Three Days in Dubai Day 1 26 April 2023

One thing I hate more than an early morning flight when going on holiday is an evening flight! The positive is that you have time to get organised during the day, but I am usually packed days in advanced and spend the whole day worrying if I have packed too much or have I forgotten something. The 8:30 pm flight to Dubai with Emirates meant we were sitting at the airport at 6:30, followed by 17 hours flying. This is the longest flight that we have ever done, and we survived. Paying extra for Premium Economy was worth it, and we did have a bit more room and there was never a queue for the toilets until just before we landed (nervous wees or worse maybe).

I say more room, but the person who had the two bulkhead seats in front of us spent almost the entire flight with her seat fully reclined. Fortunately I wear spectacles, otherwise my eyeballs would have been scraping the screen, her chair was that close. It also made for some entertaining exits as I repeatedly climbed over Lance so I could use the loo. All in all it was a good flight, and I am sure that the 11:30am breakfast was to help aclimatise us to the new time zone. Fortunately we were awake when the 5am trolly went past with savoury meat turnovers and a cup of tea went by, otherwise I would have chewed my arm off! I am sure that there must be something scientific with how the bowels manage to fill with copious amounts of gas whilst occupying the skies at 60,000 feet (or how ever high it is). When you have a 17 hour flight it just does not bear thinkimg about what might happen if you held on. So, we didn't, however Lance still had an accidental trumpet as we disembarked, right in the ladies face who was following close behind. Sorry, I have to keep stopping as I type this as it has me crying with laughter so hard that I am finding it hard to breathe. I had to stop and use the loo on our way to the baggage collection and I started to giggle again in the cubicle, I was just managing to get it under control when the person in the next cubicle let out a clanger. I tell you, I was crying! So much so that ... now stop it dear reader, it was my giggles that burst out, nothing else! But the giggle was so loud that I had to turn it into a cough, and then wait until they had left the toilets before I came out. Other than that Dubai airport was a breeze, there was nobody there and we pretty much just walked through everything. Dubai airport has no loud announcements but there are plenty of helpful people to point you in the right direction. We are staying at the Jumeirah Creek Hotel which is close to the airport and a AED35 (NZ 15.50) taxi fare and the cost of a defibulator to get your heart working again after the hairy driving. I am sure I closed my eyes a couple of times. They have upgradeded us to a lovely room with a spacious lounge, kitchen, toilet, large bedroom with a huge bathroom with bath, toilet room and a shower the size of a small nursery. It certainly is a good start to our trip.

I did think this was a bidet, but it squirts down not up so I think it is for washing your feet for prayers. This afternoon we had a swim in the roof top pool with almost 360 degree views of Dubai. I sat drying off in the sun on a sofa looking out at the Burj Khalifa whilst waiting for my pina colada. The rooftop Cuba bar is also situated here. There is a glass wall part, and we spotted a group swimming as we came up in the glass walled elevator.

Anyway we were pretty shattered after our flight and nothing here opens until 10am, so we had a shower and a rest before shooting out to the Burj Khalifa. Quickly purchasing tickets online meant we could get straight through the line. Because we were so early it was only moderately crowded. By the time I left the Dubai Mall at around 1pm the queues were huge, with more crowding in The Burj Khalifa is well worth the AED 169 (NZ 75). The tallest tower in the world it stands 830 meters at the tip and has 163 floors. Our ‘At the Top’ tickets took us to the 124th and 125th floors as it is much cheaper than the ‘At the Top Sky tickets’, and once you are up there bloody high is just bloody high!

We didn't stay long as Lance has hurt his knee and can't walk far which was great when you are in the largest shopping mall in the world by land area. (26th in the world by gross leasable area). Early lunch was had next to the huge pond outside the mall which has fountains playing at various times, however not when we were there. Carluccio’s was a great place to eat, we were in the shade and able to watch the world go by. Hoovering down our food we declined alcohol as we were starting to droop after the long flight and a wee tipple may have found us curled up under the table.

Lance was finding it really hard to walk any further so took a taxi home and left me to wander at leisure around the mall. I do hear an intake of breath from some of you at the recklessness of his choice. But not to worry, everything is so expensive I only came home with a hat. However I wandered for a couple of hours enjoying the grandness of everything. Many of the men wear long white floaty shirts with equally floaty headdresses. Or maybe a baseball cape instead. I managed to locate all of the highlights. The aquarium which is impressive but sad watching the creatures trapped in a mall. The waterfall was the best for me, it was very tranquil and huge! And of course the ice skating rink.

A word of warning if catching a taxi! Watch out for the luxury taxi fare. Lance was quoted AED 90 and myself AED 130 for the same fare. Both of us declined and took the normal taxi at AED 35. Before dinner we popped up to our roof top bar to watch the sun go down and the wandered next door to the Irish Village for dinner. This is located next to the Tennis stadium and is a large open air place that you would find anywhere in the world. The temperature was lovely, the wine and beer were also lovely but the food was pretty ordinary. And even though it was an Irish place we ordered lamb kofta and hummus.

After being awake for almost 40 hours with only a few snoozes we slept like babies!