Day 3 -- Dubai

We woke up having a great night’s sleep. It was still too early to do any of the touristy things so we relaxed until it was time to go. We walked over to the Mall of Emirates and actually beat most of the store openings. We did a little souvenir shopping at a store that seemed to be double the size of WalMart but carried similar items through-out. Since it was Friday, most people were off of work and appeared to be doing their shopping.

We rode “The Big Bus” (a double-decker) around the city and our first stop was the Jumeirah Mosque. They say it’s the most photographed and visited mosque in Dubai. We happened to arrive about the time they unleashed the speakers for the “call to prayer.” It’s a pretty amazing experience to be there when it happens. The faithful start immerging on the mosque, removing their shoes at the front door, and entering. This mosque, unlike a lot of others, allows the general public to enter, except for Fridays, so we were a little out of luck. It was still a really cool experience. Even Taxi drivers abandoned their cars on the sidewalks to attend.

The next stop was a public beach that’s right next door to the Burj Al Arab, the famous 7-star hotel built on its own little island. The Persian Gulf is Kelly’s new favorite beach of the world (comparing California, Florida, Virginia, & Alaska). Its water was very, very warm and the sand was extremely soft. We didn’t go for a swim but waded out into the blue-green water while we watched many swimmers and beach-goers, oddly enough, mostly men.

We made our way to the Palm Atlantis. Driving up the “trunk” of the Palm it was obvious the amount of money poured into this country and its developments. It was just an amazing sight. The tour guide said you could buy a small apartment for $3 million and then basically the sky’s the limit. The Atlantis pretty much lived up to what we expected. The entrance ceilings had magnificent paintings and we made our way straight to the buffet. It was a little splurge but the views of the adjoining aquarium were awesome. The aquarium is filled with thousands of fish that are found locally in the Persian Gulf. It’s starting to make us want to take up scuba diving. Their colors were brilliant and the “tank” was so big I think you could spend hours sitting there if they only had benches.

Some of our other observations about Dubai in general… 1) The cars here are really, really nice. Due to the low tariffs on cars and the obvious wealth, we’ve seen just about every car imaginable and even the “junky” cars are superior to most American cities. Kelly’s favorite was the Audi R8 driven by a white-robed, with red and white headdress man wearing sunglasses. 2) It appears if you can afford to have a family, you can afford to have a nanny and maybe a driver 3) Us “whities” are the minority. I never felt very uncomfortable but I could tell we were being looked at 4) People are very friendly, speak good English, and are extremely helpful 5) Both parents take “equal” roles in parenting. It was neat to see big, tough, decked out Muslims pushing strollers with sleeping babies. Love knows no boundaries. 5) We started to gain more appreciation for the Islamic faith. Those that are faithful, really do sacrifice a lot. If Livi ever complains about the length of her shorts, we’re putting her in a long black robe with a full head veil.

We are very glad we decided to stop by and visit Dubai. We feel rested and ready to see our little boy tomorrow. We enjoyed a little relaxation and “Kelly & Lisa time.” Tomorrow’s the big day. The 1st of May will become a new King Family Holiday. Our second boy will finally be in our arms and smothered with kisses and loves. Until then…Good Night!