Wil and Britt had to take Eddie and Bella to the vet and while Eddie returned after a check up and shot. Bella had to stay in for the day to have her teeth looked at. This gave us a chance to walk Molly and we took the route around the perimeter of the archaeological site. Molly was her usual inquisitive self and this required a lot of sniffing and pausing.
Shortly after we got back and had a piece of toast, Britt arrived home and we set out for the ferry terminal at the end of the street. We had booked online, a ride into downtown. We got to the terminal at the appointed time but there was only a police boat moored there. While Britt tried to get an answer from the man in the office, John took a call from the booking agent to say that the boat would not be coming. Britt let the guy know in no uncertain terms that this was not acceptable. He simply couldn’t understand why it wasn’t acceptable that we booked for 10am but the boat would not be arriving till 5pm. Anyway, a sort of peace was restored when he agreed to give us free passage next week. Personally, I don’t think it will happen.
We returned home and Britt drove us in to the old historic town of Bastikaya. The gods were smiling on us and we got a 4 hour car park nearby. The street vendor pests were out in force offering us knock off pricy handbags and pashminas as soon as we got out of the car. I was delighted to use the only Arabic phrase i know “Shukra la” (no thank you). The Dubai Museum area was very busy with tourist groups and there were even some tour groups snaking around Bastikaya, but soon the place thinned out and we were left to explore the narrow streets in peace. Britt was tempted by a vintage Syrian rug but she knows her prices and that guy was not getting a sale today if he stuck to his price. We found an excellent little hotel and cafe deep in the heart of the old town and it was a chance to have some of that blissful mint and lemon drink that is so popular in Dubai. By this time the temperature had climbed to 35 degrees so it was with some reluctance that we left the cool of the cafe and meandered through the galleries and bazzar shops before heading off to the souks.
We grabbed a ride on a river ferry. The area near the Dubai Creek was thronging with tourists and the street vendors had become more insistent than they were the last time we visited Dubai. It felt a little unnecessary to be touched and certainly they were not going to get a sale from me by calling me “mother” especially as they were calling Johnny “professor” and Britt, Angelina Jolie”. The heat on the souk side of the river was very very high and I was starting to turn a strange shade of deep red. Even splashing my face with water did little to cool me down. Britt successfully haggled down the price of some Saffron (a gift for Ginny)and we made our way back to the river for the journey back to the restaurants on the other side of the creek. We were lucky to get a table in a really buzzing restaurant, soon after we were seated, a queue developed outside. We has a lovely meal of fish and barbeque marinated crabs with chips and salad.
Perhaps I failed to tell you about the most interesting part of the day (at least in John’s eyes). He noticed that there was an amazing range of manhole covers throughout the old town area. Yes he had to stop and examine each one. Yes he had to photograph each one. Apparently he plans to produce a book on them. Rather than telling him how stupid the whole idea is, Virginia has decided to encourage him, even offering to assist with presentation. Clearly this is a genetic problem, passed on to John by his dad, frank who was once going to do something similarly pointless about sheep. Now John has apparently passed the insanity gene on to Ginny.
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On the way home, we made the obligatory stop at a couple of supermarkets. I think we are eating Britt and Wil out of house and home. Then we dropped into the vet to pick up Bella, who emerged with white teeth and sweet breath, if a little groggy from the anaesthetic.
Tonight, when Wil gets home, we are off for some interesting Indian food, or so I think. The options for good food here are endless, so let’s see what happens .
