In the words of the immortal Max Bygraves (you have to be of a certain age to remember Max),”Let me tell you a story”.
In fact, let me take you back to Christmas 2019. We are all sitting around the dinner table in a rainy and windy Plymouth (we get that a lot in Plymouth) and we are all so excited as we planed Auntie Sarah’s proposed visit to Dubai in the November of 2020 so that she could attend the Dubai Expo 2020. Oh the best-laid plans of mice and men; what could possibly go wrong?
So how were we to know that for the first time in our life-times a global pandemic was about to hit us, we would be locked-down, subject to mandatory testing, travel restrictions, vaccinations, boosters, mandatory mask wearing and would have to learn a whole new vocabulary….the list is endless. However, and as always, the Chivs, Steeds and the Nortons adopted a Churchillian spirit, we hunkered down, we stocked up, we Zoomed in and somehow, we managed to get through it.
So, two and a bit years later Auntie Sarah’s “Great Progress” was back on. After all, lightening never strikes twice…..or does it? Well, in this case it did. Approximately two weeks before “D-Day” we all caught the dreaded COVID. We don’t know how as we are so careful but we did. Would this mean yet another cancelled trip? Fortunately and assisted by two vaccinations, a booster and some TLC and with a couple of days to spare we all recovered, got our clear lateral flow tests and the trip was back on…phew!
Now Auntie Sarah is a real star and one of those house guests you just love; adventurous, up for anything, eats everything and takes a libation when offered. On the libation front I can assure you that Auntie Sarah takes her hydration extremely seriously. So it was off to the alcohol store, ship in copious amounts of Sauvignon Blanc and have a bottle of Armenian brandy for back up. We were ready.
Auntie Sarah was joined on her trip by Mike. What a great chap he is. It was his first trip to the Middle East. He too is easy going and up for anything but most importantly he is a Fujilover and turned up with his trusty XT3. Perfect, I would have a partner in crime and someone to go out to play with.
Now I believe that with every trip you start as you mean to go on. So it was off to the trendy Filia Italian Restaurant located on the 70th floor of the SLS Hotel. Auntie Sarah was in her natural environment as she mingled with the glitterati, sampled the fantastic food and took full advantage of the wonderful nighttime views of downtown Dubai. She especially made me laugh when our waitress asked her if she had any allergies, to which Auntie Sarah immediately replied “Short Measures”! Our waitress got the message and ensured that Auntie Sarah remained fully topped up throughout the evening.
After a cracking dinner we rounded off the evening by paying a visit to Souk Al Bahar to experience the lake surrounding Bur Khalifa and of course the famous Dubai Fountains. Despite having participated with my renowned enthusiasm in the red wine, my hands were sufficiently steady to capture an arty shot across the water.
An area of Dubai which is my firm favourite is the Dubai Creek. More specifically, the area around Shindagha. It brings back so many memories for me of those days when I worked for the good old British Bank of the Middle East (now HSBC) where my office overlooked the Creek.
For me, the glitz and glam of high rise Dubai is wonderful and in parts quite iconic. However, it is this old school heart of Dubai which gives you the sights, sounds and smells of the true Middle East which I fell in love with all those years ago.
Our first destination was breakfast at the wonderful Mazmi Cafe. Just walk through Mina Bazaar (the textile Market), turn left and then stop before you fall in the Creek.
Here you will see tourists, residents and local Emiratis all enjoying a fabulous breakfast. Mrs. C and Auntie Sarah shared the local bread basket whilst Mike and I went full throttle with a bowl of delicious Shakshouka (basically tomatoes, onion, egg and spiced with Paprika). As we enjoyed our breakfast the hustle and bustle of Dubai Creek carried on before our eyes and of course, Mike was quick to take a few images with the Fuji.
I could tell that the girls were also in their happy place as there were no objections when I asked to grab an image of them. I love this image with the picture of Sheikh Rashid and Sheikh Zayed in the top left corner.
Fully fuelled our next challenge was to do a bit of haggling in Mina Bazaar and buy a few souvenirs. Auntie Sarah was “in like Flynn”. As she terrorised a poor shop keeper with her negotiating skills it was like taking candy from a baby. Poor misguided chap actually thought he had a chance. However, once he realised the futility of it all Auntie Sarah secured her price, money was handed over and the deal was done!
With the spoils of war in hands our next job was a trip across the Creek on one of the local Abras. At a Dirham a head its a bargain and is by far the best way to see Dubai from a different perspective. Today it is completely organised but back in the day it was a complete scrum-down and many a tourist ending up in the Creek!
Despite the hustle and bustle (and by the way no-one fell in) some of the Abra drivers still managed 40 winks as the temperature started to rise towards a simmering 40 degrees.
Once we reached the banks of Deira Dubai we skirted the old spice Souk and took a brief stroll through the famous Gold Souk.
By now it was simply too hot for our visitors and the Souk was rammed with tourists. So it was back across the Creek, in to the chilled aircon of the Landcruiser and off to Al Qasr for a well earned cuppa.
I must say that we were all having such a great time and in amongst all the sight seeing Auntie Sarah and Mike did mange to have some down-time and relax by the pool. However, their final day had arrived and no better way to spend it than with a visit to our most favourite place in the UAE, the Al Maha Desert Resort.
Actually Al Maha is a luxury resort that has been built as part of a desert conservation area. You have to book to get in and for those that like to enjoy a fabulous lunch, enjoy seeing wildlife undisturbed in its natural habitat and experience the desert in a highly civilised manner, this is the way to go. What I also enjoy is that at Al Maha nothing is ever rushed yet everything gets done with a quiet efficiency.
As we entered through the old doors in to the lobby I managed to grab an image of Auntie Sarah who was in Audry Hepburn mode.
Then I remembered I had taken a similar image of Eleanor (Auntie Sarah’s daughter) when she last visited. What do you think….they could be sisters!
As we stood on the restaurant veranda, soaking up the atmosphere all were in their happy place, which allowed me to once again grab some images of the girls.
Following a sumptuous lunch it was time for a desert drive with our young South African guide Kester. He was so knowledgable about the desert and the wildlife and it was clear that conservation was his passion. As I managed to capture a couple of images of the Arabian Gazelle and the Arabian Oryx, it did strike me how nature thrives, as long as we humans don’t do out best to muck it up.
What a week we had. Although Auntie Sarah did not make it to Expo we did have such fun. Once again fabulous memories shared with the people we love. Best of all we are already planning our next adventure. Watch this space!