Dubai Diaries - Going to Abu Dhabi

So whilst we were in Dubai, we took a mini road trip to Abu Dhabi. We took off straight after breakfast on a Friday so we could make to the Sheikh Zayed Grand mosque for Friday (jummah) prayer. It was probably the best experience of my life so far and the highlight of my year in 2013 ( as stated in this instagram post ). The mosque was the purist of whites set of against the bluest of skys. The architecture and structure was just amazing and I was totally in awe of its beauty. We also visited the Emirates Palace Hotel which was full of decadence and sheer opulence. Of course I took loads of picture and a vlog as well so here they are. 

Love these flower motifs on the ceiling 

So beautiful

A miniature model of the mosque

Through the key hole 

There were these floral tiles around the walls

The hustle and bustle after prayer 

Love these gold palm leave on the pillars 

Basking in the sun

Me

Mini domes 

Basking in the sun 

The ceiling of the Emirates Palace hotel

Surrounding buildings 

The Emirates Palace hotel 

Oooohhhh fountains 

Water steps

This is the last of the Dubai Diaries series, I hope you have enjoyed it :) 

Dubai Diaries - The Creek

So on the same day as we to the souk's, we also when on a boat ride on Dubai creek. As stated in the previous post it was probably one of the hottest days of the trip and he fresh breeze and the shade of the boat was much needed after walking around the souk's. The ride lasted about an hour and wherever you turned and looked there was something different to see. From the amazing architecture of the surrounding buildings to import/export boats, to restaurant boats, to mosques and peoples houses.

I love the architecture on the building 

Imagine praying right next to the water

Import/export boats 

The driver 

Restaurant boats 

Hanging his clothes up to dry

Contrasting glass building 

A little mosque hiding in between the houses 

Here is the video

Dubai Diaries: The Souk's

What is that you say? It's been four months since my last post. Eeeekkkkk!! Well I have no elaborate reason for my absence. It has been a complete contradiction of being busy at work and just procrastinating when I get home. That is not say the things haven't been happening in my life (if you follow my instagram you will have seen). There has been another holiday (to Morocco), my birthday, the new year, making and eating lost of food and just life stuff. But before we get into all that I realised that I haven't finished my 'Dubai Diaries' so here goes.

When you think of Dubai you think of the tallest buildings, the biggest malls, the seven start hotels and all of that which is all well and good but I really wanted to see and older part of Dubai with the souk's and the markets. We could have spent the whole day just exploring all the narrow alleyways, but the day we went it was probably one of the hottest day of the trip which was clear by the amount of water that was consumed that day. That didn't stop us from being totally in awe of all the touristy trinkets, spices, colours and aromas.

Traditional shoes

Camels 

Colourful umbrellas 

Love the design on this lamp 

Garlands 

Oooooohhhh the lights

All the spice mountains ( I don't even know what half of them are)

Another narrow alleyway of the markets 

Some more spices that I don't know 

 So here is to getting back into blogging and not having another four months off.  `

  

Dubai Diaries: Dancing Fountains

One of the things I noticed in Dubai, even just from the airport, is that Dubai loves a water feature. There was a big waterfall in the airport, when we were coming out of the airport and everywhere else that we went. The most impressive one would have to be the fountain show that takes place outside The Dubai Mall and the Burj Khalifa (the biggest mall in the world and the tallest building in the world). Throughout the day and night the fountains put on a show to a different song every time and 'dance'. We went at night and the fountains were lit up. Here are a few pictures of other water features and the video of the 'dancing' fountains.

Fountain's at a hotel 

Fountain at Jumeirah Beach walk

The diving men fountain in Dubai Mall

A fountain in the Mall of the Emirates 

Dubai Diaries:The beach

Going to the beach in Dubai was one of those 'taking advantage of the amazing weather' kind of things. We knew we weren't really going to get another chance like this any time soon, so we sun creamed up and off we went. The beach was called Jumeirah beach and it was perfect because they do a ladies only day. With the sun glistening on the water and the warm sand between your toes it was easy to forget about the rainy days back in England. So here are some pictures that I took at the beach:

Umbrellas 

Dubai in the sand

Beach toys

Sun and the sky

Waves coming in 

The sun glistening on the water

The water

Palm trees and probably the only cloud in the sky 

Rubber dingies 

Dubai Diaries: Travelling

At the end of august my sister and her family got to go to Dubai for a month. I was really happy for her but there was small part of me that wanted to go as well seeing it had been about 6 years since I had been on a holiday. About a week before they were going to go my mum suggested that I should go and see them while they were out there. So next thing you know I'm booking my plane tickets, hotel room and getting very excited to go to Dubai for a week. This was the first time I was travelling abroad on my own and I was rather excited. I watched a couple of films, read my book and had some surprisingly good plane food and before I knew it I was in Dubai. So here is just a little video of my flight and getting to my hotel.