Tim and I met in Las Vegas. I was living there to attend college at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas and Tim got stationed at Nellis Air Force Base as his first base. My apartment was located just one street over from Las Vegas Boulevard and both being pretty poor in those days, free […]
Dune Bashing Outside of Dubai
What happens when you put two Americans, two Russians, and two Scotts in a Land Cruiser with one crazy Arab driver and go dune bashing outside of Dubai in the Arabian Desert? A whole lot of cussing in various languages! We all piled into a Toyota Land Cruiser and headed out to the sand dunes […]
Dubai Marina by Night (Or That Night We Entertained Construction Workers)
With a pristine private beach framing one side of us and the picturesque Dubai Marina providing a glittering backdrop on the other, it was a tough decision where to take a nightly stroll! Carved along a three kilometer stretch of the Persian Gulf, Dubai Marina is an artificial canal city and includes over 8 kilometers […]
Dining Under the Arabian Stars at Amaseena
Amaseena is the Ritz-Carlton Dubai’s tented Bedouin village on their private beach and we were thrilled to be invited to not only stay at the Ritz-Carlton, but dine under the Arabian stars. As the sun set on our first night in Dubai, we watched giddy children go for camel rides on the beach and then […]
10 Fun Facts about the Burj Khalifa
We’ve visited some of the world’s record setters like the world’s largest pumpkin festival, the world’s northernmost city and the world’s largest wine barrel. So it should be no surprise that standing on the observation deck of the Burj Khalifa was also on our bucket list. Not only is the Burj Khalifa the world’s tallest […]
Tips for Bartering at the Deira Gold Souk
Back in the 1940s, traders and entrepreneurs from India and Iran pitched their stalls in the Deira area of what is now the sprawling metropolis of Dubai. Today the Deira Gold Souk has an estimated 10 tons of gold present at any given time and the narrow lanes are lined with over 300 retailers dealing […]
I Kissed a King Penguin
Dubai and penguins generally don’t go together in the same sentence, but Ski Dubai in the Mall of the Emirates is home to 10 Gentoo and 10 King penguins. The penguin colony arrived from Sea World San Diego on December 31, 2011 and were part of the penguin breeding program Sea World has had for […]
Splish-Splashing at Aquaventure at Atlantis The Palm
We’ve wanted to visit Dubai since 2000 when we watched a show on the building of Palm Island. So when we were invited to spend the day at Atlantis Aquaventure at Atlantis Dubai, we were super excited! Our flight landed at 7am and we could think of no better way to spend our first day […]
Snorkeling in the Rea Sea at Aqaba
Aqaba’s greatest asset is the Red Sea with fringing reef stretching for over 25 kilometers right down to the Saudi Arabian border. The Red Sea Marine Peace Park is known to be one of the most beautiful diving areas of the world due to the amazing combination of sea life, corals, water transparency and nice […]
Two Days with the Bedouin in Wadi Rum
Described by Lawrence of Arabia as “vast and echoing”, Wadi Rum is a protected area covering 720 square kilometers of dramatic desert wilderness in the south of Jordan. The huge mountains of sandstone and granite are home to several Bedouin tribes and their goat hair tents are a feature of the landscape. We had the […]
