The Rest of Dubai

For our last 2 days in Dubai we tried to hit the highlights. First we went to the Mall of the Emirates. It's the second largest mall in the world, only because they built the Mall of Dubai! In Dubai malls go on forever. If you've been to the Mall of America you have a small idea of how big these things are. You can't walk from one end to the other without a meal stop and a nap. Plus they are full of things to do! They have full-size amusement parks, kid museums, skating rinks, you name it. One of the headliners at the Mall of the Emirates is Ski Dubai - an indoor ski area! You can ski and snowboard, or hit the sledding section. When you rent, you get a snowsuit, boots and socks too. Which is great since we were wearing shorts, T-shirts and flip flops! We decided to opt for the sledding since it was just the kids and I and ski hill looked pretty steep! First we played in some snow tunnels. It was freezing!

Then we hit some tubing runs. It was pretty empty since school is still in session in Dubai.

Then we did a bobsled track. Check out Teddy flying up the side as he takes the corner. He went so fast I thought he was going to fly out of the track! We had some hot cocoa and and looked at some Christmas stuff too. It was cool to be in the snow and cold on an 80° day!

There were tons of cool restaurants to choose from but then these 2 spotted an IHOP. Really?!? I have to eat at IHOP in the middle of Middle Eastern goodness? Just one of the joys of Traveling with Kids. What can you do? I have to say though that the harvest grain and nut pancakes were goo-oo-ood!

Mall of the Emirates! Sooo glitzy!

After the mall we went to the Atlantis Hotel. This is the amazing hotel out on the Palm Jumeirah. We went to this weird aquarium lost city thing that is down in the bowels of the hotel. It was interesting but hard to follow the thread of what they were trying to do. They need to bring in some Imagineers to help them plus this thing.

Weird artifacts from Atlantis?

The main tank was HUUUUGE and very cool though.

King Triton's throne?

After that we took the monorail back to the mainland and I got a shot of the Burj Kalifa and the Burj Al Arab in the same photo.

That night we went to a really nice middle eastern restaurant right at the base of the Burj Kalifa with the Smith Family. This thing is so much bigger than it looks in this picture.

Every 30 minutes or so there is a really great fountain show and it's different every time.

Dinner was delicious! And the company wasn't bad either...

Me and my buddy at the Burj Kalifa.

Then we headed into the Mall of Dubai - the biggest mall in the world. It has a theme park, a full sized skating rink, a huge kids museum, an aquarium and who knows what else.

They had a Disney store but it was a high fashion Disney Store. Full of really high-end purses and snazzy outfits.

Wow!

Why is this shop not in Orlando?

Even more Disney purses!

Next we went to see the main tank at the aquarium. See the plaque at the left? That's to let you know that the Guiness Book of World records has certified this as the biggest sheet of plexiglass in the world. Told you they are obsessed with having the biggest and the best!

Shark Spotted!

Across from the tank is what has to be the biggest candy store in the world although I couldn't find the official sign. It went on for rooms and rooms! Teddy actually came up to me almost in tears because they were closing and I had told him that he could pick something out. He goes "There's too much candy and I can't decide!" Poor child....

Wow!

As we were leaving we saw this camel. Jeff goes "Ted - run and lie under the camel and pretend you're being trampled!" Boys. Glad Teddy is still with us so we can laugh about it!

The next day the kids and I took Jamie and Emily to Wild Wati water park. It's a water park so we don't have any pictures but we had a GREAT day and we saw ladies in swimming burka so what more do you want? That night was our last in Dubai and we headed to another shopping area that was set up not as a mall but more of a traditional Souk. It reminded me a lot of the Morocco pavilion at Epcot.

They had a gold-dispensing ATM. WHAT!?! Gangnam style has nothin' on the Arabs...

We had a nice meal out overlooking the beach and then looked around the souk. This guy was making cool sand pictures.

Found me an old lamp in a junk shop. Wonder what happens if I rub it? (I did NOT get 3 wishes....)

One of my favorite things in Dubai was these beautiful lamps all make out of glass mosaic. Gorgeous!

Courtyard section of the souk.

The next day we had a relaxing morning and then headed to the airport. We were only in Dubai for 5 days but we got to see almost all of the highlights thanks to our incredible tour guides the Smith family! We have been on a lot of trips this year and this was one of the best ones and it was totally last-minute and totally unplanned! So that's a good lesson for me that sometime winging it can be just as rewarding as months of planning.