Our last day in Dubai dawned all too soon. Where does the time go? After a last swim in the hotel pool we went out to make the most of our final morning. We went first to the Mall of the Emirates, another shopping mall but looking a little tired in comparison with the newer and more splendid Dubai Mall. Renovations were underway, however, so upgrading is clearly in progress. Shopping was not our reason for being here, though. We came to catch a glimpse of the am...

We joined Louise and Phil for a farewell breakfast before waving them off on their journey back to Oman. It's been a great few days. We have really enjoyed spending time with them and we promise to visit them in Salalah before they get a chance to leave! Simon and I then went for a swim in the hotel pool before making our way over to Dubai Mall. This is a vast, modern, shopping centre. It truly is huge and, once inside, you could be anywhere in the world. The sh...

We met up with Phil and Louise for a swim in the hotel pool before having lunch at McGettigan's, the hotel's Irish pub. Very authentic, even the waiters were genuine Irish! Simon and I were feeling very hungry and both had a big plate of Irish stew, which was definitely as good as the real thing! After lunch we were collected for our desert safari trip which we thought might be fun to do, especially for Simon who had never experienced the desert before. After an...

We woke feeling amazingly well considering the late night and got ourselves ready to go out and do it all over again. The four of us set off to meet another ex old Doha mate, Graeme, for lunch. Amanda hadn't seen him in around 35 years and that is quite some time really, when you think about it. We took a taxi to The Palm, Jumeirah which was a short distance away from where we were staying. The Palm is a man made island with luxury hotels, resort facilities, wa...

After a leisurely morning and another delicious breakfast we were back at the airport and on our way to Dubai, just an hour's flight away and an hour time change too. Amanda was looking forward to seeing Dubai after a gap of around 35 years. She knew that there had been many changes since then, but WOW! the reality was quite mind boggling. In the taxi on our way to the hotel we gazed in wonder at the plethora of space age buildings which confronted us on either s...