{"id":10082,"date":"2023-04-30T15:20:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-30T20:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jimmypribble.com\/blog\/?p=10082"},"modified":"2026-04-26T07:53:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T12:53:20","slug":"united-arab-emirates-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jimmypribble.com\/blog\/2023\/04\/united-arab-emirates-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"United Arab Emirates 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Denise and I had planned to go to the Grand Canyon this year, but she found a bargain rate on a group trip to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, so I agreed on the upgraded holiday, despite some reservations around being a part of a group. So, in April, we flew to Dubai! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dubai<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\n\t\n\t\tSheraton Grand Hotel Dubai<\/span>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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My favorite part of the hotel was the breakfast buffet. Every morning we would get breakfast and enjoy it outside on the 10th floor terrace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\t\n\t\tMuseum of the Future<\/span>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

The first morning we were in Dubai, Denise and I walked down to the Museum of the Future. Even though it was closed, we spent a good amount of time walking around this fantastic architectural wonder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\t\n\t\tMiracle Garden<\/span>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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\n\t\n\t\tDubai Mall<\/span>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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\n\t\n\t\tGlobal Village<\/span>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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\n\t\n\t\tThe Souks<\/span>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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\n\t\n\t\tDesert Safari<\/span>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

I had hoped that our desert safari would begin with us on camels, trotting across the dunes, but instead, we were loaded into brand new 2023 Toyota Land Cruisers. As soon as I saw the leather covered roll bar, I knew that we were going for a ride. Our 70+ year old driver called it “dune smashing.” I couldn’t get enough of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\t\n\t\tAl Jabal Village<\/span>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

When we arrived at Al Jabal Village, we finally got our camel ride, but it was little more than a child’s birthday pony ride. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\t\n\t\tThe Frame<\/span>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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\n\t\n\t\tJumeirah Public Beach<\/span>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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\n\t\n\t\tBurj Khalifa<\/span>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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The Burj Khalifa looms over an Aston Martin Rapide racing down the highway<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\n\t\tLunch at Cello<\/span>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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\n\t\n\t\tDinner Cruise<\/span>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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Abu Dhabi<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\n\t\n\t\tSheikh Zayed Grand Mosque<\/span>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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Courtyard of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\n\t\n\t\tHeritage Village<\/span>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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Dubai<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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My best updated Sonny Crockett<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\t\n\t\tBurj Al Arab<\/span>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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The real<\/em> reason for going to the Burj Al Arab, at least for Denise, was to have the 24-carat gold cappuccino that is served there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\n\t\n\t\tBurj Khalifa<\/span>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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Enjoying The Lounge on the 148th Floor of Burj Khalifa<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\n\t\n\t\tThe Dubai Fountain<\/span>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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\n\t\n\t\tFerrari World<\/span>\n\t<\/span>\n<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
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Sorry? I wanted to punch a moose in the nose. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the last evening before we left for home, Denise was sick, so I went out for a walk. I made my way down the street and back to where I had begun – my favorite building in Dubai and maybe anywhere, the Museum of the Future. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Next time: Museum of the Future, Ain Dubai (carousel), Formula Rossa, Jumeirah Beach, and much more time in the desert riding camels and dune smashing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Opulence. They has it. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Please pin, tweet, and share! Most importantly, let me know what you think in the comments below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Denise and I had planned to go to the Grand Canyon this year, but she found a bargain rate on a group trip to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, so I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":10088,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,11],"tags":[169],"powerkit_post_featured":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-10082","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-featured","8":"category-travel","9":"tag-denise"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/jimmypribble.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/05\/20230503_164806.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5zSfL-2CC","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmypribble.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10082","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmypribble.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmypribble.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmypribble.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmypribble.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10082"}],"version-history":[{"count":55,"href":"https:\/\/jimmypribble.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10082\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11368,"href":"https:\/\/jimmypribble.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10082\/revisions\/11368"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmypribble.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10088"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jimmypribble.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10082"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmypribble.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10082"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmypribble.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10082"},{"taxonomy":"powerkit_post_featured","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jimmypribble.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/powerkit_post_featured?post=10082"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}