Dubai and Home

So after leaving Ohakune and NZ we flew to Dubai for a weeks holiday. It has changed a lot since I was last there in 2005 and Robyn had never been so we were both pretty excited. We arrived early in the morning and dropped out stuff off at Golden Sands and got stuck in straight away. Over the next few days we visited lots of big shiny malls, including Mall of The Emirates and Dubai Mall, the latter containing a huge aquarium. The malls were all very cool but unfortunately we didnt have enough pennies to buy much there. We did however visit Dunkin Donuts quiet regularly... Aside from the malls we visited lots of souks (markets), places like the gold souk, spice souk, and lots of traditional old souks. Seeing as the prices are all negotiable we spent a bit more money here than the malls, and Robyn ended up probably paying rent for one trader for a month with millions of scarves. We managed to get around pretty cheaply, catching the metro around during the day and walking at night, and buying food from the markets instead of in restaurants. Robyn was quite partial to a shwarma. We had a trip up the world's tallest building, The Burj Khalifa. The lift did 124 floors in about ten-twenty seconds, and the views from the top were spectacular. On one morning we had a guided tour of Jumeriah Mosque which was very interesting, and the only mosque in the Emirates where non-muslims can enter. It was a busy week, trying to fit in a cut-throat razor shave, visting Dubai Museum, riding an Abra, shopping, swimming in the rooftop pool with views of the Burj Khalifa and Burj Al Arab and visiting Dubai Marina! We had an over night flight back home and were met at Leeds train station by all of our parents which was a lovely surprise, and had a nice breakfast out. Since we've been back we've been trying to get around to catching up with lots of people, and are very nearly through a Cambridge CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults), with a view to finding more work overseas, hopefully as soon as we can. It does seem strange being home after two years away but is really nice to see everyone! http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.182368565214755.39407.100003248394000&type=3&l=7c4b322b2d