We Made it to Dubai!

Matt arrived just before midnight, local time.  He picked up one rental car and drove to the hotel to check in.  At first there wasn't the extra bed for Isaac as requested, so Matt got creative and moved the couches around to create a monster crib bed.  It ended up being so comfortable that he kept it for two nights before trying the single bed the hotel provided.  During the time, Matt was setting things up, the kids and I were in Doha (Qatar), waiting for the last quick leg of our trip.  Too bad there wasn't a direct flight from Venice, or maybe that's just what we get for cheap tickets.  Our plane landed at 3 local time.  It took another hour to get through customs and another hour to get the other rental car and drive to the hotel.  By the time everyone got showered and found PJs, it was after 6am.

 The girls LOVED their beds in their room, but were sorely tempted to trade Isaac for a night in the crib.  He wasn't thrilled with the idea of sharing with them, again.  

When we finally woke up and got dressed it was way past breakfast but we had zero food of our own.  We went to the Mall of the Emirates to grab breakfast that looked more like late lunch food.  They saw the indoor ski resort.  Then we went shopping to get some bread, milk, eggs and more.  Over lunch, we had a request from a young local couple to take Jessica's picture.  Was it her big beautiful eyes or the better than average princess braid?  She was pretty tickled and gave them a great smile.

Later we unpacked and showed dad the chosen Venice souvenirs.  Jess not only modeled her mask, but insisted on wearing it while we played hearts.  It looks quite good with her birthday scarf.  You can see a bit of our hotel apartment.  It is just a bit bigger than our place in Sicily, but there are two bathrooms.  That right there would be enough, but there's more.  The girls have their own room.  Isaac still is without a proper bedroom, but he has his own bed, not on the floor, with a dimming lamp switch at hand, and his own dresser.  The kitchen has a big fridge, a gas stove, microwave, dishwasher, washer/dryer in one, and no oven.  Can't have everything.  But there are lots of cupboards which makes us feel more like Mother Hubbard because even after two shopping trips, they are quite bare.

Matt first has to go in to work Tuesday.  It's been nice to have some time to get settled a bit, even though it's a temporary stay.  We took care of cell phones yesterday!  Our 4the SIM cards since summer.  The first order of business when he goes in, is to start on his work visa.  Once he has that we can sign a long term contract for . . . something.  Maybe still a hotel suite, but more likely a more house-like place.  We will make sure it's big enough because we are already expecting visitors in April.  3 cheers for Brian and Hilary!  

Unexpected things:  #1: it's chilly.  We took sweatshirts/jackets with us when we went to dinner and the fountain show outside the Dubai Mall/Burj Kalifa.  We ate at the Al Ijaza Cafeteria,  possibly the oldest eatery in Dubai--22 years of proud service.  It's a little place on a major road, but the food is amazing, the fancy fruity drinks are unbelievable and the prices are so low, you almost feel guilty.  Cars will drive up out front and honk and a guy will run out to take their order and then bring it back after a few minutes.  It's fun to sit and watch the cars.  It's like a moving auto show.  There are plenty of plain janes, but there are far more than normal of the more exotic variety.  The most unusual yesterday was a convertible Rolls Royce.  

#2: There were no kidding waves at the beach.  When I hung out for a few hours on a few days in the summer the water lapped, but there were no waves.  When we recently went to the beach, people were surfing/body surfing.  The water was cool, but thanks to the breeze felt warmer than the air.  Jess LOVES the beach.  We didn't go long the first time, pictured below, and as soon as we left she started hounding us about when are we going back, what time tomorrow, an hour after breakfast?  We heard variations on this theme ALL day, as we looked for cheap swimsuits.  When Matt took the kids the next day while I stayed to unpack 6 boxes, he said she ran into the water and just jumped up and down 20 times bursting with happiness.  

The buildings in the distance are on the man made island--The Palms.  

#3:  It's crowded!   We found out before we came that we were coming back at peak visitor season, but good grief.  At first we thought the crowds were because of the weekend shopping, but last night when we did another grocery store run at Carrefour, it was just as crazy, at 9:30pm on a work/school night.  We aren't adjusting to the 3 hour time difference very well.  Matt and I set our alarm for 8 this morning.  I opened the kids windows to let in the light, but we all still lazed in bed until 10.  It doesn't help that the beds are really comfortable.  I'm typing this at 11 as the kids finish breakfast.  The biggest pain about the crowds is the difficulty in getting an elevator.  There are 10 elevators and 41 floors.  We are on the 10th.  I'm glad it's not any higher because we have resorted to the stairs a bit too often.  Isaac now prefers them and will often race us.  Last night after shopping, we tried a new trick, walk down one level from parking to ground and catch an elevator.  That way they aren't all full and skipping us on level 1 or 2 or 3, depending on where we parked.  We had too many grocery bags to do the stairs last night.  

Orders of business for today are maybe an Ikea run to get some shelves.  And the girls want to try the pool.  We can make this more comfortable knowing anything we pick up at this point can easily come with us.  It's very nice NOT to be looking at another flight anytime soon.