White Week 2016

Each year we have what's called "White Week" when most like to go skiing and enjoy all that the local mountain ranges have to offer.

I generally prefer to find warmth and sunshine because Milan can be sorely lacking that during the winter.

This year, Caitlin and I chose Dubai as our destination.

#almostguaranteedsunshine

We planned a week in the UAE, grateful to former ASM colleague Virginia for allowing us to stay at her apartment. Prices in Dubai are sky high, so this was a huge savings for us.

So, here's a rundown on how we spent our time.

Day 1

This was a bit of a partial day for us since we arrived in the morning and took a short nap to find some energy for the day. We flew Qatar Airways into Doha from Milan, a 6 hour or so flight, and then a short flight across the Gulf into the UAE.

Shopping is a big deal in Dubai, so we headed out on the metro to both the Dubai Mall and the Mall of the Emirates. So many shops, so little time. And money.

These malls go so far beyond being just a mall. Ski slopes, ginormous aquariums, movie theatres...and there are more people mover walkways in Dubai than I've ever seen in my entire life. (The walk from the metro to the mall is completely enclosed and air conditioned...and it takes 15 minutes.)

ski slope/bobsled run inside the mall

aquarium! viewing from the outside is free. 

sunset.

Our favorite shop turned out to be a huge candy store where we stocked up on Airheads and other candy you can't find in Italy.

This is one of the reasons I'm doing another round of the #whole30 program.

Day 2

Dubai Marina district.

We used the Big Bus Tour to get a look around the city and check out the souks and "old" city. Hardly anything seems old in Dubai. Given my past experiences in Morocco, Egypt and Turkey these souks were a bit of a let down. They were pretty small and seemed more full of souvenir/tourist crap than anything legitimately artisanally made.

The souks align the creek that runs through Dubai. It was cool to see all the boats in this area. They were loading crazy amounts of appliances that were off to be sold somewhere else in the region.

one of Dubai's major thoroughfares

That night we met a friend of mine that's also working in Dubai for dinner. She chose a cool place that overlooked the Burj Al Arab.

#photoshootrequired

Day 3

We headed to free public beach in the morning. We found a fairly empty beach and calm, beautiful waters. We spent a couple hours here before heading off to a desert safari dinner we had booked.

so beautiful!

We booked a non dune bashing desert experience. We cruised with a small group through a protected section of desert and then watched the sunset. Afterwards, you have a traditional Emirati dinner.

I ate camel.

Yep.

It wasn't so bad.

We cruised in 1950's Land Rovers.

Don't mind my shadow!

#ohyeah

enjoying a non-alcoholic bevy while the sun goes down.

sunset.

dinner set up. 

Day 4

We were off to Abu Dhabi for the day. The mosque in Abu Dhabi is incredibly beautiful, so we wanted to check it out. It definitely did not disappoint.

The rest of Abu Dhabi however...

Ehhhhhh.

I will try to control the amount of pictures for this...

#noguarantees

feeling a little Jackie O. in my scarf and sunglasses.

Abu Dhabi

Day 5

On this day, Caitlin and I went our separate ways for a few hours.

She went skydiving.

#nothanks

I went to one of the world's most beautiful Starbucks. #itsathing

Equally exhilarating, yes?

no men over the pink line
#ladiesonly

It's also one of the world's most beautiful Caribou Coffee locations. 

hahahaha.

But seriously, this whole mall is incredible and is decorated in six different themes based on regions of travel by Ibn Battuta.

It was really beautiful.

India

China

still pretty awesome

and again.

Andalusia

Then we met back up to go to the top of the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.

from the 148th floor

not a bad city for sunsets, eh?

fountain show outside the mall

Day 6

Another day trip was on our agenda. We had booked a boat tour in Khasab, Oman. This required an early morning pickup and a lot of time in a van.

Too much time in a van.

We sat at border control between the UAE and Oman for at least an hour.

Each way.

#notsomuchfun

The boat tour we took was okay.

It was mostly in German.

#ummmmm

But we did have the most awesome view of some dolphins swimming with the boat.

And because we hadn't already done enough on this day, we arrived back in Dubai, showered quickly and headed out to the Dubai Jazz Festival. We had bought tickets to see Sting, Chris Botti and David Gray on stage that night.

#excellentlineup

Chris Botti

among the skyscrapers

Day 7

We had planned a nice, relaxing beach day for our final day in Dubai.

And we had such a nice week.

Until this day.

And just about everything we attempted went south fairly quickly.

A short recap.

We went to a recommended beach by taxi and weren't satisfied so we took another taxi to a different beach.

Okay, NBD.

On the new beach, we settled in. The surf was much rougher at this beach than the beach earlier in the week. There were several surfers trying to catch some waves.

Caitlin looks to her right and notices something odd happening.

I don't even look.

A few minutes later I look over to the same area.

And something strange is still going on.

CPR, ambulances, beach rescue.

Everyone showed up.

This went on for the longest time.

And it was the worst feeling ever.

To watch a man dying on the beach.

We have no idea what happened to him, but things didn't look good.

Then it started raining.

So we left the beach and tried to head back to an area we had been in earlier in the week.

And the taxi didn't understand (hmmmm....) and drove us all over before we stopped and said something.

And paid way more than we needed.

It was time for a beer.

-------

Despite our final day in Dubai we had a great time. It was nice and warm, even in February. I can't imagine the "summer."

Traveled before in the Middle East? Other recommended places? I'm always up for suggestions!