Colourful day in Dubai

At the end of November we spent a beautiful morning at the Dubai Autodrome with 12,000 other people running around throwing colour at each other.  Pretty great day and I have the photos to prove it!  The Color Run claims to be "the happiest 5k on the planet" and it sure is... was hard not to smile!  The run brings out the fun-loving, playful side out in everyone...

Beach weekend in Fujairah

In October John and I made our way to the eastern emirate of Fujairah, around 2 hours away by car.  The drive was very scenic... through the desert and then the mountains until we wound up at the coast of the UAE, overlooking the Gulf of Oman.

We stayed at a place called Sandy Beach Hotel in Al Aqah.  Going to Fujairah was like visiting another country.  It was so different from the fancy skyscrapers of Dubai and Abu Dhabi - much more quiet!  Sandy Beach was a nice place with a great view of a large rock formation in the water called Snoopy Island (because it looks like Snoopy laying down).  At Snoopy Island there was some decent snorkelling, with a bunch of colourful fish and some coral.  Some people have seen turtles and sharks around there, but we didn't spend that much time exploring the waters there.  After going to Sipadan in Borneo, one of the best places in the world for viewing sea life, we're semi-retired from snorkelling and diving.  It was nice to just swim around and relax at the beach there!

One thing we noticed while we were at Sandy Beach was that there were a number of people pitching tents on the public beach on the other side of the hotel's property.  It would be great to go back here and try camping next time!

After our weekend trip to Fujairah, we realized that now we have been to all seven emirates of the United Arab Emirates... Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain, Ras Al Khaimah, and now Fujairah!  I haven't been to all the Canadian provinces (John has!) but have now toured the whole UAE.  Even though the UAE is much, MUCH smaller than Canada I feel like I've accomplished something.  Now I just need to hit up Manitoba and Saskatchewan to say that I've been to all 10 Canadian provinces!  :)

Souk 'til you drop

Wayyy back in October it was "Islamic New Year" and we had a 3 day weekend.  John and I decided to take the metro to Dubai Creek to visit some of the souks.  A souk is a market or bazaar - and you can spend hours inside of them wandering around and admiring the lovely items.  However, be prepared to be harassed by the shop keepers... they will drape pashminas over you as you walk by, calling out to you in multiple languages hoping that you'll respond and walk into their shop to buy something!  John got called "Hey Jack Sparrow" a few times and I received several calls of "Hey Shakira, you want a pashmina?" All you can do is laugh it off, avoid eye contact, and keep on walking!

Anyway, unfortunately for us we do not live on a metro line.  The closest metro stop to us is around 11 km away, but you can do a "park and ride" there.  The Dubai Metro is the world's longest fully automated (no drivers!) metro system in the world.  There are plans to expand the metro closer to us but that probably won't happen for another few years.  It's too bad because riding the metro is fairly cheap, clean, and less stressful than driving around on these hectic roads!

The reason we took the metro down to the souks was because it is generally very crowded down there and hard to find a parking spot.  On our afternoon we visited 3 souks - the "Old Souk" (textile souk), spice souk, and gold souk.  We had previously been to the textile souk when we first visited Dubai several years ago with our friend Greg.  It was time we headed back for a visit!

At the Old Textile Souk there are plenty of lovely pashminas and other Arabian trinkets but I was on the lookout for pillow cushions.  At the souk you need to barter hard.  It's like a game... every time you walk away the price drops!  Keep going back until you get the price you want to pay!  It's mentally tiring and after having dealt with it every time I went shopping in Vietnam, I wasn't really in a mood to barter in Dubai, so I didn't buy much.  I just wanted the experience of being in the souk and wandering around.  At the Old Souk, it's like you've gone back in time.  Wooden boats called abras sail across the creek, ferrying people across for 1 AED (around $0.37 CDN).  There are no huge skyscrapers in the area, unlike downtown Dubai.  It doesn't even feel like "the real Dubai."

With my purchases in hand, we left Souk #1 and paid our coins to the boat driver who sailed us across the creek so we could visit Souk #2... the Spice Souk.  This was the first time we had been there, and it will not be the last!  I loved wandering through that place, with the colourful mounds of spices on display outside of store windows, and all kinds of exotic aromas filling the air.  Shop keepers lure you into their doorways with promises to try their unique spices.  It's a really interesting experience!  We ended up getting some sort of incense which smelled really good.  I don't even remember what it was... sandalwood, amber?  We'll have to go back to try some more some day.

After leaving the Spice Souk we walked over to Souk #3, the Gold Souk.  I had absolutely no intentions of buying anything there - I'm not a rich Emirati!  The store windows were crammed with displays of gold bangles, gold necklaces, gold earrings... gold, gold, gold!  It seemed like most of the people at this souk were tourists just looking to take some photos here like us.  After a short time, we left and crossed back over the creek on an abra to have some lunch.

Our lunch spot was a traditional Arabic-looking place with a patio over the creek.  It was called Bayt Al Wakeel, and it was really good.  The prices were reasonable and it was nice to sit there watching the abra boats.  We ate falafel, fattoush, and had lemon mint juice which is very popular here.  It was a great way to end an interesting afternoon at the creek!

A day in Vancouver!

John and I really enjoyed our day trip from Squamish to Vancouver over the summer holiday.  The weather was perfect and we had our great friends Will and Angela as tour guides!

If anyone has only 1 day in Vancouver like us, I'd recommend one site in particular which you can spend hours upon hours at:  Stanley Park!

Stanley Park is HUGE.  It is 1001 acres of land.  In 2014 TripAdvisor named it the top park in the WORLD.  There are tons of huge trees there and some lovely walking paths.  We had a picnic in the park and enjoyed a fun game of bocce ball.  There were lots of families there enjoying the beautiful summer day.  This place is a great spot that is not to be missed!

Stanley Park is also home to the famous Vancouver Seawall which is also HUGE.  The Seawall was built around Stanley Park to help prevent erosion, but is a popular place for bikers, joggers, roller bladers, and walkers.  The Seawall also passes by beaches, so it's easy to stop for a quick swim or to lay out on the sand and soak in the sun's rays.

The Seawall loop is around 9 km long.  The views are absolutely beautiful!  I was snapping photos around every corner.  While walking along the Seawall you get a great view of the Lions Gate Bridge and can even see Mount Washington in the distance.

Vancouver seems like a very active, clean city.  It was great to finally visit there.  I think it would be a fun place to live.  The only down side is the fact that Vancouver has the second most expensive housing market in the world after Hong Kong!  Ouch... I guess beauty comes with a price!

Gondolas galore!

British Columbia has no shortage of gondolas.  No, not the kind in Venice but the kind that takes you to the top of a mountain!  Over the summer holiday we went on two spectacular gondolas.  BC is really a beautiful place that every Canadian should visit at least once in their life.  Although it sometimes costs less to buy a ticket to Europe, BC is definitely worth the splurge.  We flew across the country, literally coast to coast (from PEI to BC), but were able to keep the cost within reason as part of our multi-city journey this summer.

The first gondola we went up this summer was in Squamish where Angela and Will live.  The Sea to Sky gondola is new and worth the cost of around $40.  At the top there is a suspension bridge you can cross, and there are some walking trails to follow so you can see some great viewpoints.

The second gondola we went on was the Peak 2 Peak Gondola in Whistler.  It links Whistler Mountain with Blackcomb Mountain and is around 4.4 km long.  Part of the ride is in an enclosed gondola cabin, and another part is on open-air chair lifts.  The cost was around $50.  The best part is the chair lift since you have an unobstructed view of the mountains around you.  Disclaimer:  if you are afraid of heights, this may not be the best attraction for you.  It's high.  Really, really high!  It really is amazing and one of the best tourist attractions I have ever been to.  At the top of the mountains are some hiking trails, but we did not have time to do them.  Sometimes you can see wildlife including bears while on the gondola, but all we saw at the top were some cute marmots.  Riding the Peak 2 Peak is a great activity for a clear summer day!

Great day for an "Aquaventure" !

Last week the UAE celebrated Eid al-Adha and we got two days off school.  Flights out of the city were quite expensive and even hotels within the country were either booked or charging high rates for the holiday.  We decided to stay in Dubai and relax by spending the day on The Palm - yes, that man-made island shaped like a palm tree!  On The Palm is a huge resort called Atlantis.  Although we did not stay at the hotel, we spent one full day with our friends at the huge water park next door which was called Aquaventure.  On their website they claim to be the #1 water park in the Middle East and Europe.  If you are a resident of the UAE you can get a big discount by showing a piece of civil ID.  I did not take this photo (it's from the booking.com website) but it gives you an idea of what the Atlantis hotel and The Palm island looks like.  In the background the skyline is Dubai Marina, and on the far left you can sort of make out the Burj Khalifa and downtown Dubai.

Despite buying our tickets online in advance, we still had to wait over one hour to receive our wristbands needed for entry.  Luckily the lines at the water slides weren't too long and it was pretty easy to get a raft for the "Lazy River" floating around the park.  The Lazy River wasn't so lazy though, as it had rapids in certain sections and a "Torrent" section with large waves.  John wasn't expecting such a large wave to wash over his tube, and he ended up flipping over!

Aquaventure is right on the beach so you can also swim in the Persian Gulf waters which are very warm and calm.  From the beach there is a great view of Dubai Marina, the monorail connecting Atlantis to the rest of The Palm island, and in the distance you can see Jumeirah Beach, Burj Al Arab (sailboat-shaped building), and the Burj Khalifa downtown.

We brought our GoPro camera to Aquaventure to take some pics and video.  Aquaventure was a lot of fun and we definitely want to go back!

Where the heck is Warnemunde?

One of the last stops of our Baltic cruise was Warnemunde.  If you're wondering where that is (because I sure was!) it's a small district part of the town of Rostock in northern Germany.  I just Googled the population and it was only 8441.  We almost didn't get off the ship at this stop (just like in Kiel) because we had been to a bunch of German cities before and wanted to enjoy life on board the ship while it was in port.  Many people from the ship got off at this port and then headed by train or bus to Berlin which was several hours away.  We just visited Berlin last Christmas vacation so we didn't feel the need to make the long trip there again so soon.  I'll admit that we spent most of our time in Warnemunde at McDonald's using the free wifi, but we did walk around this cute little town to take a few pics and buy some souvenirs.  Most of the restaurants and shops were lined up along the canal going through the town, and there was even a decent beach there, although we decided not to go since the day was quite overcast and rainy.  Despite the weather, Warnemunde was a delightful place to spend an afternoon!

Two summer days in Stockholm

Stockholm, Sweden was another great destination on our Baltic cruise.  The weather was perfect and it was a nice walk from the ship straight into the Old Town (Gamla Stan).

We decided to spend our first day in Stockholm doing a free walking tour of Gamla Stan.  Unlike other Old Towns we have come across in Europe, Stockholm's was quite hilly.  Some of the cobblestone roads were a bit steep!  On our walking tour we came across the Swedish parliament buildings, the city hall where they pass out Nobel Peace Prizes every year, and a lot of grand statues of the many King Gustavs that have ruled Sweden.  Prior to the tour we sat in the square and just people-watched.  Sometimes it's nice just to do nothing but observe a foreign city over a cold drink!

Our second day in Stockholm was spent taking a small ferry boat from the Old Town to Djurgarden (an island 10 minutes away).  This island is home to Grona Lund, an amusement park which we could see from our cruise ship.  We didn't end up going there since I was hoping to visit the Tivoli Gardens amusement park in Copenhagen (which we did a few days later).

On Djurgarden we made our way to Skansen, the first "open-air museum" in Sweden.  Skansen is basically a museum/zoo spread out over a large area.  They have a replica of a 19th century village, but to be honest we didn't feel like doing the historic tour.  We just wanted to see the animals!  They had a variety of Scandinavian animals such as bears, moose, reindeer, seals, and bison.  The ones we enjoyed watching the most were the seals and the bears.  The seals were so fast swimming underwater, and one just sunbathed while perched on a rock.  The bears were play fighting and chasing each other around.  Skansen also has a lovely rose garden overlooking the city.

On our walk back to the ship we had some great views of the skyline.  Stockholm was very lively in the summer with many tourists and a cultural festival going on.  Another cool city visited on our trip!

Blue skies in Helsinki

After spending two full-on days of touring in St. Petersburg, we made our way to Helsinki, Finland for a day.  Helsinki was clean, calm, and cool.  I really liked this city and I think it was John's favourite one that we visited on our trip.  We spent our morning riding street cars and walking around the downtown area.  Our first stop was Temppeliaukio - aka "The Rock Church."  This Lutheran church is a round shape built into solid rock, with skylights and a large domed roof.  It was pretty cool to sit in there and listen to a musician play the piano despite all the people snapping photos around the place.

After finding the Rock Church we walked around town, making our way back towards the harbour.  We passed by this big crane which was holding a table of people in the sky.  It was an attraction aptly named "Dinner in the Sky."  We tried to sign up for it but it was all booked for the day.  Basically you book a time slot and then you get taken up in a crane to have a meal in the sky.  It is so odd but looks like it would be a cool experience.  We were sad that it was booked, but we had no idea that it existed before we stumbled across it.  Maybe we'll find a "Dinner in the Sky" again some day soon!

Later on we eventually found ourselves at Esplanadi, which is an area of the city with a park and streets lined with a bunch of restaurants.  We strolled on through to the waterfront area where we found some type of beer garden and spent a while using their free wifi and drinking a beer called "The Midnight Sun."

Just up the road from there was the huge Helsinki Cathedral which seemed to hover over the waterfront.  This Lutheran cathedral has a huge dome and from the outside is quite impressive.  On the inside it is fairly plain in comparison.  I liked walking up the steps and then looking back at the city.  The sky was so blue that day and the weather was warm and perfect for wandering around outdoors.

The best part about Helsinki was its relaxed vibe.  We found the Market Square near the harbour, bought some souvenirs, and ordered food from one of the stalls.  We tried some roasted potatoes and reindeer meatballs with ligonberry jam (apparently a popular meal in Finland).  It was ok but I'm not a big meat-eater so I didn't love it!  I felt a bit weird eating Prancer!  :(

I would like to visit Helsinki again some day.  It was too bad we didn't get more time in the city, but that's how cruises usually are.  Even though you get to see a lot of places, you have limited time at each port of call.  When we were sailing out of Helsinki the water was so calm and there were so many islands that were part of the Finnish archipelago.  Finland is a lovely country with friendly people.  Hopefully one day we can go back and explore some more places there!