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When Ryan’s friend Jason moved to Dubai for work, we knew we had to take advantage of the opportunity to visit our friends and experience a new country and culture. It had been awhile since we last saw Jason, and since then he had gotten married and had a baby so we were so excited to see his wife, Lindsey, again and meet Hunter.
We weren’t looking forward to the long trip with the kids (we had to fly to Paris, then fly 6.5 hours to Dubai) but it actually went really well. Because Ryan travels a lot for work, he has access to the Air France lounges at the airports and me and the kids got to experience it for the first time during this trip. We enjoyed some food and chocolate, and Ryan and I had a glass of champagne. When we boarded the plane to Dubai, the kids were amazed at the tvs and the kids packs that the airline gives out. Makenna watched movies most of the flight and Reese kept busy with toys and walking around the plane. We arrived late at night and went to our AirBnb which was an apartment in the same building where Jason lives. The apartment was in the Dubai marina so we had an amazing view of the buildings, water and of course some very nice yachts.
Our first day we started out by going to Jumeirah Beach. It was so hot and humid and even the gulf water was so warm that it wasn’t a relief from the heat. I was so hot wearing just shorts and a tank top and it made me wonder how the Muslim women cover themselves from head to toe, especially in black. We went back to the pool at the apartment for a little while and thankfully the water was colder there and a welcome relief to the heat. We then headed to the Dubai Mall and it was bigger than any mall I’ve seen. Unfortunately we didn’t have time to see the aquarium that is inside the mall, but we did take Makenna to Build a Bear. She had such a great time picking out a rainbow colored bear, stuffing it and and picking out an outfit, then naming it Bella. After having dinner, we went outside to watch the light show on the Burj Khalifa (the tallest building in the world!) and the fountain show…both were amazing!
The next morning we went to Souk Madinat, which is an indoor souk with traditional Arabian architecture. After shopping for some souvenirs, we went to see the Burj Al Arab which is the 5th largest hotel in the world and the shape is made to look like the sail of a ship. It was very hazy so we weren’t able to get great photos.
That night we went out without the kids. We had a babysitter that Jason and Lindsey had used in the past watch Hunter, Makenna and Reese. I was nervous to have someone we don’t know watch the kids, but the lady was super sweet and the kids loved her. We went out for sushi and drinks in the marina. While Dubai is an Arab city, there are many expats and tourists so the dress code is not as strict. Though some women try to dress more conservatively, many dress in the clothes they would normally wear especially at the bars and restaurants.
The following morning Lindsey and I did a fitness class in the pool called Float. Each person had a floating mat that we stood on and the teacher had us doing all kinds of exercises like jump squats, jumping jacks etc that were difficult to do because you had to balance yourself on the mat without falling into the pool! The pool was really nice and we had a beautiful view of the marina which made an awesome setting while getting in a great workout.
After the class we all headed to Abu Dhabi to visit the Sheikh Zayed mosque. On our way we stopped at a place called Last Exit, which is a food truck park off of each side of the highway. There were all kinds of food trucks as well as a large indoor area with seating. We had lunch and coffee and then drove the rest of the way to Abu Dhabi. Lindsey and I were so concerned about what we should wear, as women have to be fully covered including covering wrists and ankles and wearing a head scarf. When we arrived, we were taken to a dressing room where we were given an Abaya (the traditional robe you see Muslim women wearing), so we worried for nothing. We met the guys outside and heard the call to prayer over the speakers. We were surrounded by huge white columns, pools of water and palm trees. The mosque was absolutely beautiful, and huge! For awhile we stood outside taking it all in. It was so peaceful. When we entered, we had to take our shoes off and walk barefoot. We walked around and admired the large white domes, the floral tile work on the floor and on the columns, and how large and open it was. The kids were getting a bit tired and weren’t handling it very well, but we really enjoyed walking around and getting to experience, in a very small way, another religion.
On our last day, we had the babysitter watch the kids again while we went to the textile souk, the spice souk and gold souk. After having gone through them, I was so glad we didn’t take the kids with us because it was very overwhelming and the vendors were very persistent. We started at the textile souk and I saw a shop with really pretty poufs and pillow covers. The vendor saw my interest and took us inside and after I picked out 2 poufs and a pillow cover he gave me a price. Thankfully I’ve somewhat mastered the art of haggling and we paid a lot less than the initial price. Once we left that shop and walked a little bit we realized all of the vendors would stand in the middle of the walkway and get in your face and ask you to try something or to come into their shop. They were relentless and we just wanted to get out of there. As we walked through, many of them would call me and Lindsey “Lady Gaga” or “Shakira” and even called Jason “Jack Sparrow” haha.
We quickly finished walking through that souk and got on an “abra”, a traditional small boat, that took us across the Dubai Creek to the spice souk. Though it was a short ride, it was a glimpse into the origins of Dubai and the more “down to earth” aspect of the city. We saw the older neighborhoods that are where foreign merchants came as a trading post, where many of the immigrant workers live now because that is where they can afford to live. The spike souk was much like the textile souk where we felt very pressured by vendors. There were also many of them who came up to us offering knock-off handbags, wallets etc. The selection of spices, dried flowers and herbs was amazing! We didn’t want to take much time to look at anything and be hassled by the vendors, so after browsing for a short time we walked to the gold souk. The gold jewelry that was in some of the windows was so large and gaudy, it was hard to imagine who would wear them! That souk wasn’t as overwhelming with vendors, but none of us were in the market for gold. After the souks we went out to lunch and then returned to the apartment to relax.
I had really wanted to go into the desert and ride a camel, and maybe a quad, but it was just too hot when we were there. Luckily there was a man offering camel rides on Jumeirah Beach, so we ended our trip by me and the kids riding on a camel with the gulf on one side and a sea of skyscrapers on the other.
It was such an amazing trip between seeing our friends, meeting their baby, and getting to experience a great city and a new culture. Seeing the Muslim women fully covered and seeing many of the men in traditional clothing with very expensive watches/sandals/cars was a bit of a culture shock. We were also in awe at the amount and variety of restaurants and stores, and the convenience of everything similar to in the US (stores open long hours, a large selection of food/drink that could be delivered to your door). Makenna’s favorite part was all of the lights!
And the Dubai airport didn’t disappoint…the Air France lounge offered any kind of alcohol you wanted, a separate kids room with toys, a tv room and of course, plenty of local grown dates.
The Pawlowski's Go To France 