Pictures from our Dubai trip in June & July 2008!

A bunch of people have asked me to add some pictures of the beach and just more Dubai pictures in general so I decided to make a post of pictures from our Dubai trip in June/July 2008. We have been to the beach since we have moved out here, but I haven't had my camera with me which is why we don't have any new pictures. Enjoy!! :)

First...here's a look at the beach. The water is the Arabian Gulf/ Iranian Gulf (I've heard it go by both names here). It was formally know as the Persian Gulf. This summer we stayed at the Hilton Dubai Jumeirah Resort for about 2.5 - 3 weeks and it was heaven!! Everyday we would go to the beach and just relax! When Aaron was at work I would bring a book with me and just sit on the beach for hours (of course I was wearing SPF 75 waterproof and sitting under an umbrella...I know that is the first thing you thought of as you are reading this mom!). They also had a pool with a pool bar and a couple different restaurants outside. You could have food and drinks brought to you as you were lounging on the beach but you had the drink/eat fast because everything would either melt or get really hot. I tried Rose flavored ice cream for the first time and it was delicious!

This man pictured below would walk up and down the beach all day long with his camels. It was a tourist thing and you could pay to ride the camels. I always knew the camels would be coming our way because of their very strong, very bad smell. The first time I smelled the camels coming I actually thought it was Aaron's feet. I started to yell at him about personal hygiene but then I saw the two animals coming so I quickly stopped my lecturing!! :)

At night, the man would camp out on the beach with his camels. The picture below shows his tent and the camel's "watering hole". We took these pictures from our balcony.
Here are a few more pictures from our balcony. In the first one you can see the Palm Jumeirah. The Palm is a man-made island in the shape of a palm tree. There are many residential properties on the Palm as well as the Atlantis resort. When we were here this past summer, the Atlantis wasn't open yet. The second picture is a view of the pool from our balcony.

While we were staying at the Hilton we had to move rooms a few times. This was the balcony from our first room.

Here are a few more pictures of the beach. The water is clear and you can see your feet at the bottom. The water temperature was in the low 80s I think. It was so nice and warm but not too warm that it didn't feel refreshing to take a quick dip if we got too hot on the beach. We definitely enjoyed our stay here and it convinced me to move to Dubai for a few years! ;)

Here is a nice view of the walkway going down to the beach at the Hilton at night. I loved how they wrapped the lights around the palm trees! The second picture is the pool at night. I thought it looked pretty.

The Palace Hotel is in walking distance from where we currently live. Aaron has stayed here a few times for business. It is right near the Burj Dubai and the Dubai Mall. We stayed across the street at the Al Manzil hotel during the first few days of our stay in Dubai this past summer. The Palace Hotel also has the Souk Al Bahar which has a lot of shops and restaurants within it.

This picture below is of the reflecting pool at the Palace. It's really nice and very pretty at night when they light it up.

Here is a view of the Burj Dubai from the Palace:

This is an extremely creepy statue in front of the Palace hotel. It really freaks me out. There are a bunch of these types of statues all over the area and I really want to meet the person who thought this was a good idea. You can see the Burj Dubai lit up in the background.

Here is a crooked picture I took of the reflecting pool at night:

This is a random view of the Burj Dubai at sunset taken from our rental car. I thought it was pretty. The building to the left of the Burj is the address. I have a close up of the address a post or two below. The Grosvenor House is a very very nice hotel in Dubai. My favorite restaurant, Buddha Bar, is in the Grosvenor House. I've been there twice and it's been an amazing experience both times. If you ever come visit us in Dubai, I will definitely take you there!

The falcon is a very important bird in Dubai. I think it's because of hunting although I'm not 100% sure. There was a competition in Dubai where they had a bunch of the falcon statues (shown below) decorated and then placed throughout Dubai. This statue was covered in thousands of Swavorski crystals. It was gorgeous. The crystals really sparkled and unfortunately the picture didn't capture that. This falcon was the first thing you saw when walking into the Grosvenor House. Below is a picture of me, Aaron and Conor in front of the falcon. Conor, who was the best man in our wedding, currently lives in London and came down to visit us for a long weekend. I don't know why I look so shiny. I tried to figure out photoshop but I didn't have the patience for it!The following pictures are of us at the Buddha Bar. The first one came out really blurry but I thought it looked kind of cool. :)








We stayed at the Al Manzil hotel for the first few days we arrived in Dubai last summer as well as for a week when we came to Dubai in January. It's a nice place but I associate it with extreme jet lag and fatigue so it doesn't hold the best memories for me! The Al Manzil has a small souk and a few restaurants within it. Aaron really likes Nezesaussi which is a rugby restaurant/bar. The name is a hybrid of New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa which are three countries where rugby is a popular sport. The cuisine served is from these three countries as well. The first picture is the pool at the Al Manzil. The second picture is the outside entrance of the Al Manzil looking towards the Palace hotel.

Another night we went to Zheng He's which is a very popular Chinese restaurant in Dubai. Zheng He's is in a prime location because it overlooks the Burj Al Arab. The Burj Al Arab is the sailboat-shaped hotel that is a famous landmark inside. Aaron and I heard that the rooms are each 2 stories and you have your own private butler and maid when you stay here. It's a 6 star hotel (yeah I didn't know those existed either) however, we heard that the inside is very Vegas-casino like! When my mom comes out to visit the three of us, I am going to take her here for the afternoon tea. I heard that it is fabulous!

Zheng He's is located in a resort called the Mina Al Salam. When we first walked into the resort, there was this pool with hundreds of yellow rose petals floating on top. I loved it! :)

Here is me, Aaron and Conor in front of the Burj Al Arab. The colors on the sailboat changed from purple to blue to green to yellow. It was so pretty!

Here I am posing in front of the Burj Al Arab. I was excited because I had never been this close to it! Keep in mind it was about a steamy 100 degrees outside! :)
The three of us: (Notice the Burj Al Arab changed to yellow in the second picture)

A couple pictures of us eating at Zheng He's. Aaron is about to try his Amouse- Bouche, which is a a single, bite-sized hors d’œuvre that is supposed to give you a "taste" for how the entire meal will be! We only knew what that was because we are Top Chef fanatics!! I tried to get rid of my red eye but once again I couldn't figure it out. If anyone knows of any easy, user-friendly programs that don't take 5 hours to load please let me know!!

Phew!! I hope you enjoyed this post because it took me FOREVER to do!!! :)