Kids - The World is Quite Big

New York

This has always been on my ‘to visit’ list. It’s just a magical place where dreams are made etc. As always, Charlotte was the driver behind this one. ‘I’ve found cheap flights’ and ‘can I book this’ are her two favourite phrases. I’m glad she booked this one though.

A lot of this trip was in the planning. New York is massive, with so many things to see and do. We had a ‘must see’ list, and then I found a load of things which I knew we’d all want to see. About 80% of people who I told about this trip asked if we were taking the kids with us. Yes, is the answer. Of course, it would have been a completely different itinerary if we didn’t, but we can always come back another time!

Flights

We had booked flights with British Airways, and I was excited. I put BA up there with maybe one of the best airlines in the world-prestige, quality, great service. Oh no, not this time though because we actually flew with airline giants, Evelop! Yeah, I hadn’t heard of them either. BA had given this flight to them until January while they serviced their planes or something. What a swizz.

It was like flying with EasyJet for 8 hours. Had one cup of coffee. Food was weird. Amelia’s TV broke, so they turned mine off, and the woman’s behind me, who wasn’t happy about it. Film selection was weak. Just general rubbish flight!! I would say ‘never again’ but we have to fly back with them.

Landed at JFK, and the queue for immigration was MASSIVE!! Took a bloody age. We then got a taxi to our hotel in Brooklyn and we were tired. Landed at 2000 US time, which is 5 hours behind UK. We would have got a train to keep costs down, but as it was late, and we didn’t fancy trying to find which way to go, we got a taxi.

Brooklyn

Brooklyn was the choice for a couple of reasons. Main one was cost. Manhattan over New Year’s Eve wasn’t cheap. Initially, we booked an AirBnB, which was lovely, but we then changed to a hotel as we got a free breakfast with it! Another reason was it was only 20 mins to Manhattan on the subway, plus we got to see a bit more of New York that we wouldn’t normally see. It fitted in with our other travels of not staying in the dead centre, and seeing how locals live. Times Square definitively isn’t normal living!!

First morning, early wake up. Time difference probably made this easier as getting up at 0700 was 1200 in UK. Nice. Lovely breakfast at hotel, waffles and syrup and eggs and sausage and coffee.

For the trip planning, we had picked what we wanted to see, and then I clumped the nearby activities together. Today was DUMBO (Down Under Manhattan Bridge Overpass) and South Manhattan. We took a subway to just near Manhattan Bridge to get the iconic picture. Stan was also wearing the t-shirt with the pic on, so that was cool.

Brooklyn Bridge

Had a walk around and then headed to Brooklyn Bridge to walk into Manhattan. This was ace. The views were amazing, you could see the whole skyline. The people were busy. It’s weird being a tourist in a city, and all you can hear is other tourists. It’s the same for every ‘tourist’ part though.

Some parts of the bridge are narrower than others. There is a left and right side, but people don’t follow rules like we do. Cycle lane is used every now and then by cyclists who either took a wrong turn, or didn’t know what they were letting themselves in for. Ding ding ding on the bell as they tried to weave past people in the cycle lane.

There are also cops on the bridge in glorified golf buggies! They were pretty ace.

The cop inside didn’t mind having his pic taken!

Over the other side, we found a street show. Some break dancers doing some spinning on the floor. Then demanding people give them money to watch. It was a pretty slick routine, but a massive anti-climax.

Headed down towards Wall Street. Stopped at a McDonald’s and had some food. It’s not as cheap as our stuff, which was a shame, but if I worked on Wall St, I probs wouldn’t worry about the price of a happy meal ($4.99).

Fearless Girl

Continued down the road to see the Fearless Girl statue. I knew where she was, but Google maps hadn’t moved her from her original place. She used to live by the Charging Bull, which is pretty much like the one in Brum I think. I say I think, it was that crowded I couldn’t see it! Literally a queue to take a picture of it!

Asked a hot dog seller where the Stock Exchange was, and that’s where the Fearless Girl now lives. No where near as busy as the bull, but more impressive. She’s a boss.

Statue of Liberty

Walked down Broad Street, which is a bit different to the one in Brum. This one was the first to be paved in New York. Went to Battery Park to recharge (haha sorry) and found the queue for the Statue of Liberty. Initially we were just going to get the free Staten Island ferry across to go past her, but the kids wanted to visit, so we did. Fairly long queue to get the ticket, then you have to queue to go through an airport style security check. Then wait for the boat in a queue.

Battery park is just to the left. Loads of these quite cool blocks for security reasons.

Ride across isn’t too bad. Ferry needs more chairs if anything. As we got off I heard a dude say ‘yeah 240’, which I guessed meant passenger numbers. I asked what the most is and he said 800, which would be horrible going across with!!

Had a walk around the statue. Loads of people seeing her, taking pics and that. Nice little Liberty Island. Whilst here, we went to the museum but didn’t learn much. Went back across on the ferry. You can go up to the crown, but you need to book a couple of months in advance. We didn’t do that.

You pay extra to go on the plinth behind, and more for the crown.

Ground Zero

We had a walk to Ground Zero to see the 9/11 memorial. It’s a really nice, lovely park that they have made. The two sites are immaculate and well kept, and is a fitting tribute to what happened. Some folk were taking selfies there and smiling, and I thought that was a bit crass.

They put a flower next to the persons name on their birthday.

Went back to the hotel after this, having done a shed load of steps and had a really good day.

The Ride

Day two started in Times Square. The plan changed slightly as I decided to book The Ride. This is an entertainment bus, where there are three rows of seats facing out to the left hand side of the bus, which has glass front , or side. There are two people who are the comperes and they give you a tour of a bit of New York. As you’re driving around, they make jokes and laugh at people for wearing ponchos, or carrying dogs and that, but then there are people on the streets who are part of the show. Another was, restaurants in Times Square are legally allowed to add 30% to food bills as tax, because of the high rental prices.

A cleaner will start tap dancing, or a bloke in a top hat raps at you, or a couple do ballet. It’s a bit of fun, but not worth $69 each! We bought an Explorer Pass, so it wasn’t that much for us. There are a few types of passes-City Pass being the main one. If you are doing a few big activities, it does save you time and money. Don’t spend $69 on the ride though. I did learn some cool stuff though, like one of the buildings was moved down the road on rollers, as it was a listed building and they wanted space for another building. Literally picked it up and rolled it down the street and plumbed it all back in!

New York Public Library

Next in the list was New York Public Library. Two reasons to see this. 1, lovely architecture and that. 2, it is home of the original Winnie the Pooh and friends!! Lovely story. A.A.Milne would travel to London, and bring his son, Christopher Robin a teddy back. Him and his mate decided to write a story about the ‘adventures’ they got up to, and it ended up in a newspaper and then everything else. Original Winnie looked a bit sad though, so they drew him a bit more fun. He had Tigger and Eyeore and Kanga (Roo was lost in the 1930s) and piglet, really nice to see.

Winnie has defo had a make over in the films!

Whispering Arches

Little walk down the road to see Grand Central station. Another iconic building with amazing architecture. Including, the whispering arches. You can stand across the hallway, and talking into an alcove, and the person on the other side can hear because the sound travels up and around the domed ceiling! Amazing. Bit of a queue to do this too. Queuing is quite a big thing in NY.

Today was the only day it rained, but by gosh did it rain. Just a constant drizzle of really wet annoying rain. We ploughed through with just our coats, it’s only a bit of rain innit. My coat was not quite a coat, and more like a flannel so I was soaked through. Was nice getting to places to take them off and put in the cloak room, or coat check as Americans call it!

MoMa

We did this in the Museum of Modern Art. This was a busy museum. Main draws in here are Van Gogh’s ‘Stary Night’ and Monet’s ‘Waterlillies’. There are some Picasso’s and Magritte’s and that too. There was a queue for Stary Night. Never seen anything like it! Char waited in line while Amelia and I walked around for a bit. After we had done a loop, we had somehow ended up in the Stary Night room and Char was like ‘are you serious’!? It was much easier to go in the back way and just not queue! Weird.

We somehow missed some of the paintings I wanted to see, like Andy Warhol’s ‘Campbell Soup’, and Rousseau’s ‘The Dream’. I had asked someone where Monet was, and she told me the wrong room, like she didn’t even care. This will be a common theme throughout New York.

We had a quick walk round Times Square after this. Today was 30th Dec so they were getting ready for the little party the next day. It was so busy and not great. Went home.

I had to say ‘big fat butt head’ or something to make them smile for the camera.

I loved seeing the steam from underground!

Who Ya Gonna Call?

New Years Eve started off great! We went to Tribeca, so called from the words ‘Triangle Below Canal street’. Clever. Here though is Hook and Ladder 8, a fire station which is instantly recognizable as the one from Ghostbusters! Their HQ was this building, which has painted the logo outside for extra photo ops. We looked in the letterbox, but couldn’t see much, but then the bloody fire engine came back from a call! It had the logo on the front, and the firefighter’s uniform had the Ghostbusters stuff on. Amazing. They kept the big doors open when they were in, and they had a little shop selling FDNY T-shirt they wore! So we got Stan one. He went in and had a good look around. A defo must for anyone who likes Ghostbusters!

Color Factory

After this, we walked to the Color Factory. I’m not quite sure how to describe this place. It’s like, a colour experience? There are loads of different rooms with different things to do in each. Like a sensory overload thing, but with macrons and sweets and ice cream included! The best bit is defo the massive ball pit. Amazing. Staff were lovely. It’s an Instagramers dream! There’s a couple of these in America, but they move round every now and then. I think New York is moving soon.

Oh we nearly had trouble getting in here. You can only get tickets online, so pre-book is the only way of getting in. We had the Explorer Pass to use for here. When we arrived it said ‘sold out’. They wouldn’t let us in first of all as ‘third party purchases’ were not allowed today. I said a one sentence argument, and they let us in.

After an hour and half in there, we walked outside to a building which loads of people know. The Friends Apartment block! Char was not impressed! Not sure what she was expecting mind. From here we were walking to the Sex and the City apartment. Well, Carrie Bradshaw’s apartment. The houses were bloody lovely along here. Even the doors and stairs to them were awesome.

Bit of Sick

Before we got there, fancied a quick bite to eat, so went to a Dunkin Donuts. It was hard work as the cashier couldn’t really understand us and she was more concerned about the wrong change she had given to the bloke before us. Partly my fault. She had change for a $5, but then she asked if it was a $20 he had given her. I said twenty, thinking she wouldn’t believe me, but did! I didn’t see what he gave her so he may be up!

Half way through the bargain priced croissants which Stan wouldn’t eat, he decided to go sick. First of all a little bit, which Char caught in a paper bag. Then a bit more. Then the bag ripped from having a load of sick in. And then more sick. It was blue from the ice cream in the colour factory! Quite fitting. Took a while to get someone’s attention to start a clean up. I used about a hundred napkins. Then they gave me a bit of blue tissue. Weren’t bothered at all! People were stepping over it. One couple sat next to us left. After I cleaned it up, I asked to use a sink to wash my hands, and he just invited me behind the counter, with all the food. Nice.

This was just next to Dunkin Donuts. Thought it was cool!

Saw Carrie Bradshaw’s house, and instantly jumped into a waiting taxi to go to the next place. I had booked free tickets to go up the Vessel. This is a weird art installation step statue building thing. Look at the picture to understand. In the taxi I realised we were a bit early, so got out at the start of the High Line.

The High Line

This is an old railway track that’s been lovingly converted into an urban garden walkway. Really nicely done. It’s up on a bridge type thing so you walk over part of the city, looking down, whilst seeing bits of art work and birds. Quite busy place, but also very relaxing and rewarding.

The Vessel

At the end of the high line is where the vessel is. Char saw it and said ‘nopes’! Her and Stan went into the shopping centre for a Shake Shack, and me and Meelie went up. Really cool thing. Loads of steps, nice views. Saw a rooftop spa on a nearby building. Came down, found Char and Stan, and sat in the shopping centre for a bit while the kids played with a sequinned filled wall.

Walked back towards Times Square and found Macy’s. Amelia has wanted to go in here, so we did. It’s quite big. Like a big Debenhams. It was New Years Eve, so everywhere seemed well busy outside. Street sellers popped up selling light up glasses with ‘2020’ on them. Kids got a pair to wear for our party in our hotel room tonight.

New Years Eve

We didn’t really want to stay outside till midnight. Times Square is a definite no-no. You have to get penned in at 1200, with no toilets or anything whilst in. Another place which is supposed to be good is Prospect Park in Brooklyn. We ordered pizza and were asleep by 2100! First time i hadn’t stayed up to see the bongs! We did call Char’s mum and dad at their midnight though, so it’s like the same.

Central Park

New Year’s Day is here. A new year in New York. It was a bucket list thing for Char. Tick. We went out to Central Park. Got subway up to Columbus whatever and walked through the south west corner. Went for a little walk and saw that it was such a stark contrast to the rest of the city. Lovely serene feeling.

Walked through Strawberry Fields and saw the ‘Imagine’ mural on the floor. Quite a few folk here taking pictures of it. There was a guy playing one Beatle’s song, despite a sign which says ‘no playing music’.

He wanted to so a Spiderman pose. She didn’t know what to do.

Day at the Museum

Carried on up to get to our 2nd destination, which was the American Museum of Natural History. This is made famous by Night at the Museum, which is a great film! There are a couple of ways of getting in. One is to have a city pass like we did. Two is queuing up and paying the $18 or whatever the entrance fee is. Three is, queue up and pay whatever you want! The $18 is a ‘suggested’ fee, so you can pay 25 cents if you want, and they will let you in. Boom. Above all, the City Pass queue is a lot shorter.

Spent ages in here. 4 floors, with different parts of the world and animals and space in different rooms. From the film, T-Rex is the big prize. The main dinosaur is now in a special exhibition where you have to pay more. We didn’t, as we saw one in another room. Another cool thing is the Easter Island head. ‘Hey dum dum’. That one.

It’s a really nice museum. Certainly on par with the British one, but probs bigger. One place I would swerve is the cafe there. Bit of a rip off! There was a butterfly exhibition too, but we had to get a special ticket to see it, which we didn’t know about. Was a bit expensive for a tiny walk through thing.

Dead Pet Tree

We left the museum and headed over the road back to Central Park. I had seen a tweet the day before from Jane Fallon, talented wife of Ricky Gervais. She said that there is a tree in Central Park where people hang pictures of their dead pets. I was in! Mission was to find it. She said it was in The Ramble, near the Bird Feed area. I saw both of these on the map, and it happened to be en-route to my next stop, so perfect.

Finally found it, after asking a couple of walkers who didn’t know what it was, but too look over there’, which is just where it was. Bit weird to be honest. One of the pictures looked like a dinosaur. Headed on from here. We had passed a lake which was nice, and then the Boathouse, and carried on to the Alice in Wonderland statue. It’s one of my favourite books, and the statue is quite nice! Quite big, with all the characters there. Nice.

Walked back south towards the city after this, got a hotdog on the way. Passed The Plaza hotel, famous for Home Alone 2. Saw the worlds biggest menorah too! Passed Trump Tower, and ended up in American Girl shop. It’s like Barbie, but bigger. The shop is pretty cool to be fair. Had a go at basket ball, and Amelia spent some Xmas money on an outfit for her doll back home.

Plan was to go to Ellen’s Stardust Diner. First of all, we had about 5 recommendations from people to go there, more than anything else! Secondly though, we saw the queue, asked people at front how long they had queued, and it was like an hour wait. Char was getting hangry, kids were tired. Went here and there to get food, and finally ended up waiting 25 mins for a table in Juniors. Times Square is busy for food!

They went for carrot cake. Well expensive for a pudding!

Was an ok dinner. Spent a fair bit in there, service was decent from the manager, and had some lovely cheese cake too. Went to bed quite tired, and this was to be our last night at the hotel. Packed our bag, and slept well.

Last Day

Final breakfast, filled up. Dropped our bags at reception and headed out for an almost full day. We had booked to go Top of the Rock observation deck at 1245, which gave us enough time to go ice skating at Bryant Park, or so we thought. Used our city pass to get tickets, but after 5 mins on the ice, we had to get off so they could clean the ice!

Kept getting told off for having phone out on ice. Asked an old lady sat around the outside to take a pic, and begged her not to run away with my phone as I didn’t fancy chasing her on my skates.

It had taken us about half out to get our skates on, and find a padlock to lock our stuff away in the locker. Was a weird system. You had to keep your shoes and put them in a locker, but locks weren’t provided!? They would sell you a combination lock for $12! No ta. Char managed to find one with the number on, so we used that.

Anyway, we were kicked off the ice, which would have taken 20 mins to clean. We had a bit of an argument with a worker and she finally gave us return tickets for later as our tickets for Top of the Rock were due soon.

Top of the Rock

Went to the Rockerfeller Centre, and got in line. We were shouted at a bit more about getting in this line and that line, then shouted at through security, then shouted at to get into another line, then shouted at to get our picture taken, then shouted at to get in an elevator. Char was dreading this bit. Not a fan of lifts, and also high buildings, but she did really well!

Quite nice views from up there. It’s quite busy, but not too bad. You can go a bit higher, and a bit more higher when on the deck, which we did. Getting down to ground level is a bit of a queue, but it went down fairly fast. We were shouted at to get as close to the people in front of us for some reason. It didn’t make the queue go any faster as only a certain amount of people can go in the lift. ‘Stand shoulder to shoulder’, they didn’t appreciate us taking the piss when we crouched down to get shoulder to shoulder with the kids.

After the Rock, we went to the Lego shop. Had to queue to get in, obviously. Bought some lego, then went back to the ice skating. Enjoyed in here, and it was getting dark by this time, so the tree was lit up and nice. There was a big winter market around the ice rink. It’s only here for the Xmas period-it’s normally a green park when not ice rinked up!

Meelie told her off for ‘being too tense’.

Finally got tired of ice skating, in which Stan had mastered by the end. Meelie was still rail holding, but enjoyed none the less. Subway back to hotel. Picked up bags. Ordered an Uber. We could have public transported it to the airport, which took a bit longer, and a few changes, but for ease, we therefore took a taxi.

Same plane on way back. Kids slept most the way. I slept a lot. We all slept. Landed back in UK at 0900, and drove home.

In Conclusion…

We absolutely loved this trip. Was another ‘big trip’, like the Dubai one. So much to do, and so much to do for kids. I would defo go back there, but not at Xmas/New Year time. It’s so busy! It would be nice to see in the summer, and experience a different weather extreme.

One tip I’d give is plan plan plan ahead. Ask people who have been before and get as many tips as you can. We did, and they defo came in useful. Things like using the subway, or getting tickets for places. It’s defo not somewhere you can turn up and wander round. It’s bloody huge!

We would defo stay in a different suburb next time. Queens, or The Bronx. Would loved to have seen more of Brooklyn, but Manhattan is the big draw.

Lovely holiday. There’s a load of pictures below! I took nearly a thousand whilst there! Enjoy!

Dubai

Day 1

We are going to Dubai! Char booked this a while ago. It’s longer and more expensive than all our other holidays. It’s not in Europe, which is a first for the kids. Plus, it’s gonna be bloody boiling!

It’s also the first time not flying with EasyJet or Ryanair, which is nice. We flew with Emirates from Birmingham, on the biggest plane in the world, probably. It’s got two levels man! We went up top, which meant we had to board last.

On the flight, which took about 7 hours, we had all the entertainment we needed in the form of a touch screen tv, and a little remote thing, which was also touch screen. We packed our carry on bag with iPads and books, snacks and crayons and stuff for the kids. They didn’t use one of them. Well, Amelia got a magazine out for 10 mins.

I watched two films (Stockholm and Wonder). Oh, they also gave the kids some ace activity packs and a bag filled with more things, including a pair of socks! Well nice. Food was good. I’d defo fly with them again! Oh, we are, on the way back.

Landed at ridiculous o’ clock, because of a bit of a delay. Some numpty lost their passport between boarding and getting on the plane! They finally kicked them off, after finding their bags in the hold. They had to search the area they had been sitting, to make sure they hadn’t left a suspicious package. The numpty then found his passport, so was allowed back on again!

Got a taxi to our hotel. I had looked at ways of getting around, and taxi was the easiest at this time of the night. It was gone midnight.

We stayed in Le Meridien, which is just under the Palm. In the plant pot, if it had one. Turns out, this is a bit out of town, but there are easy options to get in and back.

Day 2

Woke up ‘late’ and missed breakfast. By the time we were asleep, it was about 0330. We woke at 1200. To be fair, this is only 0900 back home, so didn’t do too bad.

Today was a pool and relax day. Get acclimatised to the 40+ degree heat! It was cloudy so probs a good start to the weather.

Kids had a nice play in the pools. We got a sun lounger right next to the pool, they give you beach towels, and everything is happy.

These arm bands cost about a tenner each in the shop here! We couldn’t find ours.

We had some lunch. A mate said ‘make sure you take a loan out’, which we should have listened to! £5 for a can of Pepsi! Bonkers. Hotel prices, so expect this to be a lot cheaper in the ‘real world’.

We did have food as well, not just the Pepsi!

Back in the room, we ordered a Deliveroo! Never done it before, but saw one come in, so did the same. McDonald’s of course!! Meal for all four of us was the same price as my pizza I ate in the hotel earlier!

Day 3

We left the hotel today! Had breakfast, and went for a walk to Dubai Marina, just around the corner from the hotel. It was scorchio! Got over one bridge, had a stop at a shop to get more drinks and sweets (bribes). Also saw a load of ‘booby tickets’ – cards advertising massages and that. Like the ones in phone boxes in London, but on the floor.

Walked under the next bridge, had a play on the park in the shade. Went up on top of bridge and recreated a pic I saw in another blog. Wasn’t as sunny though! Maybe it was filtered.

Got to a Metro station and bought a NOL card, basically an Oyster card. Taxis are easy, but would work out expensive compared to Metro and Bus, which are really good anyway.

Went to Emirates Mall. This is massive, but not as big as Dubai Mall. There’s a Ski place here, and you can play with Penguins! We couldn’t justify the cost, but wish we had now!

Got the kids some toys, had a traditional coffee (Starbucks) and ice cream (Hagen Dazs).

These toys cost more than having actual kids!

Left here after a couple of hours and got a bus to Burj al Arab. This is probs the most famous building in Dubai. Like a a Big Ben or Eiffel Tower. Got to the main gate, and turns out you can’t just go in! Ended up having a walk round the road to Jumeirah Beach.

This is a nice beach! Views of the Burj al Arab are good, and it was full of locals and tourists, but not too busy. A bloke took a pic for us, then gave the kids a star fish.

Kids had a bit of a litter pick on the beach. This is quite important isn’t it. If you can, do take rubbish off the beach.

Kids love to pick up rubbish! True story.

Bus back to the hotel, and we jumped in the sea! Was so so warm! Almost bath temperature. I would happily go in every sea if it was that warm!!

Got out and then went into the pool until it was dark. Kids really enjoyed and topped off a lovely day. Apart from Stan’s legs hurting after 4 minutes walk.

Deliveroo brought us Pizza. Mmmm.

Day 4

Started the morning with breakfast, and then a trip to the beach. Sea was just as warm! Saw a couple of jelly fish! Blue Blubber apparently. Didn’t fancy getting stung, so caught it in a bucket and released it when we left.

These were little buggers! Made me nervous to swim in the sea!

Back to the room, showered off and headed off into town, after a snacky lunch. Dubai Museum and fort first stop, well, after the tram, and metro.

Stopped off for a (disappointing) KFC after getting near the Museum. I didn’t mind it, but kids and Char weren’t fans. Oh, I asked this guy at the metro for some directions, as Google maps said to walk 190 metres, but he said to get on a different metro and do one stop. He was a bit camp and said ‘oh, but it’s so far and hot’. I showed him the map and said it’s a 2 minute walk. He threw his head back in disdain and sassily said ‘it’s much further than that’. It took 4 minutes.

Arrived at the Dubai Museum and at first glance, it’s quite a small, old fort thing, but turns out it’s much bigger inside! Saw some old boats and rooms and weapons and things. Was a really good museum. Only cost 10 Dirahms too, which is about £2.50. That’s for all of us!

They didn’t even notice we were there. Proper dedicated to the job they were.

Left there and walked round the corner to the water taxi, or Abra. These have been going for years across the creek. 1 Dirahm a pop. It’s a boat with no sides, and you sit in the middle, facing out. Good fun.

Lovely colours on this mosque. iPhone 6S didnt do it justice!

Over the other side is where the markets are – Gold, Spice, and Utensils! Amazing. Some of the pots were massive! Usual mix of ‘come look in my shop, best price’ and ‘mister where you from’. I said Brazil a lot for some reason.

Stan bought some deodorant rock because it looked cool, and Amelia bought some dried flowers for her dolls. I bought one of those plants that dry up when not in water, and then bloom again when in water. Pretty cool. The bloke said I can make tea with it too, which I didn’t quite understand.

See how Stan has blue on his arm, after being told not to touch stuff!?

Nice guy in one of the jewellers gave us all some water because Stan looked hot. He did mind!

Back over the water, back to the metro, and tram, into Carrefour for dinner, and then bed.

Day 5

Pool day. Well, mostly. Plan was to spend a few hours in the pool, then get changed and go out for the evening, and that’s just what we did.

Our hotel shares stuff with the hotel next door – Westin it’s called, which is strange. We can use their pools and restaurants and vice versa. We went over there first and some geezer gave us a lift in his golf cart thing. Wasn’t even that far.

They have better pools there. Better kids pool, bigger adults pool. Had a good old swim and that. Ordered the kids some chicken nuggets and chips because they wanted some. They came and they were strippers, not nuggets.

Meelie played with the lifeguards, while Stan cried about water going in his eye. We had to get an ice cube and put inside a towel to rub on it to make it better.

After this, we went to Dubai Mall. This place is huge. So big, they have these dudes in golf carts that look like cars, to carry rich folk around in them. Wonderment on every level, and shops galore. Even has a Dyson shop!

Women and Children only in this part of he metro.

First port of call was the Apple shop, because my mate said it was a god view of the Burj Khalifa, and he wasn’t wrong! There’s a balcony, that has security guards on the door to limit amount of people going out. It overlooks the fountain place too, which does a show on the hour. I thought it started doing them at 2000, but turns out there was one at 1800, and we were there at 1745, so waited for it! Place downstairs gets packed, and we had good views, so all good.

I didn’t know I was still in the picture. Can anyone photoshop it??

Burj. Amelia was asked in school if anyone knows where the tallest building in the world is!? Tick.

Went inside the mall, downstairs to the food court. We were enticed into a restaurant called Tinuaka or summat, by a Japanese Robot. Had some food, which was nice. Learnt about the specials and things as one of the workers was a newbie and was getting trained up. Not sure how she passed the interview as she was useless! Char knew more than she did by the end of the two hours!

Went back outside to see the fountains from street level. Was well busy. Heat was lovely, perfect temperature. Everyone seemed happy around us, a sense of excitement. Was a nice atmosphere. Probably wouldn’t have felt like that in a big crowd in the Bullring or Merry Hill!

Went home. Oh I forgot to mention-when you get off the Metro at Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall, you are no where near Burj Khalifa/Dubai!! You have to walk about 3km! It’s inside, and there’s floor escalator things, but my goodness!

We also saw the aquarium wall, and some storm troopers and that. Quite cool!

This was a fluke of a find! Ha, Fluke Skywalker.

Day 6

Decided to spend a bit of money on a treat day out today. We went to the Green Planet, an indoor rainforest biodiversity place. Normal price to get in (or 20% off with an Emirates boarding pass), but they also do animal experiences, where you can feed them and stuff. We chose sloth. A blinking sloth! Amazing.

Ha, I forgot that Stan got bat poo on his face!

Bit of a whinge. The premise of the sloth encounter was that there was a maximum of 10 people could book, maximising time with the bear thing. Actually, what family is it from? I didn’t learn that. They let 12 in. Plus a dad who came in to take pics.

One of the guys was a bit weird and didn’t want to feed it as ‘he had done it a couple of months ago’. The keeper was a bit weird too.

I had a little complain to the cashier after, but to no avail. I have sent a strongly worded email too. 13, is more than 10. They replied and kindly offered a return trip, but I didn’t want to go back when we had things planned. I asked for a bit of a refund, but they then stopped emailing back, which was really great of them! Not.

Had a walk around city walk. It was weirdly quiet. I know it was their Sunday, but it was dead! There’s a load of street art there, some of it’s ace! Blek Le Rat, Someone else, and Slinkachu, whose book I bought years ago! Little people. Really cool.

Stan loves art. He does love this guy’s book though!

Ended up getting a taxi to the mall for food. We had sat in a pizza place in city walk, but was well expensive! Went to 5 Guys instead. Authentic!

Saw a dinosaur. Had an ice cream. Went home. Good day!

Her’s was supposed to be Hello kitty I think.

Day 7

Up early to get breakfast before heading to a mosque! There are only two in Dubai that allow non-Muslims in. We walked past one near the Marina, and there’s Jumeriah Grand Mosque. They do a talk and demonstration every day at 1000, with registration at 0930. They give you some tea, coffee and dates, take you into the mosque, do a talk about Islam, and answer any questions.

She wanted a green headscarf because they ‘looked prettier’.

Our guide was called Tracy. Classic Arab name yeah!? She was from London. Converted to Islam 27 years ago. Her other name is Latiffa.

She spoke about 5 pillars and that. A guy called Mohammed did a prayer, which was ace. Had a walk round and took pics and that.

Back to the hotel, had a chillax. Went to Westin Pool. Kids learnt to swim with no armbands. Win.

Had a Subway Deliveroo. Ate so badly on this trip, apart from breakfast. We added it in with the room. Gets us up and out! Really nice buffet with all sorts of nice stuff! I picked up a fruit I’d never seen before. Cut into it, ate half the flesh. I then asked a waiter what it was and he said ‘er, I’ll go and check’. Mangostin, apparently. Lovely!

Day 8

Started the day with a swim. Hot today. Well, it’s hot every day. Loads of sun cream used, and plenty left. We ran out in Portugal, and had to pay tourist prices for more! Not this time!

Went back to the room to get lunch before our day trip – desert safari and entertainment and that. Picked up from hotel in Toyota Land Cruiser. Drove an hour east, into the desert.

Started with us waiting around for half an hour while a few people did Quad biking. It was a shared trip with an agency, Ocean Air. We had an Italian couple in the back of our car, and there were 5 cars altogether.

Did wadi bashing, which was quite scary! Char hated it, kids loved it! I thought they would have been the more scared! Stopped for some pics, then back to the bashing.

Stopped to see Camel Rock. Looked a bit like a camel I suppose. More bashing, then stopped to do sandboarding! That was pretty cool. Kids weren’t so keen, but had a go. Me and Char did it too. More bash, then stopped at the campsite.

Really good set up they had! Did a camel ride. Bit scary the way they stand up and sit down! In the camp were given coffee and dates, which were lovely, tried on some Arab dress, had henna tattoo, held a falcon, had a bbq buffet, saw fire show, a man spinning for 15 mins, and a belly dancer. Oh and some pudding. Everyone had such a good time, and well worth the relatively cheap price of £35.

This guy spun around about a million times. Bonkers.

Drove home, still full of sand.

Day 9

Had breakfast, and then went into town. We had lunch booked in Dubai Mall, in the rainforest cafe. We know there are a few around the world, including London, so thought we’d give it a go.

The decoration and that inside was really good. Elephants and snakes and that, and a rainforest. Pretty sure elephants only live in Africa and India, so not really sure what they were doing in the rainforest. Oh, turns out there is a rainforest in Africa. My bad.

Kids meal was fairly cheap, but adult meals were bonkers. Char and I decided not to get food, but did spend £6 on a coffee, and £9 on a mocktail.

Food wasn’t great. Like a chicken nugget meal you’d get at your local soft play. Wouldn’t go back. Also, very dark in there. Like Holister, but a cafe.

Next we went to do mini golf on an ice rink. Obviously. There’s an ice rink in the mall, and a third of it has been changed into a mini golf course. Bit of fun. Stan is shocking at golf.

Had a frozen yoghurt which we made ourselves, then a walk outside to see some statues and that. We’d seen them whilst walking through the 8km tunnel thing for the Metro, and decided to get a closer look. Also had a good view of Burj Khalifa too.

Hot out here! Took a while o get this pic.

Char found 50 Dirham on the floor when home. Add this to the NOL card that Stan found with 35 Dirham on, which made the trip slightly cheaper!

Day 10

Had our last proper breakfast at the hotel. Such a good spread they put on every day! Cooked, cereal, omelette to order, fresh pancakes, fruit, juices, yoghurts, pastries. You know, breakfast stuff.

Decided to have a final lazy pool day. I say lazy, it started off with a Pedalo ride in the sea. Kids found this quite boring though! Genuinely had more fun playing with seaweed when we got off for a swim in the sea later!

Me and Stan got in the sea. Took me a while to get back in the pedalo!

Had a quick dip in the baby pool then back in for some lunch. Couple of hour respite before going back out again to the main pool. Met a couple of families who come back here every year! Megabucks.

Packed bags. Booked taxi for 0445 (bleurgh) and had a Pizza Express. Thanks Deliveroo! 35% off too, bargain.

Genuinely had the best of holidays here, and would highly recommend not only Dubai, but also this hotel. I know it’s their job to be hospitable and that, but everyone was so kind and friendly. The only thing I didn’t like was the price of food and drinks at the hotel, which is why we ordered in when we were here. £5 for a coke is ridiculous. There’s a Carrefour over the road, we got a lot of stuff from there!

There is so much to do in Dubai. Yes, it is expensive and we could have spent twice as much as we did if we had bought drinks and that it went to the hotel bar, or got taxis every where. It was a much more expensive holiday that our other ones, but I definitely feel we had value for money. It was nice to go away for a bit longer, and relax, whilst doing things we hadn’t done before. I also watched Laurence of Arabia on the way back. That’s well long!!

I don’t feel the need to come back (mainly due to cost) but if someone gave us a free holiday here, I would jump at the chance! I felt safe everywhere I went, as if there is no crime here. Weather was boiling, and felt welcome everywhere. Thanks Dubai. Shukran.