Our connection with Dubai started last year when my husband and son were about to travel to Switzerland for a few days. After they arrived at the airport they were told they can't go, because of something Covid related, I don’t remember exactly what the issue was. It was really disappointing for my son who had been looking forward to this trip for a long time, so my son asked if there was anywhere else they could go instead, seeing as they were in the airport already. It turned out there was a flight to Dubai leaving shortly and they had the papers they needed to enter that country, so with all their winter and ski equipment they flew off to the hot weather in Dubai!
They loved it so much that we knew at the first opportunity we would go all together as a family trip.
This winter we finally had the chance and went for ten days. It was an amazing experience and I would love to share it with you.
The adventure started on Monday evening when we arrived at Manchester Airport and travelled with Emirates airline to Dubai.
The airplanes are huge, with two floors, and we got seats on the upper floor. It was a very long flight and we were very tired so we slept through most of it. We arrived at 9 in the morning but we could only check in to our rental apartment at 3, so meanwhile we went to sit at the beach. We found a quiet place near a playground where the kids could play while we rested.
At 3pm we could finally go to our apartment, which was up on the 34th floor (don’t worry, there was a lift...) and the view of the marina was absolutely amazing. We were so tired that it took us 2 days to get over the jet lag, but then we made up for the lost time.
There are 4 kosher restaurants that we enjoyed there in Dubai, 3 meaty and 1 milky. It's really a treat for us to go to restaurants as we usually eat at home in everyday life, so when we go on holiday we enjoy dining out.
We went to the Expo 2020 a really amazing thing, where 192 countries from all over the world gather together and show their country in a very special way. It's like a huge city! The expo is a temporary display, for only 6 months. We found it so fascinating that we went 3 times and only saw about 20 countries. It's massive and you need plenty of time to explore all of the countries. It's really very interesting and highly recommended if you go to Dubai.
Friday evening we joined a Chabad Shabbat meal. it was amazing as usual, we meet people from all over the world, the food was delicious and the atmosphere was special.
And yes we climbed 34 floors on our way back! We knew it and we were fine with it. It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be, it was more boring as it's very monotonous, but yay, we did it!
Going down was actually more challenging; I was surprised, I was sure climbing up would
be harder!
After the Shabbos we meal we walked around the marina until the end of Shabbos – it’s a beautiful place to walk especially when the weather is so nice.
We went to see the old city of Dubai. It was interesting to see how the people in Dubai lived before they found oil; a really simple life. We walked around the market and then took a boat to the other side of the lake to see the spice market and the gold market. It was all very colourful and interesting to see, and a real gold mine for a photographer!
There is a company that organises desert tours which we booked. A driver came to pick us up from our apartment to take us to the desert. We drove there and then he took out some air from the tires and drove about 15 minutes in the sand dunes. People really enjoy the experience! Then he took us to a Bedouin camp. It was just before sunset - a special time of day to go there.
The Bedouins had a dance show but obviously we watched only when the men were dancing. The kids really enjoyed it.
We went to the Burj Khalifa fountain show it was absolutely amazing. The Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world, with a huge shopping mall around it.
Many people come to watch the fountain show. It's really special.
On our last day we travelled to Hatta, the Dubai 'country side'. It takes about 90 minutes; the first half is driving along the desert then the second half is mountains. In Hatta we went for a short walk in the countryside. It’s the place where the locals come to have picnic. Then we went to 2 local parks. Everything is spotless, new and welcoming.
The interesting part was the heritage village – a walk into an old village where you can see how people used to live in the past.
We wanted to go to the Hatta Dam (artificial lake) but it was closed due to constructions.
It was a very special holiday and definitely a place that we want to visit again next winter. We highly recommend it!
