Posts filed under 'Dubai'
Aer Lingus has introduced a flight direct from Dublin to Dubai. The inaugural flight landed at Dubai International Airport on the 28th of March 2006. The airline is expecting to carry around 70 thousand passengers to Dubai during the first year alone.
This is the first non US long haul Aer Lingus flight into Dubai and makes it the 112th airline to operate through Dubai International Airport.
This new development also opens new travel opportunities for the Irish people because of the partnership with Emirates. Irish passengers now have the option of travelling on to a further 21 destinations in the Southern Hemisphere but surely not before you explored all that Dubai has to offer first?
Dubai is certainly a stunning place to visit and has long been known for its hospitality. It is also known as one of the worlds most well recognised Business centres as well as a Pleasure playground. Dubai offers more than just Business conference facilities, stunning Hotels and large Shopping Malls. You can loose yourself in Dubai’s Activity rich playground, like skiing at the new indoor ski dome, driving in the desert in a convoy of 4 x 4 vehicles on a desert safaris or having fun (and hopefully making money) at the races, both horse and camel racing.
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by Doreen B
April 3rd, 2006
Its that time of year where most adventurous holiday makers go skiing. For something different try skiing in Dubai instead of Europe. The Dubai Weather is great this time of year. The temperature is around 22 degrees for most of the winter. This means you can venture outdoors and explore this magnificent country without wilting in 5 seconds flat. Now that they have the new indoor ski place, you don’t have to miss the tradition of a winter ski. You can ski, shop, explore and all under great weather conditions.
I said I would give you more information on skiing in Dubai so here it is….The indoor ski centre is situated at Interchange 4 on the Sheik Zayed Road. The place has been called Ski Dubai and is part of the Emirates Mall or ‘The Mall of Emirates’ (which I mentioned in my previous blog). It is open all year round and if you have had enough of the searing heat, then head to Mall for some lunch, shopping or skiing. Sounds crazy doesn’t it?
Ski Dubai offers ski lessons for those who have never tried it and don’t worry about bringing your own ski stuff because when you pay the admission fee (about $40 from what I can gather) it includes the ski rental, clothing and lift pass. The ski instructors come from all over the world (obviously head hunted) and because there are so many English Ex-pats in Dubai, English instructors are a-plenty.
If you just want to experience the place without having to hassle with learning to ski, then you can start with a sled ride or just chuck a couple of snow balls at your kids (or husband). Its quite cool to just go in for a look see because they have man made icicle stalactites, glacial caverns and ice sculptures for authenticity.
If you want to do the full ski thing but only have limited experience then you can use the more gentle slopes designed for beginners. If you are up for a full on ski, then they have some great slopes (blue and black runs) to challenge you as well. They have 5 runs all together and the snow making jets have to make a whopping 28 inches of powdery snow to make the patrons happy. It is supposed to be the third largest indoor ski spot after Holland and Germany.
If you want to chill but not take part in the activities, then you can relax while the kids take to the slopes by sipping coffee or hot chocolate from the observation deck at the café which is near the summit. The attached mall will also have cafes at the base of the hill which will have viewing windows to separate you from the skiing nutcases.
Click on ‘Ski Dubai‘ for more information.
Let me know if you want more info or if you have already been there, done that etc.
January 6th, 2006
If you are looking for good value shopping, Dubai is the place to go. It is renowned for good quality and good prices. What you may not know though is that one of the festivals they have in Dubai is the Shopping Festivals which is held in January. I have a lovely gold necklace from Dubai which Steve (my husband) bought for me recently and the quality of the gold is so plain to see. I do know that if you buy gold in Dubai, you are sure to get it at a good price and 99% of the time when you are sold gold in Dubai, you can be sure it is the real deal. They are proud of their produce and have really strict laws concerning the gold trade.
The shopping mall I enjoyed most was the Themed Mall called Ibn Battuta Mall. The mall basically has six malls rolled into one huge development. There are six different countries represented through out the mall, which is why it is referred to as the ‘Themed Mall’. You will find it on the Sheikh Zayed Road. You can exit at interchange 5 or 6 depending on which direction you are travelling. I took a taxi but let me tell you it was quite expensive because the mall was quite a distance from my hotel. It was well worth the trip though.
For those who are after adventure and luxury you need to try ‘The Mall of The Emirates’ . This is also situation on the Sheikh Zayed Road. Now admittedly the new shopping mall was not yet open when I visited Dubai, so I cant say that it wont be my favourite on my next visit. Not only does it have a brand spanking new Grand Hotel, (the Kempinski Hotel) which is a 5 star hotel and due to open early 2006, but it also has the first Indoor Ski Resort in the Middle East. One of the main purposes of the Ski Resort is to lure shoppers to the new Emirates Mall.
The Mall consists of over 400 retailers including the world’s biggest international brand names, not to mention good old Debenham’s and Carrefour hypermarket. There is also a cinema complex with 14 screens as well as an entertainment centre which provides indoor thrill seekers with rides and simulators etc.
So head off to Dubai for your next holiday and enjoy shopping, sunshine, and if you have time, energy and money left you can go for run down one of the 5 slopes in the new ski resort.
Now I need to know how much information you want on shopping in Dubai? I will give more info on the skiing thing soon.
December 28th, 2005
If you are visiting Dubai on a low budget and need cheap accommodation, take some advice from me. One of the cheaper hotels I found to stay at was the Ramada continental hotel (Abu Hail Road) in Dubai. The location was not bad, the food is OK and in general the accommodation was fine for the money I spent but… and here’s the advice part - if you are staying at this hotel, make sure you are not on the 2nd like I was. If I were you, I would ask to be put on at least the 6th floor. Why? Well they have an Arabic night club on the first floor and the music is so loud that if I could speak the language, I would have been able to understand every single word in every single song - it was that loud. The worst part for me was that the music went on every night I was there and did not stop until about 3 in the morning. Other than that as budget hotels go, it was just OK all round. Let me know if you have had similar experiences?
December 21st, 2005