Dubai Day 1!

February 25th, my 33rd birthday, saw everyone up and at 'em bright and early. I had booked an 8:30 flight so we'd get to Dubai at a decent time and be able to enjoy most of the day there.

We arrived to rainy and cold weather (unlike the weather forecast's sunny and warm prediction) and headed into the city. We checked into our hotel, the Rove in city centre and it was so cute! It was really modern but clean and comfortable and the people there were incredible! They found out it was my birthday and after we got up to our rooms they rang the bell and had a cake and a candle and sang to me! It was so cute!

We hopped in the car and drove around the city taking in all the sights and the city. It is hugely built up. Christopher has visited the UAE a lot over the years starting with his first deployment in 2005 all the way up to the last one he went on in 2014 so he's seen the Middle East grow and change. Sky scrapers shoot out of the ground with a quickness that makes heads spin! There were crazy buildings all over the place-- gorgeous, shiny, tall, short, futuristic and amazing and even the worlds 2nd tallest building, the Burj Khalifa.

Nothing about the city feels like you're in the Middle East. Its just this giant metropolis in the middle of the desert!

We went to the Mall of the Emirates and saw the INDOOR ski slopes! We walked around a little and tanked up on caffeine-- at this point, jet lag was hitting Dad pretty bad... I lost count of how much coffee he had that day! haha!

Once we'd walked the mall a little bit we headed to a place my friend Fatima had recommended-- Global Village. Its basically Epcot on steroids! You walk in and its a giant park of the world! So many parts of the world are represented with their own spaces and designs. It was really awesome! We all had a blast walking around and checking everything out.

I, of course, was happy to find my "homeland"

And Stella was stoked to see the "Eiffel Tower"

Each country had its own souk area to shop for foods and goods from their part of the world! It was really awesome... except we totally got screwed and paid WAAAAAAAY too much for Yemeni honey...haha!

We found the America's....

We even found Bahrain!

Once the sun set the lights came on and lit up the entire village. It was gorgeous!

After Global Village we had thoroughly stretched the limits of Dad's jet lag so we headed back to the hotel and crashed. We grabbed a quick dinner at the hotel restaurant and called it an early night... the promise of an official birthday dinner set for the next day! 

In my 33 turns around this earth I have been lucky enough to spend my birthdays all over the world! Its been a wild and awesome and crazy 33 years and I can't wait to see where this next year takes me!