BACK FROM DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES
I returned to Dubai, last week. It took me that long to overcome jet lag, myalgia, arthralgia, uncontrolled elation, in order to put some orders in my thoughts.
“See Paris and die” is not obsolete, but it is clear that a better trip than a trip to Dubai has to be another trip to Dubai. New York may be best for business, London best for culture, Rio de Janeiro best for leisure, but Dubai’s appeal has been to bid, out of the desert, a metropolis that presents the sum of what everyone else tenders.
Indeed, over 1,588 square miles, the most famous of the seven Emirates, adjacent to the Arabian Gulf, gives you all you can handle: tallest buildings, museums, sporting events, festivals, desert safari, a ski slope, great restaurants, intense night life, and a slew of business and professional opportunities. Since anyone who has any money to their name has some money invested in Dubai, safety and security are unmatched.
I had the opportunity to use the services of our Travel Club for professionals for this oh-so unforgettable odyssey. All I had to do is to show up at the airport, and to tell my ride when to come back and get me.
The staff at Travel O Ganza organized everything in the most minute details, in a 18-20 hour daily schedule, while cutting 50% off the expenses that I would have incurred if I had done the trip on my own. I had no need for planning. Everything was planned, pre-ordered and pre-paid. Flights, accommodations excursions, entertainments, and services were simply FA-BU-LOUS.
It all started with Emirates Airlines, the world best airline, on a two-deck, 600-passenger aircraft, where services and amenities are incomparable. Just think that everyone had enough leg room to share, free Wi-Fi service and a personal monitor with 200 channels of movies, information and entertainment. All along, we were attended by a squad of models, oops!, of stewardesses who served us three meals, and unlimited drinks during the 13 hours the flight lasted.
During the week we spent in the Emirates, you would have seen everything you want to see, then some.
On Day One, we had drivers, guides, and two large fancy buses waiting at DXB Airport. Since we had to kill seven hours before checking in at the resort, by the time we made it to Palm Jumeirah Island (the jewel of Dubai), we completed the incredible schedule below:
▪ Breakfast at Emirates Hotel
▪ Welcome and orientation session
▪ A presentation on the history, present and future of Dubai
▪ Visit at Burj Khalifa, the tallest building ever, and its observatory above the rest of the world
▪ Exploration of Dubai Mall, the largest mall in the known universe
▪ Group picture
No less than twenty six (26) hours after we left home, we checked in at Anantara The Palm Resort. Everything that you can fathom about a resort, Anantara beats it. It started with the most welcoming sophisticated staff at a private check-in reception and ended in a bungalow in the water. The whole place is eerily out of this world.
We only had less than two hours to unpack, rest, shower, and dress up… At 8:00 PM, the 62 of us were back in the buses, on the way to the Arabic dhow boat dinner cruise dance party on the Arabian Gulf. The event was to be followed by a stop at the new night club at Waldorf Astoria, next to Anantara. And that was only for Day One. Granted, this latter stop was only for only the restless.
(The Traveller, Monday, April 17, 2017)
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