Friday, December 10, 2010

To top of Tracy's trip to Doha we planned a trip to Dubai which was enhanced 100% by Amy. Amy, surprised and spoiled us rotten with a reservation and stay at the world's only 7-star hotel, Burj Al Arab. Tracy and I were only in Dubai for about 36 hours and we made the most of it with eating, sight seeing, sleeping, shopping and celebrating the UAE's National Day, which is their independence day (like our 4th of July).


As soon as we arrived in Dubai the Burj staff was waiting for us. We took our "low end" BMW transport directly to the hotel.

Complete with red roses for each of us cool towels, bottled water and a music menu.

THE BURJ!

Greeted with cool towels and the most amazing dates I've ever put in my mouth.

Looking up in the lobby


Mosaic tile floor

Fountain in the lobby

Gold framed TV with personalized welcome for Ms. Amy Brown, our Sugar Mama!

Lower level of our suite complete with floor level butler service.





Can't tell what that is?? Well its a mirror on the ceiling in the bedroom.

Bathroom

View out of our suite over looking the water and Jumeirah Beach.

After a looksie we went for a ride on a golf cart instead of the Rolls.

Madinat Jumeirah


National Day brought out a lot of traditions, including this group of men doing a little traditional song and dance in a major courtyard area. Very cool show. Something I've heard about in Doha but would NEVER be allowed to witness. Not only did we watch, they tried to teach us some of their moves.



So proud of their National Day!

That evening we celebrated National Day at the Burj party. Unbelievable!



Tracy and I getting a little henna

The next day we were off to see Dubai.
Car decorated for National Day

First thing we did was go to the tallest building in the world, Burj Kahlifa. This is a picture from the top. It was very dusty and hazy so the view wasn't great.

Dubai Mall Fountain

One of the highlights of our trip was meeting Emily, who has become a precious friend to me. We have been blogging and email buddies ever since she started her journey and move to Dubai. She and her sweet family are from Friendswood, TX. Tracy and I have a mutual friend who introduced us to Emily so all of us had a great time finally meeting.

It was only fitting that we get another dose with a little more tradition as we walked into the Emirates Mall. Hello Mr. UAE and your falcon (in the parking garage)!

Just after this picture, we commemorated our face to face friendship by eating at PF Changs. Dear, Doha, where's your PF Changs? 2022??

After a full day of Dubai sight seeing we hung out on the Burj's private beach.


Ok...another highlight on this Dubai trip was witnessing a Christian wedding on the beach. This beautiful Peruvian couple lives in Abu Dhabi and just wanted to take the opportunity to present their faith publicly and the only way to do that legally is to get married on a hotel beach. Lots of people gathered around to hear worship songs and a presentation of the gospel as they witnessed their wedding ceremony. Tracy and I couldn't help but get their story. We were blessed to meet them.

Burj at sunset with bride and groom in the left hand corner.

sunset




Thanks to Amy for the great pictures.

I don't have any more pictures representing the last 48 hours with Tracy BUT that's what is truly blog worthy!
Thanks to this precious friend we are now back in the US for the holidays and we survived the 24 hour traveling with Brooks, Barrett, and Georgia. I don't have the words to describe what a saint and servant she was to me and my babies. We had such a special visit together in Doha. And to top it off she offered every bit of herself to help our trip easy. A memoral 8 days that I'll never forget. Tracy's one of a kind and I'm blessed to call her one of my best friends. HUGE thanks to Paul, their 3 babies and all the helping grandparents!







3 comments:

Jennie and Eric said...

Love these photos! Looks like you had more than a fab time!!!! So happy I got to meet Tracy and Amy :) Enjoy your time at home :) :) :)

Ashley Franks said...

Wow! Love the photos. You guys are so glam!! I would love to go there! So glad someone was with you on that long flight! Glad you all made it back to the states safely!

mike hardie said...

PF Changs will be in Doha before 2022...I promise! - Mike Hardie, GM of PF Changs Dubai.