Kinsells in London: Dubai, November 22-27, 2015

Over the top! That's the best way I can describe Dubai. Everything is beyond fancy and overdone, I loved it!

Dubai is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates. It is located on the southeastern coast of the Persian Gulf and is one of the seven emirates that make up the country. Abu Dhabi and Dubai are the only two emirates to have veto power over critical matters of national importance in the country's legislature.

Josh had business in Dubai last Thanksgiving, but I was 8 months pregnant so I was not able to join him. This year when the opportunity arose, I was in! I was nervous, but knew I HAD to take advantage of this opportunity.

We flew out of London on an Emirates plane. It was amazing! The plane was 2 stories with a bar and shower, just like Jennifer Anniston advertises on the commercials. They were amazing and bent over backwards to make a baby comfortable. They gave him a special toy, blanket, travel pack, and a special family photo. This was by far my favorite flight...you definitely did't feel like you were flying.

The plane was so big Josh could actually stand up straight

Our family picture

We stayed at the Dust Thani Hotel, it was in a great location right by the mall and had a shuttle service to bring you around the city. It was a Thai themed hotel with nightly Thai dancing, fresh flowers daily, and the best breakfast buffet I have ever experienced.

Our hotel room

Josh was busy with work, but we made some family time for exploring the mall aquarium and pool time!

We went to dinner at Abd El Wahab, a delicious Lebanese restaurant. We loved the view because it was right by the The Dubai Fountain, the world's largest choreographed fountain system set on the 30-acre manmade Burj Khalifa Lake, it was designed by the California-based company responsible for the fountains at the Bellagio Hotel Lake in Las Vegas. Illuminated by 6,600 lights and 25 colored projectors, it is 275 m (902 ft) long and shoots water up to 500 ft (152.4 m) into the air accompanied by a range of classical to contemporary Arabic and world music. It was built at a cost of AED 800 million (USD $218 million).

The next day, Harvey and I spent the day exploring the Dubai Mall. The Dubai Mall is the largest in the world and includes 1,200 shops. It took us all day and we didn't even see everything. It was a blast!

Dinner at Texas Roadhouse...iced tea and white gravy... here come the Kinsells!

On Wednesday, Harvey and I took the Big Bus tour of Dubai. It was such a great idea. We got a tour of the city up on the double decker bus, and Harvey took a long nap. Dubai is a young city, so not too many historical buildings, but there was lots of interesting sites and people watching. I felt very safe on the bus tour being a women alone with an infant.

Dubai World Trade Center, a 39-story office tower stands 149 meters (489 feet) tall and a majority of the floors are let commercially. At the time it was built, it was the tallest building in Dubai and the first high rise along Sheikh Zayed Road. The tenants of the building include Federal Express, General Motors, Johnson & Johnson, MasterCard International, and Sony. The building is featured on the 100 dirham banknote and was opened by the Queen of England.

The Burj Khalifa is the tallest artificial structure in the world, standing at 829.8 m (2,722 ft) is designed to be the centerpiece of Downtown Dubai. The decision to build the building is based on the government's decision to diversify from an oil-based economy, and for Dubai to gain international recognition. The building was named in honor of the ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the United Arab Emirates, Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan; Abu Dhabi and the UAE government lent Dubai money to pay its debts.

Dubai export ship

Of course we had to get all the American food we could! Harvey and I ate lunch at I-Hop and had the banana pudding pancakes...YUM!

We had a fancy dinner with Josh's work group, and Harvey loved the chicken satay. Again we enjoyed the beautiful fountain show during our meal at Thiptara Thai Cusine and everything was beautiful.

The next day was Thanksgiving and my 32nd birthday! Josh was busy all day and night so I packed our schedule and Harvey and I hit the city! We started with a tour of the Palace, and a visit to a flamingo sanctuary, and a birthday lunch at Wendy's!

We went back to the hotel for an afternoon nap, and I got a surprise knock on the door. A birthday cake from Josh! I was really excited!

That evening Harvey and I went on a sunset desert tour. By far my favorite part of the trip! We took a bus out to the dessert and we were greeted with Turkish coffee and dates, rode a camel, got to see a falcon show, had henna artist, and a beautiful view of the sun setting on the dunes. It was an amazing birthday and Thanksgiving!