To celebrate the Eid holiday (the end of Ramadan), not only did we eat in public, but we also took a trip to Dubai! Thirteen of us decided to take the journey (it's only an hour and a half away) to Dubai. We got a great deal on three bedroom apartments at a five star hotel, so who could resist? Not I!
Please let me first say, that I never knew how much a person eats and drinks in public until they aren't allowed to do it for a month. I'm happy Ramadan is over! Since we left on the first day of Eid, suddenly it seemed that Abu Dhabi had tripled in population and that population was quite adamant about their food. I saw a man drinking a beer at 8am...I guess he had been waiting a long time for that :) We got to the bus station and were greeted by lines that looked like they were straight out of China (ridiculously long with not visible order). Luckily enough, I'm a woman. As much as this is a male dominated culture, women get all the perks! Whether it be on a city bus, with a woman's only section (which means you always get a seat because the men have to squish in the back) or lines at a bus station (there is a separate line for single men....like 300 men long, and then a family line where the women can line up with "taken" men), the "women only" perks abound. The gentlemen in our group were quite grateful for their significant others at this time :) The family line only had about 50 people in it, so we made it on the bus in under 40 minutes. The bus ride was smooth sailing, and after quite a back track in a taxi to our hotel, we arrived at our five star accommodations.
During our stay, we visited malls, went up in the world's tallest building, and enjoyed the infinity pool!
We all had a wonderful time and are excited to go back soon....they have great water parks we are going to try out...apparently you don't have to climb the stairs to get to the top of the slides, you sit in your tube and there is like a jet propulsion that sends you up to the top :)
Please let me first say, that I never knew how much a person eats and drinks in public until they aren't allowed to do it for a month. I'm happy Ramadan is over! Since we left on the first day of Eid, suddenly it seemed that Abu Dhabi had tripled in population and that population was quite adamant about their food. I saw a man drinking a beer at 8am...I guess he had been waiting a long time for that :) We got to the bus station and were greeted by lines that looked like they were straight out of China (ridiculously long with not visible order). Luckily enough, I'm a woman. As much as this is a male dominated culture, women get all the perks! Whether it be on a city bus, with a woman's only section (which means you always get a seat because the men have to squish in the back) or lines at a bus station (there is a separate line for single men....like 300 men long, and then a family line where the women can line up with "taken" men), the "women only" perks abound. The gentlemen in our group were quite grateful for their significant others at this time :) The family line only had about 50 people in it, so we made it on the bus in under 40 minutes. The bus ride was smooth sailing, and after quite a back track in a taxi to our hotel, we arrived at our five star accommodations.
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Bonnington Hotel, Dubai |
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Dubai    Ski in the desert!     |
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A place that sales dark chocolate...it's the little things in life :) The Burj Khalifa (the world's tallest building)    Heading up to the top!  At the top    Dubai at night from the top of the Burj Khalifa      |
