I want to apologize for neglecting to write, but I wont!
We have been enjoying ourselves, yet staying very active.
We purchased tickets for the Big Bus tour. 10/10 would recommend this tour. We purchased delux tickets, which were reasonably priced, and offer so much.
The tour is broken into 3 lines, each line covering a different part of Dubai. One line covering the Marina, one covering the downtown and newer parts of Dubai, and the last line taking you to old Dubai.

We spent a day riding all of the lines in succession. We made minimal stops, thought the line allows you to hop on and off at will. We were anxious to take in as much information as possible so we stayed on the bus.
We did choose to hop off the bus in Old Dubai at the Dubai museum.
It was a very clever Museum with so much information. None of us were expecting it to be as expensive as it was. THe museum is mostly underground and is air conditioned for those hot summer months.
I am excited to see more of this area. This is the area where you will find the old Dubai Souk, as well as the spice souk, and gold souk. It is a solid area for taking in the traditional culture.
Near the end of our day, we realized that we would not want to ride the circuits of the bus tour back to our starting off point, so we jumped off the bus at Deira City Center, and took the metro to our destination.
I am a huge fan of the Dubai Metro system. It follows along Sheik Zayed, which is the main artery of the UAE. The metro system and trains themselves are clean, easy to navigate, and very affordable. THe spacing of the stations do require you to do some walking, depending on your final destination, but I find with the weather as lovely and relatively cool as it is now, I have no issues with any walking.
When we finally made it back to our flat, we Were pretty beat.

We have decided to be kind to ourselves. We typically start our morning slowly, which coffee and tea, and lounging around the flat. When we finally leave, we casually walk to a cafe and have a drawn out breakfast/brunch. Today we visited Shakespeare and Company located in the Marina Mall. What a lovely times. We sat outside and feasted on our giant breakfast and just enjoyed being outdoors and with family.
We made plans to then go to the Aquarium in the Atlantis Resort, located that the top of the Palm Jumeriah. (The entry was free with the Delux Big Bus ticket)
THe Atlantis is lovely, and larger than life. We enjoyed the aquarium, and browsed shops within. The shops had some items that were a bit more unique than many of the things that we have seen all over.


My friend MOMO finally arrived back in Dubai after being in Abu Dhabi since we arrived. MOMO is a friend I made in Savannah. He would frequent Foxy, where I worked. He is an emirati, meaning he is one of the natural citizens of the UAE. Meeting the natives is actually quite rare as the population is actually quite small with much of the Dubai population consisting of expatriates.

We met up with MOMO after leaving The Atlantis. We stopped by LULU’s hypermarket, then picked up his girlfriend Alice and went for food.  THey took us to one of Dubai’s oldest Restaurants. THis establishment was opened in 1978. It has been busy ever since. The owner originally came to Dubai from Iran as a child. He was an orphan and came here and worked until he could open this place. He passed away a few years back, and his sons took over the restaurant. The food was incredible. This may have been one of the few meals I did not photograph. THe place was really extraordinary. SO crowded. So wonderful.

We ate, then went out for drinks and Shisha.
We sat at a rooftop bar and enjoyed each other. Before we knew it, it was after 1am and we were closing down the place.

One interesting thing for me is the difference in going out in Dubai with an Emirati versus not. The added level of courtesy given to an Emirati is remarkable. For me, MOMO is just my friend. I think little of it. He is a person I would brunch with and speak loudly in the cafes, and would chat with across the counter at work. Here, he is treated with a higher level of service. Truly remarkable. What a treat to have this friend here. THis friend whom I met in Savannah, after having lived in Dubai some 6 years earlier. Yet here we are, in his home, enjoying ourselves.

Let’s see what adventures tomorrow may bring.