Day 2 Old Dubai and Bastikaya

Day 2 Old Dubai and Bastikaya The day began ith some restlessness as I received a text message from my Principal asking me to ring him to discuss my plans for 2018. This was fair enough as the school needs to organize staffing, but there are so many unknowns. I tried to be both honest and circumspect when I called him back later in the morning.

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.

Add caption

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 .

 

Dropping in on Dubai

After 16 months of cancer treatment, yesterday I had my last session. we are celebrating by drawing a line under the last year and taking off for a trip overseas to visit Britt and Wil in Dubai, then returning via Italy. 24 hours after bidding the staff at Freemasons Hospital goodbye, we headed to Tulla in Ginny's car. Ginny is left in sole charge of our house and garden and any other matters. We are so grateful that as well as doing the heavy lifting at work and dealing with her own affairs, she has stepped up to help us out and make this trip possible. I'm sure that Zak will be also stepping up to help with the garden watering.

 It was such a great trip from Melbourne to Dubai in the Emirates A380. We got good aisle seats and it was such a quiet craft that for most of the journey we could barely feel any vibration. Ok, fair enough, the terribly expensive Boss noise cancelling headphones also probably had a lot to do with making the journey very pleasant. After past experiences of 30 hour trips to England, the 14 hour Dubai trip was a walk in the park. The meals were terrific and the staff pleasant. We even arrived 40 minutes before schedule. When we rang Britty that we had landed, she was just leaving home. Britt and Wil had organised for duty free booze purchases and even that worked like clockwork with the guy from the duty free shop waiting patiently for us near passport control. Dubai airport was super efficient and we basically took no time to pass through security and out to a broadly smiling birthday girl, Britt.

It was only 6am but the air was already heavy with heat and humidity. We travelled home in style in Britt's gleaming blue Jag. We felt very special being chauffeured home by a beautiful, successful daughter, in a flash car to a really beautiful home a short walk from Jumeriah beach. No sleeping on the sofa in the lounge room this time. Instead we have a huge bedroom at the front of the house. We were early enough to catch Wil at home before he set off to work and there was just enough time for Britt and Wil to open up their joint birthday present, an oil painting by Pat Shirvington. Its an image of the Aussie bush with a magpie keeping watch over the heat and stillness of the scene. Hopefully they will think of home whenever they look at it.

 It was great meeting the long legged and lolloping Eddie and reacquainting ourselves with the very beautiful Bella and Molly. i made sure they would love me by being liberal with the packet of shmakoes I'd brought with me from Oz. The house is enormous when compared to the London flat and there are lots of outdoor areas. Its a really elegant and comfortable home. Soon after Wil left for work, we changed into shorts and took the girls and Eddie for a walk by the newly finished canal at the end of the street. It was great to explore the area on foot and get the lie of the land. When a police boat motored past, Britt thought they might pull us up for walking the dogs in an area that isn't designated for that purpose, but luckily they looked the other way. Even though it was considered a relatively cool day, we were all dripping by the time we got back.

The immediate area is full of huge houses and there are even a couple of embassies nearby. We also found a huge archaeological site that has been fenced off for further study. It was great to get out and about and Britt took us on a drive around to see all the new developments. Dubai seems to be growing as fast as Eddie. Whole suburbs seem to have sprung up in what was only 4 years ago, just sandy desert. We popped into the Dubai Mall to get Ginny some perfume she wanted and dad got his first experience of a Victoria's Secret store. We then went on to a favourite cafe for a cooling drink but in the end we succumbed to the temptation of the breakfast menu with Britt having scrambled eggs and dad and me sharing blueberry pancakes. Just as we were leaving, who should walk in but the owner of the business that Britt had worked with in London on the East By West restaurant project. He seems a nice, down to earth guy. From here we were off to the swanky butcher for a leg of lamb and the supermarket for the rest of the makings. John and I had promised to make slashed lamb and roast veggies. Of course there also has to be chocolate cake too, We were after all celebrating both Wil's and Britt's birthdays.

We also managed to find some no alcohol beer . Both Britt and I are cutting down on alcohol based drinks (but I'm sure we can make an exception if there is an opportunity to have some really nice champagne). By 3pm the chocolate cake was cooking ad the lamb prepped and ready for the oven We had even found the time to sample some of the beer we has bought. We had also found the time to put up the Dubai flag bunting we found in the supermarket... it is after all National Flag Day. Meanwhile, poor Wil is still soldiering on at work.