Last Days

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Sunday 20th
Did a partial tour of the canal system by water bus - most impressive. Complete the tour tomorrow.

Discovered a great little “ristorante” on the square near the hotel - serves a good selection of food, and the top Chianti is very quaffable. Advised (to satisfy our curiosity) that a ristorante is owned by one person, a trattorie is owned by a family, but both serve the same purpose (and food)!!

Afternoon snooze to recharge the batteries.
Monday 21st
Completed the canal tour by water bus and got some good photos/movie clips. Lunch at our now favourite restaurant on the square - the maitre d’ now treating us as honoured guests - although I suspect his hearty greeting on our arrival is deigned to impress other would-be diners as they wander around the square.

Found an internet café close by - I need a printer to print out boarding passes when I check in on line, and the hotel was uncooperative. The internet place was staffed by a disinterested young guy who was initially reluctant to help me decode the Italian messages that appeared on the screen but he finally agreed to help. Checked in with Emirates, printed the boarding passes so set for tomorrow.

Final dinner at the ristorante, welcomed like lost souls, free champagne, good dinner (the baked lasagna was magnificent) and a farewell photo of Joan with the maître d’.
Tuesday 22nd
Checked out of the hotel at 1000, porter wheeled our baggage to the pier, water bus to next stop then taxi to the Marco Polo International airport. Emirates had a wheel-chair waiting for Joan and we spent a couple of hours waiting in a VIP lounge (courtesy of a pass I had purchased on the ship). Then another wheelchair ride to the aircraft. This leg was economy but the seats were very comfortable and the on-board service was excellent. Arrived in Dubai at 2345. The tour service which had organized our two day Dubai stopover provided a bus to our hotel then glorious sleep.
Wednesday 23rd
A Russian tour organizer at the hotel advised us to shop at the “smaller” City Centre Mall, not the Dubai Mall (largest in the world and expensive). “Smaller” is relative - it was still the biggest I have seen. Our shopping was limited (after Turkey and the ship!) but we covered a lot of mall territory window shopping until our feet gave in and we taxied back to the hotel.

The now regular afternoon nap and then a dinner cruise on a dhow up and down the Dubai Creek. A nice evening.
Thursday 24th
We had booked a Dubai bus tour and set off at 0945. The buses are London double-decker copies but brand new. Earphones provided for narration in any one of eight languages. There are two routes - one is a tour of the city, the other a tour of the beaches. They intersect at the City Centre mall. We took the beach tour which was awe inspiring. Dubai (and everything in it) is HUGE. It is also a very large construction site with buildings go up everywhere. Some appear to have stopped construction (economy problems) but others are forging ahead (i.e.UP).

The bus trip lasted three hours and took in some magnificent views of the Burj Al Arab, and other enormous hotels. The piece de résistance was a tour of the Palm development. It is enormous. Thirty five-star hotels, immaculate road system, just WOW!

Stopped of at the Dubai Mall on the way home (the buses run every half hour and you can get off and on whenever you want to). The Mall is as advertised - enormous and catering for very up-market products. Our purchase was a Burger King meal each!!!

And so back to the hotel.

We leave tomorrow at 1025, Brisbane at 0640 on Saturday. For Pete Hay - I won’t be able to join you for golf on Saturday morning but will join you for lunch at the Club. I’ll call you before we leave tomorrow to confirm that.

We’ve had a great time (even though Joan’s lack of mobility has hindered us a bit) but we’ll be glad to get home.

Cheers and take care,

Chesty and Joan

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