Royal Pool, had lunch at The Edge outside by the water, went to the beach and then the boys went to the Kids Club for a few hours. Jon and I went to the Spa and had drinks by the pool. Before dinner we visited The Lost Chambers aquarium and had a late dinner at Levantine (Lebanese food) where we saw a belly dancer.

One big Catfish!

Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Day 2)

We had breakfast in the Imperial Club, and then headed to the Aquaventure Waterpark (part of the Atlantis) where we played at the Splashers Kids area and went tubing in the Rapids at the Waterpark. At 1:30 in the afternoon we went swimming with the Dolphins at Dolphin Bay (part of the Atlantis.) Trent and Landon loved this so much, they had been talking about the dolphins for weeks. It was a really neat experience for them to be able to touch them and interact. That afternoon we went to Afternoon Tea and Happy Hour in the Imperial Club and then had dinner at Rostang.

Beach Boys!!

Landon saw one of his friends from school at the Waterpark

Afternoon Tea

Dinner at Rostang

A Week in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Day 1)

After a 1 hour flight Aberdeen to Amsterdam and 6 hour flight Amsterdam to Dubai, we arrived at our hotel. We were already amazed at all the tall skyscrapers and lights in the city, and were taken away at the size of the hotel we would be staying in along with the fabulous decor at The Atlantis, The Palm, Dubai. I think we went to sleep around 2 am that night Dubai time (it was 3 hours ahead of Aberdeen time).

We woke up the next morning and had breakfast at 11 am delivered to our room. We decided that the first day would be the day we would tour the city as it was the first day of the work week (not so busy for tourism) and it was cloudy and a bit chilly to be swimming. We took the Hop on Hop Off tour bus through town and saw the Mall of the Emirates (which has an indoor ski slope), Dubai Mall, the Burj Khalifa, Burj Al Arab, Dubai Creek, Dubai Marina, and we shopped at the Gold Souk. The city is full of very tall skyscrapers and modern buildings. Absolutely amazing.

We went to Happy Hour at the Imperial Club and then for dinner at the hotel we ate at Nasimi where we ate on the beachfront with spectacular views of the city skyline.