Well, it is almost the end of the weekend for me but I've had a lovely time with my hubby and very good friends out on the beach. We had an early start yesterday, setting off at 7:00 am and making our way to our friends house in Mirdiff (which is at the opposite end of Dubai from where we live). The hubby's both went in one car, my two friends and I went in another. There was method in our madness, one of my friends had to work today and therefore had to leave earlier than the 4 of us (bless her, I didn't envy her when we waved her off at the hotel this morning).
5 of our other friends met at Dubai Marina where they boarded a coach, which took them to the marina in Fujairah. At 9:45 am we boarded the 'Ekaterina' a 30 metre sailing yacht. There were other people on the yacht too as it accommodated 30 people in total. I must admit when we saw how many children were boarding, we all had a bit of a whinge thinking we'd be having screening kids running around all afternoon. However, we were all pleasantly surprized (and relieved) that they were actually very well behaved.
We did have a bit of a mad rush to grab a sun bed each though, lol (I did feel a bit like a German on holiday throwing all our towels on the beds as quickly as I could). However, I needn't have bothered as it was only the Westerners that wanted to sit directly in the sun, the other passengers stuck to seating inside and at the bow of the boat.
It was a lovely day and we were all very sensible with the sun, making sure we had lots of suncream on and sitting in the shade when it got too much. Almost all of our party were from the UK, with one exception a lovely lady from South Africa. Most of us have now been in the Middle East 4 or 5 years but it still amazes us when we see Arab women dressed in jeans and wearing head scarves. Honestly, it was 47 degrees, how do they do it? On the other hand, they might wonder why we all immediately stripped off to our swimsuits, donned ourselves with tonnes of suncream and waited to turn into lobsters.
The Captain of the boat was a bit of a character, he had a whistle and kept using it to call the rest of the crew. I was convinced he thought he was Captain Von Trapp from the 'Sound of Music' and kept expecting Julie Andrews and 6 children to come marching up to him every time the whistle went. We had a lovely dip in the sea and hubby and a friend did a little bit of snorkelling. (I did miss going diving actually but may be next time). At the end of the day our friends rejoined the rest of the passengers for the trip back to Dubai, whilst the 5 of us went for an over night stay at the Rotana hotel in Fujairah.
The hotel is lovely but the service leaves a lot to be desired. When we arrived the receptionist wanted us to be in separate blocks on the hotel. When we requested to be next to each other she was not particularly very helpful, even though we said as we had made one booking and we expected to be next to each other. Needless to say we eventually sorted it.
Our rooms weren't ready so we had a little dip in the swimming pool and a small cocktail whilst we waited. The place was packed and there were loads of families with small children. Not a massive problem until suddenly it was like a scene from 'Kevin and Perry Go Large' (It's a floater!). Yes that's right, someone's lovely little angel had had a poo in the swimming pool and it was floating around our feet (not nice, I tell you, we were not impressed). Why can't people take responsibility for things like this? My god, I'd have been devastated if my kids had ever done something like that and would have sorted it out ASAP.
When we ate in one of the restaurants later on, they were promoting 'fish market night'. Great, (if you like fish), but without going into loads of details none of the staff seemed to know what was actually on the menu (or even if there was a menu lol). But when the meal finally came it was nice. Similar experiences in the bar later on and then again this morning (but I won't complain lol). Anyway, besides everything we all had a great relaxing day and a half.
This morning I heard one of my friends had some bad news about a member of her family being in a car accident. I don't know the people involved personally but I'm sending out all my positive energy to the two of them and wish them a speedy recovery.
Back home now and I've just repacked my suitcase for my trip to Jeddah tomorrow. Up early as my flight is at 7 in the morning. It's time to don my abaya and say hello again to my friends in KSA.
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