Dubai

[AndyP & Lenore]

Just back from 4 days in Dubai. Lenore and I decided to head out there for my 40th.

We had a blast, chillin' out by the pool in the day time, then heading into the city in the evening.

We stayed at the Jemeirah beach Hotel, shaped like a wave and situated right next to the 7* Burj Al Arab island based hotel which the super rich frequent.

Here's some pics to feast your eyes on...

Was supposed to be on an Airbus A380 (the new double decker super-jumbo) on the way out. But as ticket sales were low, Air France replaced it with a 777-200.
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View from our balcony!
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Nightime view across the city. Burj Khalifa stands prominent in the distance. More on this skyscraper later.
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The cars parked up at the hotel were nothing short of jaw dropping. This is just a small selection.
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[AndyP & Lenore]

The Burj Khalifa - tallest building in the world. They have an "at the top" experience, which is awesome. You actually only get to go about three quarters of the way up, but it's still high enough to view many miles in every direction. The viewing platform goes outside on one side and inside on the other, but even the inside view has a slot between the windows to allow for clear piccies.
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Outback (http://www.outback.com/)for my birthday dinner. Eating out on their open air terrace with the Burj Khalifa as a backdrop!
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Outback's Bloomin' Onion. Take one huge onion, coat in a mildly spiced batter, deep fry and serve with a savoury dip. Raise cholesterol level 2 digits and enjoy!
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Some night time shots from up the Burj Khalifa. All taken with my compact camera being held as still as possible, so they are not technically very good, but give you a good idea of the night time views.
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The last time we were up there these telescope's were free to use. They have huge LCD screens and show whatever you point them at shows on the screen. The have a variable zoom and a great feature where you can select whether you want to view it in daytime, night time or (and this bit I found amazing) - a historic view from waaay before Dubai was developed. Disappointingly, these now cost AED20 (£3.80 ish) for 2 mins.
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[AndyP & Lenore]

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A few photo's of the Fountain & Light show they do every hour every evening. Saw it from down below last time, this time we wanted to see it from up top. Looks just as stunning!
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In the middle of Dubai Mall - an Olympic sized ice rink, of course, what else would you expect to find in a shopping mall?
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[AndyP & Lenore]

So, other than an Olympic sized ice rink, what else do you expect to find in the middle of a shopping mall? How about a frikkin' HUGE aquarium.
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Pool area at the hotel.
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Chopper delivering a super rich dude no doubt.
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[AndyP & Lenore]

Mall Of The Emirates - Dubai's other huge mall, this pic doesn't really show off the sheer scale of this atrium.
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The atrium in our hotel lobby. Dizzying heights. :D
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A.:thumbs up:

[zimbo]

:thud: a place I'd really like to go and visit :yes nod: Damn you Mr and MrsP for posting these up...

by the way I hope you had a great 40th you old bugger :laugh:

[ianking]

Great pics

[stoney]

Loverly brill pics

[Coreygraham180]

looks a really nice trip that you had i hope you had fun and looks a really awesome place :D

[weefossy]

Only 40, you must have had a hard paper round, so you deserved a nice break really.

Our Nellie was there last month with work and he thought it was pretty expensive, until he met up with friends who live there and they knew where to go to keep costs down.

[Craig]

Nice pics mate :thumbs up:

Not on my bucket list but looks like you had fun ;)

[Stewart]

At least you went up it, my sister has been going near on every year now unless she is hitting Auz that year and loves it. Best she could do is stand well back and take a few pictures when she came out the mall. She stayed in your hotel the first few times but has now moved out to the Palm one.

Dubai always comes across as an experience more than simply a beach holiday. I’ll have to get there one day.

Cheers for the share!

[GCA3N]

Brilliant Andy, lucky boy. Cracking pics too.

[Gismo]

Nice pics Andy, even though i travel through Dubai every month i only ever get to go to The Monarch Hotel and back to the airport

[Glorious]

Nice pics - loving that aquarium!

[MINIme:)]

glad you had such a good time both of you. I will prob head out there this year as it's been two years since the last visit. My sister has lived there for 15yrs, she loves it.

[bullet]

crackin photos mate :camera:,its a bit late but happy 40th.:whoohoo:

[N16SHP]

Enjoying those pics Andy. I'm heading there for a week as part of my honeymoon, and your pics have well and truly got me excited about it :thumbs up:

Kirsten's cousin lives in Dubai and does promoting/marketing for a lot of high end clients (often does Ferrari Formula 1 exhibition stuff and gigs etc) so she's taking us off the tourist paths to see the hidden gems of Dubai which we're mega excited about. Although from what I've read, Dubai has so much to offer its nearly impossible to take it all in a week.

[Sheilz]

Enjoying those pics Andy. I'm heading there for a week as part of my honeymoon, and your pics have well and truly got me excited about it :thumbs up:

Kirsten's cousin lives in Dubai and does promoting/marketing for a lot of high end clients (often does Ferrari Formula 1 exhibition stuff and gigs etc) so she's taking us off the tourist paths to see the hidden gems of Dubai which we're mega excited about. Although from what I've read, Dubai has so much to offer its nearly impossible to take it all in a week.

If you have time a trip to the Haiti Mountain Pools are well worth a visit, for the drive if nothing else. In winter its a wide raging river but it dries upin spring leaving only the deepest pools of water that are heavenly to swim in. Esp when the temp is in the 40 (April temp). We're off there in April for twelve days but just to chill out. Nothing exciting planned this trip. Last time we went to Musandam sailing/swimming with the wild dolphins and in amongst shoals of parrot fish. That was pretty special! I'm sure you will have a fantastic time.

[N16SHP]

If you have time a trip to the Haiti Mountain Pools are well worth a visit, for the drive if nothing else. In winter its a wide raging river but it dries upin spring leaving only the deepest pools of water that are heavenly to swim in. Esp when the temp is in the 40 (April temp). We're off there in April for twelve days but just to chill out. Nothing exciting planned this trip. Last time we went to Musandam sailing/swimming with the wild dolphins and in amongst shoals of parrot fish. That was pretty special! I'm sure you will have a fantastic time.

Thanks for the heads up Sheilz :thumbs up: