So, we did Dubai. And that was interesting. We hopped via Amsterdam with KLM (who were fab) and met Bex, Steven and Henry in a Travelodge at Dubai airport. And then it was the big smoke.

Now people tend not to go on holiday to Dubai in the summer, as its blooming boiling. And I can vouch for that. It was low 40s when we arrived and mid-40s when we left four days later. As a result, and this didn’t seem to bother the expats, we went from air-conditioned hotel, via ac car to ac mall to ac restaurant, back in the car and back to the hotel. The locals – mostly professional expats – seemed very content with that fairly pricey routine. Although, to be fair, we stayed in a beachside hotel (still in the city, but between conglomerations of skyscrapers) and in front of us was a threeway stretch of: cycle lane, running lane (padded and fab), and walking boardwalk. And, early doors and late evening, it was all very Los Angerles with beautiful people doing their thing – and, yes, bikinis are allowed and, of course, the chunky men all go topless as they jog along the beachfront. None seemed as knackered as Steve and I as we pushed out 5 kms … but I guess much of this is what you look like rather than actually how fit you are. You have to envy them.

view from our hotel balcony

We did the Burj Khalifa (which is extraordinary), the main mall (which is extraordinary for other capitalistic reasons), took the metro to the marina, ate out a lot (including one swanky Japanese brunch and another local breakfast)m and had real fun with Henry in the pool and in the sea – which was like bath water. Stepping back, the architecture is unbelievable, and it is everywhere, with new massive highrises popping up on the horizon. Definitely worth a visit, even just for that.

Leaving aside the routine for expats: work, shop, eat, socialise, repeat, there is a dark side to the place. The building and other blue collar jobs, of which there are many, are all done by work-immigrants from the Indian subcontinent. Which is fine. But they are definitely treated differently than anyone not of their colour (or in Arab dress). They are not, certainly during highdays and holidays, allowed in the malls, nor on the public beaches. And by this I mean they are actively shepherded away from entrances to where more privileged are heading, or just blocked. The entrance to our beach carpark was guarded, under a sign which read ‘Families Only@. It might have read, ‘No brown men unless you’re indigenous’. It is racism – there is no other term. And it’s really sad to see. 

Mall was pretty special (one of many)

So that left a bitter taste and there is no way we will go back there  – for that reason. Maybe Qatar or Bahrain would be different? I dunno.

Since Dubai we have been away in Doris for a couple of nights to make sure she’s all working, which she is. We have kept up our fitness campaign, and eaten healthily. We have used the governor’s pool, taken a trip to see C’s sister and son and daughter-in-law, met up with Jen and James often, and generally taken it easy. Mostly, because we both came back from Dubai with rubbish colds. C’s manifested itself as a hacking cough and green gunge, for which she was finally administered antibiotics. Mine was in my sinuses and made me feel pretty wretched.

The King’s there somewhere

We also popped down to Godalming for a final clearance of Mary’s house, had a wonderful day at the Garter Ceremony in Windsor Castle (thanks P&D – brilliant), and felt very privileged to attend a sherry tasting evening with P&K – with old pals Simon (the expert) and Rosemary bringing the gear and the knowledge. It was a lovely evening, although my love for sherry has yet to be ignited (sorry Simon!).

So we’ve filled the days. C has her cancer clearing check on Thursday (fingers crossed for that) and then B, S and HENRY are back on Friday for the summer. At that point, all hell gets let loose. We have things in the diary for the rest of the summer and some other stuff to stick in here and there, but we’ll make that up as we go along.

And we’ve seen a lot of these lovely people

Stay safe everyone.