Dubai - Day 9 Aquaventure at Atlantis

Today has been an amazing day! We went to the water park Aquaventure, at Atlantis, which is situated at the top of "The Palm" and we've had such a good time!
The drive there was spectacular too. The whole of Dubai really is spectacular and visually pleasing with all the shiny, fabulous skyscrapers and all the cool architecture.
Here's Jumeira Beach and the Burj Al Arab, commonly known as "The Sail" - the building that was all that and brand new 10 years ago when I used to come here.



Here we are driving out on The Palm itself, you can see the amazing Atlantis in the distance.



Waiting for the Dads getting the tickets, whole watching a movie of all the thrilling rides we are going to try!
Changed and ready to go!
We started with this ride, which was actually my favourite: 'Shark Attack', where you went on/in rubber rings through a tunnel IN the shark tank! Very, very cool! Tons of fish swimming around under and over you, and you could also see other park guests snorkeling in the tank.
Nathan and Linnea:
Frederik and Daniel:
Lucas and I:
Malthe and Lucas:
Anne and Daniel:
Frozen yoghurt break after a few rides.
All of these channels were connected in the park, with lots of rapids, torrents and falls to pass through. That's actually me there bobbing along in the rubber ring!
Nathan and the kids getting out of theirs at the main beach:
Nathan went up to try this ride, the 'Leap of Faith', 27,5m up.
And we waited and waited to try and spot him...
And waited... The queue must have been very long...
There he was! Lucky he had a coloured rash vest on so that he was easy to distinguish from all the other riders.
Then we spent the rest of the afternoon in the Splash Park, the kids area:
Kids enjoyed the big bucket of water that kept spilling over on them.
Anne and I also met up with an old friend from Brunei also here on holiday, such a lovely surprise to be able to meet up here!
We just caught the sunset whilst driving home.
Some of the Dubai skyline.

Such a great day..! *Sighing happily*.

Dubai - Day 9 Indulgence

Ha ha, one thing is for sure, this is not happening this year..!
Why not?

Well... Let's just say champagne, frozen youghurt, meatballs, cooked ham, wine, æbleflæsk, rödkål, snaps, marzipan, pepparkakor, chocolates, fresh croissants, pâté, cheeses, Baileys, cinnamon lattes, nougat, caramelized potatoes, chokladflarn, beer, chocolate chip cookies, Subway sandwiches... And other Christmas goodies... Om-nom, nom, nom!

Dubai - Day 8 Reflections

Having spent about a week here in Dubai, all I can say is that I'm hooked. This place is crazy, glitzy, glam and materialistic beyond anyone’s wildest dreams; but also such a fascinating melting pot of people from all over!
Located where Europe, Asia and Africa meet and with such a mix of nationalities and people from different cultures, it can only turn into an exciting and exhilarating place!

Every visitor here gets treated like a VIP. That's not just us and not just because it's Christmas time, but always. And I have a feeling ALL visitors respond to that treatment by spending like VIPs too! With a myriad shopping malls, a dizzying array of dining options and hip clubs and bars, it’s all just too easy!

These last few days I do hope I will get the chance to surpass the somewhat ostentatious nature of Dubai though and get under the surface to see the other Dubai.
I would like to get down by the Dubai Creek and watch the dhow (= traditional wooden boat) traffic and walk the streets of the Bastakia area, visit the Heritage Village and learn a bit more about the Emiratis and this epic place.

Dubai - Christmas Day

Our Christmas Day has been spent just like it should be spent - not doing much.
The kids have been busy all day playing with their presents, building Lego, having Nerf battles etc.

Ida's best gift so far was the pink dressing table she got. She has been sitting by it most of the day, pretending to make herself pretty, or getting the help of Linnea or even Daniel, pretending to be hairdressers.


Daniel too scored lots of great presents. This safe for example, a great hit.


A part from playing, we've been watching even more Disney movies and just been chilling out.








And - Nathan's big gift came to great use!! :) Looks quite nice, no?



Lucas also got a lesson in how to pull a beer properly from this keg the guys had got. Kiwi kid 101.



We had a huge Christmas lunch with all the goodies. It feels like we haven't done much more than just eat the last three days! Again, It was so, so good and I ate fare too much, but hey - isn't that what Christmas is about?

After dinner the energy levels picked up and we had a bit of a disco in the living room! Cranked up the Michael Jackson and it was all go, go, go!






A lovely, relaxed, peaceful Christmas Day. Now we are all charged up for some more fun, Dubai style! Tomorrow we've promised the kids to attack a water park! Not sure who is more excited, the kids or I!

Dubai - The biggest present

I bought Nathan a Christmas present the other day during one of our shopping trips. I got it wrapped up in the store, in this huge box. Since then it's been standing in our room, teasing everybody, especially Nathan who couldn't understand what on earth he would like from Pottery Barn? Ha ha!

Well, when the rest of us opened our presents last night after the kids were in bed, Nathan wanted to save the big one until the kids could take part in opening it, this morning.


You could almost touch the suspense in the air!


Everybody took part in the unpacking. What could be in this big box??


Nearly there...


And it was... a... bowl..?


Well, not just any bowl but a cooler, for wine, or champagne - or beer, as you will see in a later post! Actually kind of useful, even for Nathan!

Dubai - Merry Christmas!

Finally, the moment had come, Frederik was on his way from the airport and we knew from safe sources that Santa had cleared customs too!

The one with the biggest smile would get the biggest present!
While the kids were out the front looking for Santa, Santa actually snuck in the back way and put all the presents under the tree. This is the front...
... and this is the back..!
Then the opening-presents-carnage begun! We tried to do it slowly and controlled but with five super excited kids we had no chance!
I didn't manage to take any photos of our yummy Danish Christmas dinner, but here's one of the kids eating dessert, searching for the hidden almond!