Glasgow -> Dubai -> Home
We depart Glasgow after a fantastic day and a bit there and vow that if we get the chance, we'll try to make it back to this city for some more time in the future. There's just so much to do and see and we've only just scratched the surface.
The first leg of the homeward journey is from Glasgow to Dubai and it's an overnight flight departing on a Friday evening. Emirates do the right thing and depart on time and after a fairly smooth flight, we touch down in Dubai International early on the Saturday morning. After collecting our bags, we walk outside and into a blast furnace-like 46 degrees celsius, grab a taxi and head off to the Grand Hyatt hotel. Our rooms are very large and airy with views over the Dubai creek area - heaven!
After sleeping for a couple of hours and freshening up, we head out by cab to a huge shopping mall - I thinks it was called the Dubai Mall but since our time there was indoors or underground, I never saw a name on the building! Shopping seems to be what everyone does here in Dubai. It has a huge three story high glass wall aquarium right in the middle of the mall and a huge cascading waterfall feature. Quite kitch but still amazing. There are no sales on at the moment so we don't part with much cash (which is ever diminishing as the Aussie dollar plummets) and soon we head back to the hotel for some R & R around the pool.
Next day, we organise a private taxi to take us to the old town and to all the sights around Dubai. This city is amazing - considering that 40 years ago much of it was just desert. The gold at the little stalls in the old city is mind boggling and the grand scale of everything is stunning - but the ever-present heat at this time of the year sure is energy sapping. Time for some pool time back at the hotel, dinner at the Wok Bar and bed before an early breakfast and taxi to the airport.
The first leg of the homeward journey is from Glasgow to Dubai and it's an overnight flight departing on a Friday evening. Emirates do the right thing and depart on time and after a fairly smooth flight, we touch down in Dubai International early on the Saturday morning. After collecting our bags, we walk outside and into a blast furnace-like 46 degrees celsius, grab a taxi and head off to the Grand Hyatt hotel. Our rooms are very large and airy with views over the Dubai creek area - heaven!
After sleeping for a couple of hours and freshening up, we head out by cab to a huge shopping mall - I thinks it was called the Dubai Mall but since our time there was indoors or underground, I never saw a name on the building! Shopping seems to be what everyone does here in Dubai. It has a huge three story high glass wall aquarium right in the middle of the mall and a huge cascading waterfall feature. Quite kitch but still amazing. There are no sales on at the moment so we don't part with much cash (which is ever diminishing as the Aussie dollar plummets) and soon we head back to the hotel for some R & R around the pool.
Next day, we organise a private taxi to take us to the old town and to all the sights around Dubai. This city is amazing - considering that 40 years ago much of it was just desert. The gold at the little stalls in the old city is mind boggling and the grand scale of everything is stunning - but the ever-present heat at this time of the year sure is energy sapping. Time for some pool time back at the hotel, dinner at the Wok Bar and bed before an early breakfast and taxi to the airport.
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| This photo is not blurred - it's just how we felt with the jet-lag! |
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| The aquarium inside the Dubai Mall |
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| Indoor waterfall at the mall |
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| Two random tourists acting natural |
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| View from our hotel room with Dubai Creek in the background |
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| Laurie and Denise cutting their 'anniversary' cake - thank you Grand Hyatt! |
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| Gold, gold and more gold in the old town stalls |
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| An Emirati family?? |
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| The old town market...hot! |
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| The Jumeirah Mosque |
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| An upmarket Souk (market) and resort near the beach |
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| The Atlantis hotel on the Dubai Palms development - massive! |
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| The Burj Khalifa building - tallest man-made structure on the planet...for now! |
Everyone has asked us what the "best bit" was - but it's impossible to say, as there were so many great bits. Russia was an eye-opener and exceeded expectations, Scandinavia was fantastic, Belarus was mainly flat prairie, Lithuania was charming, Scotland - travelling with our friends was brilliant and Poland, the Czech Republic and Germany were all thoroughly memorable for a range of reasons. There is hardly a place that we wouldn't return to in the future given the opportunity.
If I had to choose.....my favourite 'old city' experience was in Vilnius, Lithuania - our most memorable meal was a toss up between Copenhagen and Glasgow - the most astonishing sights were the scenery in Scotland, the Kremlin and Red Square in Moscow, most things in St Petersburg (but especially the Hermitage Museums) and the scale of Dubai.
The standout however, were the people - either those we met whilst travelling or those we met up with and travelled with on the trip. This is what made the whole journey so outstanding and unforgettable. A huge thank you to every one of you.
Till next time....au revoir, Phil!
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