Summer of ’15.

It doesn’t have the same ring to is as ‘summer of ’69’ but it has been significant none-the-less. I mean, nothing out of this world has happened this summer it’s more that my summer is never going to end. Well not in the near future. Dubai, obviously gets a ‘winter’ but its more of a cooler version of summer – I still class it as summer if your wan walk outside without a cardigan and go to the beach and tan. Yeah, so in 8 days time I’ll be sitting on my suitcase trying to close it as I pack my life into 30kgs. That is a little bit of a lie, my summer started when I taped up 9 boxes of my stuff and sent them sailing.

Actually that’s another lie, I week before that I would say my summer started for real. One of my best friends had her 30th birthday and we went down to London to see The Strokes play in Hyde Park’s British Summertime. It was honestly one of the best little breaks I have had in a long time. The Strokes (and Beck – who I’d never thought I would see live) were so fantastic. The atmosphere was electric and I know how special it was for my friend. The whole weekend was amazing in London, probably the time I have enjoyed being in London most. It was sunny and hot, which I think added to the relaxation – coffee sat outside little cafes watching London go by. Apparently the guy from Sherlock walked past us at one point when we were sitting outside a French cafe in Soho one afternoon. At that point I hadn’t watched Sherlock yet. I have now – worth a watch.

I had a museum day on this visit too. After visiting The Natural History Museum in New York at Christmas, I had high hopes for the London branch. However, I was not so impressed. It’s great that you get free entry to a lot of museums in the UK but I would rather pay and see originals and a better selection that competes with other similar museums around the world then find myself disappointed. Anyhow, I liked the animated raptors in the dinosaur exhibit. I also went to the V&A, which was a lot better then my previous stop. But again, too many casts. After this wonderful weekend, I went back to Glasgow to tie things up for a week before heading back down south to work teaching English as a second language for July. I had a real nice send off by some of my friends, and my flat mate (#bestflatmateever) made me a banner.

FINALLY, after a year and a half of saying ‘lets eat Italian and drink the Frascati we bought in Rome’ my flat mate and I drank it. All. We didn’t share it with anyone else either. It was too precious. I think the nostalgia of it tasted better then the actual wine…I’ve had better Italian wine.

We drank and were merry, then said goodbye to these wonderful beauts. Although they all met me for dinner before I braved the overnight bus to Winchester.

Obviously, they will be missed…but I’m going to be living in Dubai and that suggests visitors.

So, I took the overnight bus as mentioned. It wasn’t as bad as the Megabus journey back from London a week earlier. That. Was. Hell. Mostly because the toilet was obviously blocked and the door to it wouldn’t closed, filling the bus with a repulsive smell that I wouldn’t wish upon my worst enemy. I arrived in Winchester 12 hours later after a stop at Heathrow to change busses. Being at Heathrow was frustrating as everything inside me just wanted to walk out of the bus terminal and hop on a plane there and then to start the next phase of my life. In Winchester I was working for the same company that I taught English with last summer. When I was on the Isle of Wight last summer, it was exactly what I needed at that exact right time, this summer was different, it was more a time filler and to get some cash. Winchester was still a great experience AND I met so many amazing people again. Also included in this were the students from Spain, Italy and Russia. Like last year I had a group of students from Spain for the longest time, I don’t know if any of them will ever read this but they were such an amazing bunch of young adults with extremely bright futures. They were such interesting characters too!

Winchester is a small and cute town, but I’m more of a big city person so got bored with it quite quickly. It has enough shops and that to keep me occupied on my days off. In fact, there were nice little markets at the weekend. I got some nice bread with goats cheese and pear one day and there was a pop-up coffee van that was around most weekends. Actually, it was probably the best coffee I have had in a while – roasted locally in Hampshire.

So, that’s that. My posts from here on out will be about my new adventures in the desert city and beyond. I’ll leave you with two of my favourite photos from my time in Winchester – balloons and lanterns in flight.

 

It’s official, I’m moving to Dubai. Actually.

Last week I got offered a job teaching in Dubai! Obviously I accepted the offer immediately, signed and scanned the contract back to the company. I’ll be heading out there mid-August and it can’t come soon enough. Unfortunately I still have my dissertation to write, but that’ll get done.

This is how I’d like to spend my time in Dubai;

1. Join a tennis club. I used to play tennis about 3 times a week in my childhood, up until I moved to Scotland at the age of 18. It’s something I regret not keeping up, but I feel the unreliable weather here stops me from committing to it.

2. Spend my weekends at a beach club drinking cocktails and reading books between dips in the pool to keep cool.

3. Have enough money to leave my student days behind me and shop when I want (within reason).

4. Eat at amazing restaurants and drink champagne.

5. BRUNCH. It’s an actually cultural THING on a Friday. Every Friday I will brunch.

6. Learn Arabic.

7. Travel to amazing destinations that are easily accessible from Dubai.

Ok, there will be more, but for now those aims are sufficient.

Winter, it’s time to go now.

It’s not been so bad since I got back from my North American festive break. On arrival the Scottish wether lived up to its Wintery, blustery, stormy stereotype. Then, a week later it all cleared leaving flurries of snow, frosty Winter sun and a few bigger dumpings of powder too. It’s been cold, but enchanting.

I’ve been incredibly busy with study and part time work the past month, it feels like time should be further along then it is. I feel an urgency for spring to appear, and I hear it coming in the birds outside my window and see it in the lighter mornings. It means I’m closer to the madness ending and hopes of a new adventure starting when all this hard work pays off.

Oh, Canada!

Three weeks after leaving Canada i’ve found (stolen) the time to tell you all about the second leg of my holidays in (just south of) Vancouver. After being dragged away from New York (<3) we boarded an Air Canada plane to Vancouver. Upon arrival, rain. For the next week, rain. Mostly all we did when we were with the relos was ‘visit’ anyhow so it didn’t matter initially, but after Christmas we had plans to do the tourist thing in Vancouver city. Abbotsford is a small city (?)… town(?) just south of Vancouver and on the border to Washington State. My family there are Menonite farmers. I realised I am very different to my family. But thats ok, I’m glad I have an academic-my-goal-in-life-is-not-to-get-married-and-have-children mind. My stay actually made me feel very happy in my life. A little re-affirmation that you’re happy is always good.

I’ll start with the food. I’ll also start by saying I didn’t have one meal out that I enjoyed in either New York or Canada…well enjoyed in the sense that I was satisfied with the quality and taste #foodsnob. I did, however, enjoy my Aunties baking. I ate cakes and bread until the cows came in. Below is a picture of a traditional Zwieback that I always look forward to when I go to Canada. It’s originally Eastern European…I’m guessing because that is my heritage.

On Christmas we had about 25 people around at my Uncle and Aunties. It was a bit mad as I’ve never had big Christmases in my life. But it was a great day seeing all the cousins etc. It was all your traditional eats, plus we had hot spiced apple cider which I realised in New York is non-alcoholic…

One day my Uncle suggested we go for dinner ‘over the line’ (the border into the USA) to a Mexican, apparently a really good mexican. So we head off, my Uncle and Aunt with their Canadian passports, my sister and I with our British passports that had ESTA’s and my parents travelling on Australian passports…with no ESTA’s. Can you see where this is going? We got to the line and and all the border patrol man said was ‘please move your vehicle to the side and head into the office’… no explanation (although we knew…). The men inside were much nicer and slapped my parents on the hand for not getting an ESTA. They had to fork out $6 each and then we were on our way to this ‘amazing’ Mexican literally 2 minutes over the border.

It wasn’t amazing. It was tasteless. I had a burrito and taco salad. It was a wrap with runny refried beans and cheese. No Mexican seasoning or anything. The only redeeming factor was the chips and home made dips they put on the table. They had taste. They had spice. I don’t understand how they got it wrong. A monkey can make a reasonable burrito.

I did have some good enough meals; an Indian in Vancouver with my cousin, Thai take away at food courts (probably the best thing I ate) and most of the home made things family made. But by far though my favourite consumable was discovering the CARAMEL APPLE SPICE FROM STARBUCKS. IM IN LOVE.

I even put a single CAS on my AMEX at Vancouver International just to get my final hit.

Abbotsford is in the…prairies I assume. There are mountains surrounding the farmland. My Uncle, now retired lives on one of the hilly parts of the town and there is this ‘mountain’ called Eagle Mountain at the back of his house which I walked/ran up a number of times to work off the cakes. You get a great view heading out toward the Rockies and Mount Baker in Washington.

Above, on a couple of days everything was frozen, which made for a beautiful run.

On Christmas Eve, my Uncle and Aunt took us all to see some local Christmas lights. I soon learnt that its a big thing to decorate your house/street/town up for Christmas. Kind of reminded me of Sydney suburbs, the UK don’t do it nearly as much. There was this one main property that literally had the biggest lights display I’ve seen for s single house. It was really cool and heaps of people made a point of stopping to walk around it.

After Christmas we headed to Vancouver for a few days. Luckily by now the weather had cleared up and we were able to see the city in all its glory. It is such a beautiful city. The night we got there my cousin and her husband took us to Granville Island. Here there are really cool artisan shops and cafes with a food hall packed with deli’s and fresh produce. It made me wonder why the places I had been out to eat couldn’t produce tasty food. Maybe I was being taken to the wrong places.

The next morning I woke up and had good coffee while looking at this…

After drinking freshly ground and brewed coffee, we took the bus into the centre of Vancouver and met my parents who were staying at a hotel. My dad had everything planned out so we just moseyed along. I’m not a family outing kind of person. At all. But it was good to see the sights. We went to the Harbour Tower first, not like other skyscrapers I’ve climbed…I mean once you’ve been up the Empire State Building and the Burj Khalifa, it’s hard to find an equal. However, the view was stunning out across the river and mountains adjacent to the city.

Once we descended we took the ferry across to North Vancouver…just for the sake of it. There isn’t much there. We came right back. Thankfully we found a food court so I could get my dose of decent food from the Thai take away place. During the afternoon, the cold afternoon, we walked down the riverfront where the Winter Olympic Torch is and this big lego like statue of a Killer Whale. I liked it.

After stopping for a few minutes we continued walking along the waterfront to Stanley Park. I remember going there as a little kid and seeing the Totem Poles so I was happy to go back. I love the First Nations art and heritage.

The jaunt in the park was nice but the freezing temperatures were definitely getting the better of us so decided to take things back indoors. My sister and I headed back to my cousins and we went out to an Indian for dinner. Post-Indian we went to the Van-Dusen Gardens which host an amazing winter wonderland of lights around the botanical gardens. It was actually very magical. The little ponds were all frozen so it made it feel really wintery. They also had a fountain light show (I count help comparing to Dubai Fountain and rolling my eyes in contempt) which mashed ‘Let It Go’ and Vivaldi…that was interesting.

It was about -5 while we were walking around the magical winder wonderland. I lost feeling in my toes and the hot chocolate we bought was cold by the time you took two steps. Still, it was a great night. The last morning in Vancouver we set out to go to The University of British Columbia where we were to see the Museum of Anthropology. This was my favourite place I visited in Vancouver. It was so interesting and would highly recommend a visit if you’re in town. It’s a fair walk across the campus, and we ran into a Coyote on the walk…they’re kind of like city foxes in the UK…used to humans and no real threat. The museum is mainly full of First Nations artefacts and art but also had anthropological artefacts from other cultures. Make sure you check out the many draws! There is also an outside section with Totems and a really beautiful view out towards Whistler.

So, that was Vancouver in a nutshell. We headed back to Abbotsford for New Year and then it was time to leave Canada a few days after that. Our flight back to Newark was scheduled for 9:30am, so we were up around 4am to get there on time. The screen showed a 2 hour delay at check in, so we checked in anyhow and said farewell to our parents who were heading in the other direction back to Australia. There had been a big storm surge over Canada during the night and many planes were snow-locked in other parts of the country. This meant our plane was currently stuck in Toronto. They found a new plane for us and we boarded. After sitting there fully boarded for about 30 minutes the captain announces there is a problem with the plane and they were going to take about another 3o mins to fix it. Obviously, my fear skyrocketed at this point – I didn’t want to fly on a plane that needed fixed. Even though that is totally irrational because they were in the act of fixing and wouldn’t take off before the fixing was done, I couldn’t help relive all the news casts of the Air Asia flight that had ‘gone missing’ literally the week before. ANYHOW. To my relief the plane couldn’t be fixed so they took us off and sent us through that long process (LONG PROCESS) of rebooking. Although we did stand in a line for a few hours, we were in a much better position to the rest of the plane. We just wanted back on British soil. The rest of the plane wanted back on specifically New York soil. Problem was, there were no direct flights and very few connecting flights that day or in the coming days. People were getting re-routed all sorts of crazy ways and pretty much being told there was no hope. It got to a few people in front of us and they were completely out of options for flights (and a lot of the plane were still behind us). I piped up to the lady who looked stressed and tired, who was doing all she could and still getting abuse. I mentioned to her that we just wanted to get to Glasgow and would be happy not to go to New York. Her eyes immediately brightened and she said in a half whisper that she could do that for us. So, we got booked on a British Airways flight directly to London, to then connect to Glasgow. I was so happy. It turned out later that we got the last two seats…although there ended up being a lot of extra seats because apparently people couldn’t get to the airport from Whistler because of the snow. Anyhow, whatever we got our flight and free meals and free drinks and a big 747 plane which, at least in my mine, buffers turbulence and makes for a much more pleasant journey. We also got home about 12 hours earlier…although I was in Vancouver International for 14 hours.

That was my North American journey over the holidays. Now, back to the reality of finishing off a seriously busy semester at University and looking towards the prospects of a year filled with even more incredibly amazing and fulfilling experiences.

Flights of 2014.

At the start of the year, new years eve in fact, as I was sitting on my bed in Glasgow thinking about my year ahead – a voice inside said ‘fuck it, take a chance and make this year amazing’. It has been my 30th year alive and the best that I can remember. The two main things I wanted to do this year was quit the job I was in (which I did) and get over my fear of flying. Now, that hasn’t exactly happened…my hands still get clammy as the plane heads for the runway and my heart starts racing to the point I think I might have a heart attack or panic attack, probably a panic attack. Saying this, I have managed to embrace the whole flying experience from gate to gate – including eating and drinking nice wine before boarding (if it isn’t super early) and welcoming strange strangers stories whom I randomly get placed besides. Sometimes annoying, sometimes not. And not always on every flight – so here are a few moments of interaction with people on planes through my year.

January – Rome

6am flight from Glasgow to Amsterdam to catch our connecting flight to Rome. 6 tired girls. 12 loud, drunk, smelly, stag-do-guys sitting right in front of us. What are the chances. I was too tired and outnumbered to even contemplate communicating my desires to punch them all in the face.

February – Dubai

I had to connect with British AIrways in London after flying from Glasgow to get to Dubai. As I was waiting in the departure lounge an ‘English’ family were sat behind me. Father, mother and a little girl and toddler boy. The little girl starts talking to her father about the plane. About how it works and what happens if it stops working and if our plane would stop working. Obviously, overhearing these curiosities got my palms that sweaty way (deep breaths, in for 11 out for 7). So that father looked really disinterested, barely looking up at his daughter looking for reassurance and me on the other side of the set of chairs pricking my ears up for some wise answer. All he said was ‘honey, there’s nothing we can do if the plane crashes’. She seemed relatively happy with that answer, and after a moment of thinking ‘you can’t say that to a kid’, I realised that actually, there isn’t anything you can do. If it’s gonna crash, it’s gonna crash right? As it happened, out of the hundreds of seats on the 777, they were sat right next to me. Funny that.

June – Milan

I’m sure I’ve already blogged about this plane story. I met THE HOFF on my connecter flight from Heathrow to Milan. I was sitting there for the majority of the flight unaware of the blast from my 90’s 2 rows in front of me. It wasn’t until a little way before four decent into Milan that this tall man in a leather jacket (obvs) got up and went to the bathroom. On his way back I thought to myself ‘oh that looks like The Hoff’ then turned back to the beautiful view of The Alps below. Just as quick I looked back and realised that it actually was The Hoff. So I papped him (obvs). Luckily I was flying business class so when we disembarked the plane, I ended up on the same bus to the terminal as him. He was with his son so I took the opportunity to evidence my experience and got a snap, spilling some lame line like ‘oh I watched Baywatch all the time in the 90’s’. Cringe.

June – Nice (to London)

Don’t mess with English people. They don’t like their holidays disrupted in any way, especially those over 40. British Airways flight at Nice airport cancelled. Still not sure why. I stood in a line for what must of been at least 2 hours surrounded by English (mostly 40+ ers) to get a hotel and taxi for the night courtesy of BA – and re-booked on a flight. I did meet a nice couple. At one point I was in the line behind this guy and thought, ‘hmmm he’s alriggght’ – Gay. So that was the nice couple I met, two guys on their annual holiday to Nice. At least they were not moaning. Had a glass of wine with some of the moaners at the Ibis Hotel they put us up at. They’d stopped moaning by that point so I enjoyed their company.

August – Gatwick (to Glasgow)

I was flying back to Glasgow after working all summer in England and ended up next to a right character. A 19 year old boy who had ‘moved’ to Ibiza (but had only lasted 2 weeks) and blown all his money on drugs and partying. He told me his whole life story. WHOLE LIFE STORY. I mean it was a harrowing story, that could probably make a good movie – but I was tried man. So he was definitely still on something, thats not an assumption he told me whatever he was on hadn’t worn off yet. His brother had bailed him out and booked him a flight home and he was going home to ‘sort himself out’ and ‘get off the drugs’. I was actually glad he was at the window and I was on the isle, because I felt like he could have almost gone a bit crazy, he didn’t stop fidgeting and tapping the whole time (and talking) – so I felt I was a safe buffer. As much as the experience was a bit annoying, the flight was over in a second.

September – Dubai

My second Dubai trip, this time flying direct from Glasgow to Dubai with Emirates. My friend and I started in the SkyLounge and made use of the free wine so boarding I was quite calm. I was in the middle next to my friend at the window and a guy on the isle. We both recognised the guy from the SkyLounge who had also been taking advantage of the free drinks and food. The air hostesses came around with dinner and I ordered a drink that I hopped would put me to sleep. The guy next to me ordered a couple bottles of wine – fair enough, I’d often do this. When I started getting a bit uh-oh-like was when every time he finished two he ordered another 2 – for 8 hours! When we were being served breakfast towards the end of the flight, I started speaking to him. He didn’t appear drunk at all but smelt so bad of booze I had to soon stop talking to him. He was heading to Thailand – not sure why.

December – New York

Boarding a flight which I assumed would be full to the brim just before Christmas (and pretty much was), I started to think as all the doors were closed that we would be lucky to get an extra seat. I was wrong, a woman had gone to the bathroom before sitting down. She took her seat and was really nice, introducing herself etc. But, she was quite large. I was in the middle of her and my sister so didn’t have a lot of room. Anyhow it wasn’t an issue really except for my discomfort, she talked quite a lot but was really nice and was telling us some good things about New York. She was going over there for about 4 months to see her (as she described it) ‘lover’. From the start of the nearly 8 hour journey to the end she must have redone her make up at least twice an hour. She also had this spray stuff she kept spraying too. I guess she was maybe nervous about seeing her ‘lover’ after a while.

So, those are some little stories from flights I’ve taken this year. I’ve done a lot of travelling with many flights being story less. I guess what I can take from this is that as the man said to his daughter ‘there’s nothing you can do’ if the plane is going to crash, it’s going to crash. The risk I take to explore this world could possibly one day be my death, but how could I say I’ve lived my life if I haven’t taken that risk.

Start spreading the news…

My dream, well one of my dreams was to go to New York and particularly at Christmas time. Ya know, 90’s child fantasy of being lost in New York like Kevin MaCalister meets 00’s girl obsessed with the likes of Gossip Girl, Sex in the City and spending days watching re-runs of friends dreaming of the day I get to explore that city. So, this week I was able to tick New York pre-Christmas off my list. Unfortunately there was no snow, but there was that Christmas feeling that all those movies/TV shows evoke. After a long and stupidly bumpy flight across the Atlantic from Glasgow, we landed in Newark and after train delays and stressed out attendants we made it to The Empire Hotel (yep, chose it because Chuck Bass in Gossip Girl owns it – sad to say he doesn’t live there in real life…). After settling in, we took a walk to go find some food. Being close to Broadway the obvious choice was to wander down to times square. I think I have mentioned this in previous travel posts, but I really always find the things that aren’t the ‘main tourist attractions’ to be my favourite parts of cities I visit. I know Times Square is a major stop on the tourist map, but I feel people recognise the ‘paid’ attractions as the favourites. Times Square was my favourite. It wasn’t a jaw dropping moment like when I saw the Dubai Fountain for the first time; it was utter confusion and curiosity. I don’t think I understood Times Square and where I was meant to look – all I wanted to do was sit down in the middle of the street and stare. I completely loved it; I can always tell my favourite place in a city when all I want to do is keep going back to that spot. Next day we got up early, which wasn’t hard as jet lag hit me bad in NY. We went to one of the 10 Starbucks on the street our hotel was on and got some breakfast. After this we headed to FAO Shwartz Toy Shop to see the ‘Big Piano’. Coincidently, ‘Big’ was on the TV the day before I left so it was a fresh attraction in my mind to see! We had bought a City Pass, which was about $109 and if you have the time is really a money saver. We made use of it in the 4 days, but that was making the trip a non-stop event. The Empire State Building was our next stop. It is such a wonderful building. A good view is always on the tourist list and the view from the top is certainly a good view. Definitely do this on a sunny day, it would be disappointing on a day with bad weather. We didn’t have to cue, even though there a millions of people on the streets outside the building that are trying to tell you there is a 2 hour wait – SCAMMERS. I think they just want to make commission or something. The next stop was The American Natural History Museum. I wish I had had more time in NY, because an afternoon isn’t really enough for seeing the whole place. It was super cool though, we got a pass to go into this show in the Space Auditorium which explained the Big Bang and how scientists have been able to trace the Universe back to it’s beginnings. It then shows you how the Universe is always expanding. It’s incredible how insignificant we are when recognising how gigantic the universe is. Incredible experience. As interesting as this was, the best part was the… DINOSAURS! 

The next day we got an early start and made our way down to Battery Park where we caught the ferry to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. It was so cold. I’m an Australian living in Scotland so I know cold, but this was bitter to the bone. It was a nice ride and a beautiful day so the chill was bearable 😉 I guess this trip is a one time thing, I can’t imagine going back to the State of Liberty or Ellis Island the next time I visit – but it’s obviously worth the visit!

View from Ellis Island Immigration Museum of Manhattan.

As we disembarked off the ferry at Battery Park, we took a walk uptown a little way to where the 9/11 memorial is from the attacks on the Twin Towers.

The afternoon was then spent walking around The Metropolitan Museum of Art. I LOVED IT THERE. Ignorantly, we only gave ourselves about 4 hours to see The Met, which is not nearly enough. I only saw about 1/3 of it, if that. Definitely give yourself a whole day to spend there.

Sitting on the steps of The Met…just like in Gossip Girl…

Through the City Pass, you also got access to The Guggenheim and the Museum of Modern Art. I’m not the keenest on Modern Art so I went through them quite quickly. I did like the Zero exhibition in The Guggenheim however. So, that was the third full day. Later that afternoon a friend I was studying my Masters with last year came to meet us in Manhattan, since she just lives in New Jersey. It was so nice, she showed us a wonderful Christmas Market at Bryant Park where we got hot apple cider. We then went to Macy’s and looked at the window displays. We even went in to see if we could find the Santa Land like in ‘Elf’. We did find it but the cue was heaps long so we decided to head back out and find some dinner.

My sister and I said goodbye to New York the next day. I can’t wait to go back one day with more money and friends where I can maybe see some shows and shop till I drop.

Eating New York.

This week, en route to Vancouver for Christmas I was able to stop in NYC for a few days. As I like to do when I visit places, I had a list of food I wanted to try. One thing I quickly realised was the lack of vegetarian options. I’m sure that is not the case for the remainder of the US. The first stop was a Diner that we had been told about called the Stardust Diner. We walked past this a few times and there were always cues out around the corner. We did have to wait when we went but not too long. The waiters/resses are all out of work actors who get up on the tables and sing songs. It was completely cheesy but worth a visit just for the experience. The food was nothing special, but good enough. I had a vegetable burrito and fries, however it was more like a hot wrap with mushrooms and salad. 

After we went on the cruise to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, we walked up to the 9/11 Memorial and found a Pronto Pizza (which are all over Manhatten and boast the ‘best’ pizza in NY). It was good Pizza, one slice is definitely enough for lunch. I also got a hot chocolate because it was so freezing that day by lunch time I couldn’t feel my hands.

On the last full day I was in NYC a friend I studied with last year came and met us as she lives in New Jersey. We took a walk to the Christmas Market at Bryant Park, which was so nice. I got some mulled cider (which isn’t alcoholic in the US) and warmed me nicely. Later, after having a walk around we went for dinner at the Roxy Diner. The Roxy Diner was good too, I guess overall I wasn’t impressed with NY food but it was good enough. I had a ravioli pasta dish that was really cheesy.

Later, after walking around again, we stopped in Times Square at a Starbucks and got a Hot Apple Caramel Spice. In the UK you don’t get this and it is like heaven in a cup. Think apple pie in liquid form. YUM <3.

The next morning we were packing up to leave New York. I still hadn’t had a bagel so we went to the Cosmic Diner. My friend told me about this place, she liked to go there when she lived in New York for a while. Bagel, good. Refillable coffee, good. Service, terrible. I actually felt like telling them to chill right out – literally forced the food and coffee down your throat and then hung about your table after giving you the cheque which made you feel so uneasy. Naturally I took my time finishing my coffee and didn’t tip – I don’t care where I am in the world, if the service is bad they aint getting a tip.

Dubai. (DUBBBAAAAIIII).

My friends all think I’m crazy. No, actually they question why I love Dubai so much. But, It’s because they haven’t experienced it yet. Dubai is the kind of place that you’re sceptical about; ‘is it going to be tacky?’ and ‘will it be my kind of thing?’. The answer is yes. Yes for everybody, that is the beauty about Dubai – it has something for everyone’s tastes. I was sceptical, thats why I went.

Dubai, round 2 – Atlantis the Palm. Perfection. 

My friend and I stayed in a room overlooking the Persian Gulf. It was luxury at it’s best. I got quite accustomed to having my bed turned down for me every night, being greeted by towel elephants and watching beautiful sun sets from the 9th floor.

This hotel is perfection. I spent a lot of time down by the many pools, on the padded sun loungers with attendants bringing you cool towels and ice poles for free. It was about 40 degrees each day so I had to dip into the pool regularly. But they even have that sussed, with a shallow pool you can lie in to keep cool and tan at the same time.

We had breakfast included in our package – which was a good move. I have never experienced a breakfast so amazing and I got 7 of them. 7. There were two international buffets you could chose from for breakfast. We went to the Kaleidoscope restaurant and it offered everything imaginable from cheeses, breads, sweet, savoury, cereal, fruits, arabic, chinese, indian…there was even pizza. Fresh squeezed juices, refillable coffee. It was literally my idea of heaven. I usually had about 3 courses.

There are heaps of different dining options in the hotel. We often went for a coffee and croissant at Starbucks (to get free WiFi too…) and ate at a few of the other restaurants – Safron is worth a major mention. Again best meal ever. Asian style buffet with pretty much every other option too. My friend and I actually had food sweats after this. We had some cocktails at Nasimi Beach – word of warning, the cocktails in Dubai are terrible. But if you hit happy hour you get buy one get one free drinks.

We frequented Dubai Mall quite a lot – my friend had been to Dubai before it was built so the fountain was a must see. Dubai was a lot more quiet in the Summer as opposed to when I was there in their Winter. I would suggest eating at the Cheesecake Factory – I know, it’s American but it’s so good and I hadn’t been before. The portions are so big with the meals and same goes with the cake.

This visit, we went up the Burj Khalifa at sun set and stayed to watch the Dubai Fountain light up below. They played the music along in the viewing deck, which was a good effect.

I’ve always had a dream to swim with Dolphins. Luckily the Atlantis resort has a Dolphin sanctuary. So, I swam with Dolphins. It was the most fantastic thing I have done this year. Perhaps in my life. They are such amazing and beautiful creatures. I loved it.

One of the things I liked the most on my previous visit was walking around the old town and visiting the Souks. We started off one morning quite early to try and beat the heat. I realised there is no beating the heat in the Dubai summer. We got the taxi to drop us off at the Dubai Museum. I was under the impression it was small, it only cost about 3 Dhiram to get in. But you walk through the outside bit, and then into a maze of museaumness under the fort. It’s really worth a go, interesting and air-conditioned inside…!

From here we walked down to catch an Abra across Dubai Creek to where the Gold and Spice Souk’s are. The Abra’s are only about 1 Dhiram to ride on and are full of locals. I think they just wait until they’re full then go across. We got off and sweated our way to the Souks. I bought some spices from the same man I did the last time. We wandered through the souk full of shop windows dangling fine gold. One day I’ll go back with money and buy something.

It was so hot this day so we headed back to Atlantis by about 11am.

I remember seeing the Aquarium at Dubai Mall for the first time and being in awe. I had a similar feeling when I realised that there was an Aquarium of a similar size in our hotel! It was so stunning, I could just sit and look at all the sea animals for hours if given the time. At breakfast I was always joined by sharks and rays swimming past. Staying at The Atlantis, you get free access into the Lost Chambers Aquarium. It’s not as good as the one in Dubai Mall but still worth a peek if you have the free pass.

Also, being a guest at The Atlantis gets you into the water park, which is part of the resort. We didn’t go until the second last day. DO NOT BE A FOOL LIKE US AND LEAVE YOUR FLIP FLOPS IN THE LOCKER THINKING THAT IS ‘THE THING TO DO’ AT WATER PARKS – BLISTERS LITERALLY APPEARED ON THE SOLES OF MY FEET. The water park is immense, I haven’t been to millions of water parks but it’s the best I have been to…I mean, come on, there are slides that take you through an aquarium with sharks and rays swimming right on top of you. It had the BEST river tube course too. It takes about an hour to get around it and has heaps of different features, leaving you wondering what is around the next bend. I used the think the river tube at Australia’s Wonderland was amazing, but in hindsight it’s nothing compared to this.

After my first visit to Dubai, I felt like it was somewhere that I could move to. Sorry, no, that I wanted to, needed to move to. I guess that was a huge reason why I booked another trip – to see if this city really is a place I could see myself living in. I left even more excited to try and find a job in Dubai when I graduate in 2015. I’m working on it and hopefully have something in the pipeline. The 30th year of my life has certainly been incredible. I hope 2015 see’s me blogging from this beautiful, exciting and amazing city.

Brighton and the Death of Summer.

The moment I arrived in Brighton the clouds came over and the wind and rain emerged announcing that summer was in fact drawing it’s curtains. I spent two weeks in Brighton with the same company I worked with on the Isle of Wight, but it just wasn’t the same. Hurricane Bertha plagued a good portion of those two weeks which made it a little miserable. I missed the Isle of Wight and the friends I made there – although making some lovely friends in Brighton too – the British mainland made me realise I was soon to go back to reality. I liked Brighton, many of my friends back in Scotland thought I would LOVE it, because of the creative, boho type vibe – which of course I liked – but I found it a bit naff and very overrun by tourists…to the point sometimes it was hard to move. I liked the Lanes a lot, I often went to little nice tea houses and coffee shops with some of the friends I made. There were good markets on a Saturday morning I went to as well. We were working at the University campus, which was a little way out of Brighton. One nice night the students had a Holi party on the field, which looked amazing.

Although as I mentioned the centre of Brighton was overrun by tourists and a little tacky, I still frequented these places for something to do. And I guess the Brighton Pier and The Royal Pavilion are things to see when you’re there.

I think my favourite day in Brighton was in the aftermath of Hurricane Bertha’s remnants on the UK. I had been in Brighton with some of the students and taken some time to go get something to eat at the pier. The light was amazing looking out over the water at the burnt pier adjacent. The wind was howling to the point that my chips were being blown out of the box. They got cold so I threw them out. I sat there for ages, it was really peaceful.

I was ready to leave Brighton when I did and happy to get back to Scotland to start the second year of my Masters…but also itchy to start planning my next adventure: Dubai round 2.

Beach Huts.

I love everything about the ocean (except sharks). The sea side is so peaceful and refreshing, the smell reminds me of being a child and spending every day of summer at the beach. I feel at home and the most comfortable when I have an ocean view, so spending the summer on the Isle of Wight, on a cliff atop of Sandown beach and promenade was magic. I tried to keep up running while I was there, which lasted a little while then died a death. When I did do it though, my run was amusing. There are so many little colourful huts along the water front, which I would like to introduce you to.

Maybe it’s incredibly lame that I found these so funny. But, I didn’t expect to see a row of about 20 huts all with ‘hut’ puns above the doors and down the alley ways. I’m pretty sure I laughed out loud the first time I saw them.