2nd Half of Kari’s Trip to the UAE

Kari and I had such a fun week together!  I cannot tell you how amazing it was to have some familiarity here in such a foreign world.  To continue on from the last post… Tuesday morning we got up and hit the mall – Shopping at all the favorites here… Zara, Topshop, Koton, Mango, Forever 21 etc… when we finished up, I dropped Kari off at the house for her daily afternoon nap and headed out to get Audrey from school.   We got all fancy and headed out for an over the top dinner at Emirate’s Palace!  The setting was like something you’d see on The Bachelor – the palace in the background, the beach all around and the Arabian Gulf ad our view… stunning doesn’t even begin to describe.   There was also a guy playing the guitar and singing.. we joked that this guy could win American Idol and low and behold afterwards he told us that he did in fact win a Simon Cowell singing show – but in another country…! Wow!  This night was the definition of luxury.. to top it all off, there was a fire works show down the corniche that we watched while we ate dinner.. UH-mazing!

 

Fire Works!

The view of Emirate’s Palace

Our Cabana^^

Posing in the Sand… it was super soft!

The next morning we headed out for the Gold Souk.  The Gold Souk is simply a mall dedicated to only gold shops… We were on a mission to find a bracelet on a budget.  We found it just as we were about to give up.  Victory! 

Beautimus!

I wanted to bring kari to a place that had amazing lebanese food for lunch – The Lebanese Flower.  They are famous here for their budget meals that will knock your socks off.  SO GOOD.

Have you ever seen hummus this pillowy before?!   It was A LOT of food, and we put a huge dent in it.. Kari got a mixed meat grill plate and I got Shish Taouk… my mouth is watering and my stomach is growling.

We picked up Will, I dropped them both off for naps, picked up Audrey and hung out with kiddos for a while then got ready to go out for some wine and cheese at the Intercontinental Hotel.  They have a special on Wednesday nights that we took advantage of.   Kari and I hopped in a taxi and met Charles there since he was going after work to meet us.  Cheers!

The Piano Lounge where we were sitting had a jazzy piano player and singer entertaining us… When we had our fill of wine and cheese (we were still so full from lunch at the Lebanese Flower we didn’t even order dinner! – of course Charles did though.)  We wanted to show Kari a swanky night club also inside the Intercontinental Hotel so we popped in for  free glass of Champagne since it was ladies night. Afterwards we walked around the marina and checked out all the fancy Yachts and boats parked there.

So TIRED… I tried to hang in there the best I could!!  I was waking up early with kids and staying out late each night… The next morning it seemed to catch up with Kari too…

And Will…. ha! We had a desert safari planned next and since departure was smack in the middle of  naptime, we pushed thru and prayed Will would sleep on the way – and he sure did.   I have to say that the desert safari was such an amazing experience.  Even though we have seen the desert and even camped out, did the dune bashing and all that (which was AMAZING) – this was unique in the sense that the Owner (who personally picked us up) wants his guests to get an authentic Bedouin experience and see the desert thru the eyes of those that lived off of it for so many years.  It was educational, enlightening, fun and relaxing all at the same time.  The desert safari companies here are a dime a dozen – but his is truly special.

He explained to us that Sheik Zayed gave the land to his family, that he had a dream to show visitors of the UAE the culture…He went to college in Oregon for 5 years and returned to Abu Dhabi to work.  He explained to us that this business is not his work, it is his hobby and he referred to it as his “Camp.” His 12-year-old son arrived later with some friends and they rode four-wheelers up and down the dunes without fear.. they were so adorable!… I just cannot explain how cool it was!

They all LOVED audrey because she was singing Arabic songs to them and saying some of the words she has learned in school.  It was precious to watch them get a kick out of the red-headed American kid speaking and singing their language!

When we first arrived he guided us to the carpet with pillows and told us about the traditional coffee.  He served us some along with dates that they harvested off of the trees on their property… off to the side there was a pet monkey! He was a riot and had such a funny personality! The kids were feeding him cheese puffs until he snatched the entire bag and ate them all… LOL.

After Coffee, Dates and the monkey encounter, we walked outside the fence of the camp and saw the gorgeous sand dunes and the camels waiting for us.

The above and below are some of my favorite pictures.. it looks like it could have been taken decades ago.

We all took Camel rides and horse rides, then watched a dog show where they chased down a rabbit (they had muzzles on, so the rabbit wasn’t harmed).  We also walked down to see all the animals he has on the property – there were lots of sheep, goats and birds that the kids enjoyed seeing.. Then it was time to hit the dunes!

If you only knew how unlikely it was here to interact with the local Emirati’s then you could appreciate this picture as much as I do.. wow. When you see them talking to and playing with your kids it would feel similar to if a celebrity would be doing so.  I have been here for 9 months and have never spoken to a local on a personal level like this.  Anyway – we rode the dunes, he drove our family up and down and all around the big dunes – the kids loved it – it feels like a roller coaster… We stopped at a high point to take pictures and the sand was blowing all around.. we tried to get a picture and this is what we ended up with! LOL.. check out Audrey’s faces..

Have you ever heard of Sledding in the Sand?!  The kids flew down, the grownups inched.. the steep walk back up was certainly a deterrent from doing it more than once!

 

The wind whipped my hair into a horrible mess! 

After all that fun we came back to the camp for dinner.  they bring it in with them from Abu Dhabi – Kari and I loved the lentil soup! YUMMM.  After dinner, Cardamom Coffee – it was super sweet – we didn’t really care for it, but enjoyed the experience anyway.  Of course Audrey spilled hers all over the cushion and Kari.. sheesh. I enjoyed sitting around the campfire with my family – most of the time I was trying to keep will from disturbing the relaxing atmosphere -  The monkey always worked for that! 

After coffee they had traditional dress outfits for us to try on and take pictures in.. it was so fun!

Will was much  more interested in the giant gun they gave him… “Pow Pow, Pow Pow..” is all he was saying.  He was SO cute in that outfit though!  We could have left charles at the camp and they would never know the difference… other than his costume was about 6 inches too short. LOL!

Our Family Picture! We headed back to the house about 8:30 pm and got home around 9:30 – we all fell asleep in the car and called it a night as soon as we got home.  Our super fun week was coming to a close since Kari would be leaving the next night.  We were all super lazy the next morning and didn’t have anything big on the plans but to rest and relax… Charles went into the office for a bit so he dropped off Kari and Audrey to the beach for some last minute sun.  I gladly stayed back with Will so that he could nap and I could rest.  I used the opportunity to organize pictures – I think we had over 900 from the week!

When they got back, Kari got cleaned up, packed up and ready to go.  We headed out for one last outing before her 2 a.m. flight… we went to Traders Hotel where they have a family friendly beach party.  There was a huge buffet, bouncy house, play ground etc.. Audrey ran into lots of her friends from school, Will was in a “mood” so Charles disappeared with him for a bit while Kari and I just relaxed and enjoyed each other’s company for a bit.  Will came back all better and ready to play, he got his face painted and played with cups in the sand until we gathered up to leave at 8:30.  Here are some pics of the night.. our reserved seating…

The bouncy house on the beach…

The buffet line that went on for days….

Kari and Audrey..

The kids entertaining themselves…

Charles and his “mini-me”

Audrey wiping the sand off of Kari’s feet!  She stepped in gum so Audrey scrubbed them for her. LOL

Me and my sister!  What a blessing it was to have her here! It went by super fast and we miss her already!  We had a blast showing her what Abu Dhabi life is like and making memories of our adventures together.  I know that many years down the road when we are together for holidays with all our grandkids around we will be sharing funny stories and telling them the tales of this amazing week.

Camel Kisses and Sandy Hugs!

Christa