Flight-Fantasy-Food

Flight-

We arrived in Dubai after a 13 1/2 hour flight on one of the new Delta 777 aircraft. This flight, though long, was smooth and uneventful. The two meals & snacks that were served were better than many we have eaten on airplanes. There was a long list of movies to select from if one chose to stay up and view them. Fortunately, we had exit row, bulkhead seats so we had plenty of room to stretch out and sleep. We actually got more sleep than anticipated so once we got to Dubai, cleared customs and reached our hotel at 8:30PM, we went out for a walk. Our body clocks didn't seem to be too off kilter.


Fantasy-

We pinched ourselves the next morningto make sure we really had woken up in the "City of Sunshine". After breakfast we took off walking and exploring the area around the Radisson Hotel. It was located right across from Dubai Creek, so we strolled along the creek and looked at all the Dhow's. We will be taking a Dhow Dinner Cruise on the Creek during our time here. It was fascinating seeing all the fishing boats at the wharf-watching the men hose down the boats and hang their laundry out to dry. I love visiting new places and experiencing new adventures, so being able to visit Dubai is a fantasy dream come true.


Food-

An early highlight of our trip was being able to partake in an afternoon High Tea at the Burj Al Arab hotel. I had reserved it prior to our departure from home. We arrived early so we could explore this famous hotel before taking the express elevator to the 27th floor to the Skyview Bar where they served High Tea. The view from the top was breathtaking, looking off in one direction to see the Jumeirah Palm Island where the Atlantis Palm Hotel is, then off in the other direction to see the coastline which boasts an expanding number of luxury hotels and high rise buildings.

To say that High Tea was an indulgence is an understatement but one SO well worth every calorie eaten and every dollar spent. From the fresh berries and cream, the Salmon Wellington, a variety of finger sandwiches, chocolate Cream Brulee' and other sweets, to the fresh scones with clotted cream and jams, it was 2 hours well spent enjoying every morsel and crumb. Our server even packaged up some petit fours for us to enjoy later in the evening.


After Tea we decided to take a taxi over to the Mall of the Emirates seeing as how we were so close at this point. Plus, we wanted to walk off some of the calories we had just enjoyed. This gave us the chance to see Ski Dubai - the indoor ski mountain inside the Mall. Quite something to witness, snow, chair lifts, ski runs, tubing slopes etc. After a couple of hours of walking the 3 levels of this Mall, we were ready to head back to the Royal Ascot Hotel, our host hotel for this OSSN Conference.



More to come as the conference activities begin later today (Friday)....