We spent the morning by the pool enjoying the resort and had a couple of lemon mint mocktails (very refreshing). Temperature was a dry 42 degrees centigrade. Our taxi driver to Dubai thankfully knew where he was going and after a 45 min drive through the desert, where we went past a hotel called "Endurance Village" and saw some people cycling in the desert #crazy, we arrived at Fairmount the Palm where we had sneakily booked in with travel agent rates (great de...

Today after a couple of operational issues we set off for the desert. The first taxi could not find Bens apartment, so a second taxi was called as the replacement, this one could not find the resort! In fact the second taxi driver had no clue where he was going despite giving us lots of head nodding and positive grunts to indicate that he did indeed know the way. He also clearly could not read since we went past a sign indicating the turn off to Bab Al Shams ...

Another attempted beach day, although today I was wise and got down to secure a beach umbrella early. Under the shade of the umbrella the beach was much more bearable, or perhaps I am starting to acclimatize! It was nice to spend the day relaxing in the shade and taking the occasional dip in the ocean which to be honest was more like a warm bath tub than much use for proving relief from the heat. Due to the expensive meal out the previous night Ben cooked dinn...

As Ben was working today and I was recovering from the long trip, it was a day to relax. The apartment is typical Ex Pat accommodation, high end with all the services you need to make living away from home as easy as possible. It's an odd feeling to know that as a single woman I was not technically "legally" allowed to be staying in the apartment of a man (all be it a friend I've known for over 20 years). Emirate Law does not permit this type of arrangement b...

I arrived on time at 7.30pm into a bustling, busy and opulent Abu Dhabi International Airport. The vibe at this airport is very cosmopolitan and multicultural. East meets West and everything else in between. The ceilings are low and to me felt claustrophobic. Busy high end expensive shops and arrivals coming into the same hallways as departures gave a slightly chaotic arrival experience, but I followed the signs, cleared immigration (sweating it slightly since...