Wednesday, April 15, 2009

More from my parents visit

Here is more from my parents visit. Too much to put all in one post.

Our trip to Atlantis. We spent the day at the water park and then went to the lost chambers (the aquarium). And then later this same night we went on our dhow dinner cruise with a friend of Larry's from work.

A view back towards the city from out on the crescent where the Atlantis is located.

A shot of the hotel. Dani going down... forget the name of the ride. Drops straight down and goes through a shark tank.











Some photos of the baby whale shark that is still under heavy scrutiny.


Dani and Elle posing in some of the "Lost Chambers" artifacts from Atlantis.



Here are some photos from our dhow dinner cruise. A dhow is an old wooden boat. These are still made in Dubai by hand.







Another day we went on the Big Bus Tour of the older section of Dubai.

A back view of 2 big buses. Merchandise sitting on the docks from dhow boats.


The old souk in Bur Dubai.


A view down the creek while crossing in an abra (water taxi). Mom and I walking in the Bastakiya area of Dubai - an old area that wasn't torn down (as they do with most old things here).


Another view from the big bus. Statues at the Wafi shopping center that has an Egyptian theme.



Random photo of Dani and Elle going to school. I think this was taken on my parents first day here.

A visit to Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world. It is still under construction.





More later....

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

Our first visitors!

My parents came to visit us for 2 weeks. It was so nice to finally have visitors! At least it wasn't too hot. Of course they will tell you that it was very hot, but, it wasn't Dubai hot... at least not just yet. Hopefully they weren't too bored. My Dad likes to be outside, but we only have a small garden... nothing like exploring the farm that they live on or the woods behind our house in CT.

We hit all of the popular Dubai sites during their visit.

We went for drinks at the Burg Al Arab (Dubai's 7 star hotel) because that is the cheapest way to get into see the hotel. You have to spend $75US a head however. FYI, you can't just walk into the hotel, you must have a reservation of some type.


Walking thru the lobby.


At the sky bar - my mom and dad and then us.


Larry being silly and a picture of the 4 of us in the lobby.


A view from the front door looking up at the moon. A view of the city from the island that the Burj sits on.

A visit to Sheik Zayed Mosque in Abu Dhabi. One of the largest mosques in the world.





Mom, Elle and Dani looking cute in their abayas.


The main prayer room.


Dani and my mom in their abayas.


A clock that displays the pray times for the day.


To learn more about the Sheik Zayed Mosque check out this videos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Drg71acXy_Q
I was hoping to find more informational videos about the mosque... Some of the details are amazing but I can't remember most of them.

More coming soon....