Day 1
The time has finally come!! Luckily we left for Heathrow early at 09:00 for our flight at 14:15 as traffic on the M1 was sloowww! Arrived at the airport on time though for our Emirates flight on the A380. Great airline, good flight and landed in Dubai at 00:30 local time where it was still 35 degrees! Transfer was there waiting for us with probably one of Dubais most charismatic drivers acting as a mini private tour guide as we were driving through the city.
We arrived at the hotel (located right near the Mall of the Emirates, luckily our bags are already pretty full so Emily can't buy too much stuff!). Staff are great, very friendly and helpful as we headed to our room which far exceeded our expectations! #ExecutiveRoom. Managed to grab a few hours sleep in our huge bed with glorious air conditioning before we head out for the modern city tour first thing.
Woke up 3 hours later for breakfast buffet style, trying not to fall asleep on our plates using the croissants as pillows. Then went into the lobby to wait for our pick up.
A mini bus arrived with a handful of people on and luckily more air conditioning! First stop the marina - a lovely location with a plenty of yachts to choose from (unfortunately curt didn't buy me one!) and views of the high rise buildings! We later decided to come back here for dinner and the evening views. Next stop to the palm island towards Atlantis Hotel for another photo opportunity before arriving at a lovely mall and walking around the shops - beautiful Arabic stalls and small quaint shops next to a man made lagoon near the Burj Al Arab.
Finally we got to go to the Dubai mall (largest in the world) before heading to the Burj Khalifa (tallest tower in the world, sensing a theme here) for fantastic views over the city 124 floors up! After an hour or so in the Burj Khalifa we headed to the underwater zoo/aquarium in the mall, which had...the largest saltwater crocodile in the world. After some light shopping we headed back to the hotel to get ready to go to the marina for dinner which looked even more spectacular with the city lit up and glistening on the ripples of the marina.
C & E