Posted by Kanga. Please do not reblog.
We revisited Al Hamriyah Free Zone beach which is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, or at least it was in 2009. We haven’t been back in a while so can’t be sure it hasn’t been “developed.”
The sand isn’t sand. It is pulverized shells.
This “temporary” sign was solidly set in concrete on the east side of the Dubai Mall construction site. It did eventually disappear. The parking lots of the mall are so horrible, that they are once again under construction. The spiral ramp to the fashion parking (one of the few easy ways to get in) has been completely ripped out, apparently, to make way for an opera house.
I discovered that house wrens are crafty little nest builders who weave palm branches together.
This is one of my favorite photos and is iconic of Dubai 2009. There was construction everywhere. This site is now the landing of a much needed and heavily used flyover. Why they left that bus bench sitting out there, I have no idea.
Another Dubai icon, the exclamation mark caution sign.
We discovered the joys of walking into back street eateries. Great food, very cheap.
Our collection of crazy battery operated toys began. We are now redistributing these to lucky friends.
We went for our first abra ride on Dubai Creek.
We went to the Dubai Museum (which is more of a time capsule than a museum).
We discovered Bu Qtair. The restaurant has received a fair amount of publicity over the years. Even Anthony Bourdain has eaten there. The notoriety has increased business and they built onto the modular building, but people still eat great fried fish while sitting on plastic chairs at plastic tables in the dark. Long may Bu Qtair survive! We will miss our tradition of eating here on New Year’s Eve and then watching the fireworks at Burj Al Arab.
We discovered other important restaurants this year – Bait Al Baghdadi on Al Muteena Street and Special Ostadi on Al Mussalla Road.
During the summer, we went on a long, exhausting trip that included a week in London, several weeks in the States and ended with a week in Wales. In the process, we attended seven plays including a Shakespearean play at the Globe and Waiting for Godot starring Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. While in Wales, we also saw the Banksy exhibit in Bristol. A pretty amazing summer.
We rescued two kittens from the streets of Dubai. Oliver was first and he turned out to be so high maintenance, that we added Bert in hopes that they could entertain each other. Thankfully, Oliver has mellowed with age and Bert has proved to be amazingly patient.
We discovered the kushti wrestling that takes place near the fish market on Fridays.
For the first time, we had dinner with friends at Bu Qtair and watched the fireworks display on the beach.
And DaddyBird’s beard got longer.
Living the Travel Channel 