Blogs from United Arab Emirates, Middle East - page 18

We were hoping that Julie and Mick could have joined us for a brunch today, but we got the dates wrong so they have other plans. As we enjoyed our visit to the rooftop yesterday so much, this morning we fill a little time with a return visit. The pool water was not quite as warm this time, but was still very refreshing. Some further quality sun bathing completed. This afternoon we headed off to P J O´Reillys in Le Royal Meridian Hotel. It´s nice that it is in walking distance to where we are staying. This brunch is a little different to the others we have done. It is advertised as a four meat carvery, and that was exactly what it was. There was only one price, and that was including alcohol, so Theresa got ... read more

We had originally planned a day in Al Ain today, but have changed our minds. We changed our minds as it was over 100 miles each way and was going to be a day at Wadi Adventure. Instead, we drove onto Yas Island and went on the Yas F1 Circuit venue tour. We found out about this as we had an Entertainer voucher for it. And as we both enjoyed the Yas Big Bus, we thought it was an ideal thing to do. Well what a day we had. There were twelve people on our bus from various locations around the world. Our tour guide was a local who was also a racing driver / instructor. Our guide was an Arabic man speaking perfect English as he put it. He had a great presentation style and ... read more

Today we took a 24 hour ticket on the Abu Dhabi Big Bus. We have an Entertainer voucher for the Big Bus so only pay for one of us. We were at Marina Mall to catch the first bus out at 9.00 and stayed on until it reached the Sheikh Zayed Mosque. From here, we transferred onto the Yas bus which did a circuit around all of the attractions around Yas Island. We were really unsure about Yas, so it was nice to see it all from the top of the bus. It was very very hot in the sun on the top deck. They provide free bottles of water to keep you hydrated. Back at the Mosque, it was back onto the city tour bus for the journey back to Marina Mall. Today has been ... read more

After completing the packing and eating the cakes purchased last night, we managed to pack everything into the boot of the car and we are on our way to Abu Dhabi.The journey seems a lot quicker this year. Maybe we are understanding the roads a lot better this time. When we were in Abu Dhabi last year, we stayed at the Southern Sun Hotel, and we are happy to be returning there today. For our travels, it is in a great location and is a great hotel. We are staying here for seven nights this time, rather than the three we did last year. It is a four star hotel. For the Southern Sun, we are again using one of the Entertainer Travel Book vouchers. This gives us the second night free and then 20% reduction ... read more

Today we are going to Challenge Chambers. We had planned to do this when we were in Dubai last year, but due to the overnight noise issues at the Radisson we had to cancel it. We take the metro and the bus then a short walk to Sunset Mall where Challenge Chambers are. Cannot believe how quiet this shopping mall is. We have got used to the other malls which are all a lot busier. Having allowed lots of extra time for our journey here, we stopped at Provedore Café for a coffee. It is on the Entertainer list, but unfortunately not for coffees. George had a vanilla milkshake to die for and Theresa a hot chocolate. Both were great, but a bit of a too posh establishment for us. Challenge Chambers is a real life ... read more