Stopover madness - Dubai in 86 hours

  Hello!

As I mentioned in my previous post, for the end of the year, I decided to take the boys to a trip to Cairo to  discover Egypt. Since we were going to travel via Emirates, I thought about stopping over to Dubai to meet my Best friend and also enjoy this beautiful city for a few days. I stayed 86 hours in Dubai and wished I could stay more.

I had lots of plans in mind but I overestimated how short 86 hours could be. Plus traveling with family can slow you down. The boys are older and more independent. But they haven’t not travelled by plane since 2016. Therefore, they were no longer used to long flights and jet lags. Upon our arrival in Dubai, they were exhausted and needed a nap. They were even sleeping in the hotel lobby while we were waiting for our rooms to get ready. Moreover, I was afraid to let them go. My biggest fear was to loose them in a sea of people at the mall, or at the train station. Therefore they were constantly with me. Plus every time I asked them what they wanted to do, they were not very forthcoming. 

Nevertheless, we managed to buy one of them a pair of sneakers because they desperately needed new ones. We also had a glimpse of the aquarium at Dubai Mall. And we watched the fountain show even though by that time they were so tired they were not as interested. They had more fun at the Global Village we visited the next day. I gave them money to enjoy the carnival and the rides alone while I chatted with my best friend and indulged in Indian food. 

Global Village's entrance

Carnival rides

Indian food 

African stalls

On our final day, they enjoyed a lavish hot chocolate at the Jumeirah Beach hotel lounge, basking in all its luxury before we headed to the Christmas market at Madinat Souk. They purchased souvenirs for their cousins and ate carnival food. 

Cybertruck in front of Jumeirah Beach hotel

Pausing in front of the Christmas tree

Hot beverages at Jumeirah Beach hotel

Christmas market at Madinat Souk

Giant hot dog treat we shared among us

If I am being totally honest, the only thing that I enjoy doing in Dubai is shopping (and eating). You cannot compare the grandiosity of Dubai Mall or Mall of Emirates to the Sea Plaza mall in Dakar. Plus there, I can find everything I need and want. However, I only had time to check three stores to get the essentials I needed such as undergarments. Finding a Daiso store at Dubai Mall was like a dream come true. I missed shopping in that place. However, I surprisingly did not go overboard; I just purchased 3 items. The Global Village was also another great occasion to shop with stalls from literally everywhere around the world. However I did not shop much as the prices were a bit steep. 

Overall, the 86 hours were well spent. The only time we were at the hotel was to sleep and eat breakfast. I booked the same hotel as last time, but at a different location: Rove City Walk. This hotel was bigger and busier during that time of the year. Yet it had all the amenities we needed. The boys particularly enjoyed the breakfast buffet every morning. We took our sweet time eating. I also used the laundry room to clean some of our dirty clothes at 2 am in the morning. They had a free shuttle to Dubai mall but the mall was less than 20 minutes walk. And the metro station was behind our hotel therefore we walked to get there. I really hit a jackpot booking the hotel. 

Rove City Walk hotel

The boys at breakfast

We took the metro only twice to go to Emirates Mall and back. It was as fast and neat as I remembered. However, we took it during rush hours in the afternoon, and it was packed. We had to shove and pushed our way out. I gave me PTSD from riding the metro in Japan. The rest of the time we either walked or book a cab. We rode twice in luxurious Lexus which cost an arm and a leg but was totally worth it. Some places like my BFF's house were not accessible via metro.

One of the Lexus we booked.

The food in Dubai was always as great. For breakfast, the buffet at the hotel was always so filling. We managed to eat Lebanese our first night at Dubai Mall in front of the fountain show. I ate Chinese at the food court in Emirates Mall the following day while the boys had burgers. At the Global Village, I ate Samosas and Puri while the boys had Turkish Baklava and ice cream. Our last day, we had hot drinks at Jumeirah Beach hotel and hot dogs at the Christmas Bazaar. At the airport, we ate burgers from McDonald. They boys were absolutely delighted. The last time they had burgers from McDonald was July 2023 when I brought back some from my Girls Trip to Dubai. They said that they missed it. 

At the airport, the check in was smooth. We even did it with a machine. Our flight to Cairo was delayed therefore we had a few hours to enjoy it. We hanged around drinking Starbucks. They boys have not had any in years and it was one of their goals to do so during the trip. When I made fun of them, they replied that it was their dreams and that I should not, since they respect the fact that I got super excited at the idea of shopping at Daiso earlier during our trip. 

Dubai stays one of my favourite city in the world. And every time I go, I discover something new. Every time I am there, I want to stay more. I am already planning my next trip there.