Being a part of an international community has already allowed us to have some incredible life experiences. We are taking full advantage of living in Europe! We’ve met several families who have either lived in Dubai before living in Belgium, or have traveled there for vacation or work. Since we are a sunny destination kind of a family, we went to Dubai for our winter break. What can we say, except our trip was fabulous, too short, and most likely a redo! We learned a lot for our first vacation and have some definite thoughts on what we’d like to do on a return trip.
Top 5 thing we did in Dubai (in order of occurrence):
0. Of course, a Morrison family vacation has to have its traditional start.....the travel agent arranged for a car service to pick us up at the airport for the 1 hour drive from Abu Dhabi to Dubai. Minutes after getting all the luggage loaded, and buckling the kids into the back seat of the new Tahoe, Lindsey left the “Mark of Morrison” and threw up all over the leather seat. Welcome to the Arabian Peninsula!!! (The “NASCAR” vomiting e-mail has recently begun making its way around to some of our new friends, in case anyone’s interested!)
1. Checked in at the Atlantis hotel (same resort that’s in the Bahamas) and visit the pool, the beach, and then...... the hotel clinic. Lindsey had a temperature of 102+ for over 24 hours and they recommended we take her to the city hospital. Great care was given to Lindsey, and she was sent home with medication for strep throat and impetigo, along with a beautiful red rose for Valentine’s Day.
2. Aquadventure water park at the Atlantis was where Nicholas lived. There were water slides, a lazy river, and a children’s splash area. On Monday, Nicholas was disappointed because he was technically 2 cm shy of the height requirement, for the water slides. After a brief stretch from mom and dad, and a lesson on standing up straight, he somehow made the cut off.
3. Dolphin Bay at the Atlantis was where we were fortunate enough to play with a dolphin named Central. It was a once in a lifetime experience for all of us. Nicholas decided he’d like to be a dolphin trainer when he grows up. That was until we had an entertaining experience at the Cold Stone Creamery at the resort where the employees threw ice cream to each other from across the room and Nicholas decided he wanted to work there when he grew up.
4. A trip to the top of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world at 2,717 feet. This is almost twice as high as the 1,450 foot tall Sears Tower, and > 1,000 feet taller than Taipei 101, which comes in second. It’s more than 1/2 a mile TALL. You can buy tickets to go inside, which will get you to the 122nd of the 163 floors. Dubai has ~50 buildings that are > 650 feet tall, which is the same as New York City. The Khalifa is located outside the Dubai Mall which boasts 1,200 stores (in comparison, the Mall of America has 520 stores)! Gretchen was super excited to eat at the Outback Steakhouse for dinner, but was disappointed they didn’t serve Wallaby Darned (no alcohol is served outside of the resorts). There is a great water front scene here with an amazing water light show (think Bellagio in Vegas).
5. Arabian Desert Safari was how we spent our last night. Driving like a maniac on the sand dunes was a little too much for Gretchen and Lindsey but experiencing a wonderful desert sunset along with the culture, food, and entertainment made it worth it.
