United Arab Emirates, The Final Stop of the Tour

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Dubai at Night From the Top of the Burj Khalifa, Tallest Building in the World
We decided to forego luggage check in at Muscat since we would have had to wait out in the terminal for the Swiss Air flight to Dubai, instead choosing to carry on a bunch of stuff which allowed us to spend time in the lounge.  I have a Citi Prestige card which allows free lounge access to thousands of lounges around the world.  In a normal year, the card pays for itself at least four times over.  Free food!  Free drink!  What's not to like? (Actually, some of the lounges aren't nearly as good as others, but the Muscat Lounge was quite excellent  with good, healthy food, and they even had my favorite, Amarula, along with the usual spirits).
View of the Burj from Our Building

We rented our last AirBnb in downtown Dubai and have managed to do an 8+ week trip without having to hand wash or send out any laundry.  Our place was located high in a tower near the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world.  The UAE is pretty liberal.  While women wear scarves over their heads most of the time, they tend not to wear the baggy black outfits you see in other Arab Muslim states.  The guys?  More likely to be wearing Armani than a thobe and gutra.  In the past, I've chuckled when I've seen Arabs head for the bathroom at the beginning of flights and come out dressed in Western garb; here, they seem to have eliminated the middle man (the plane bathroom). They view foreigners for what they are.....visitors.  ISIS or other terrorist organizations will never gain a foothold here since the people seem quite content with their merging of Middle Eastern and Western culture.

Unfortunately, apart from visiting gigantic malls and the Burj, there really isn't much to do here beyond admiring the architecture and hanging around the pool in 100+ degree heat.  Hmmm.....how to inject a bit more interest?  I know!  I'll propose to Sharon at the top of the tallest building in the world (she said yes, but you probably already know that).  Was tempted to go skiing indoors, but decided that after 10 years away from the sport, this wouldn't be a good time or place to get injured given that we fly home tomorrow.  We've splurged and will be flying the Emirates A380 in business class.  Getting too old to take 16 hour flights in coach.  We layover in LA for about 18 hours then home on Thursday.  Hope everyone has enjoyed the blog/diary.
Newly Engaged.  I Popped the Question at the Top of the Burj

Moonrise from the Burj
Fountain at the Dubai Mall



   

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