Back from Paradise

'Tis true...I found paradise! We just returned from our trip to South Male Atoll, Maldives. It was amazing!
Truthfully, I am not even sure where to start...so how about we start with the end! (partially because there is so much to say about paradise that it will be a long one and I do not have that time right this minute!)
On our return trip we had a LONG layover in Dubai. So instead of exiting we found our "way out"...just loved this sign!

Can you say NEW? Literally, everything in this amazing city is new. There is construction everywhere. The tallest
building in the world is in the process of being built there. The palaces behind walls are hard to see but catching a glimpse of these compounds made me think of fairy tale size mansions.

The Mall of the Emirates has the most "name" stores all in one place that I have ever seen.
We went to see the movie "Australia" there. Look, they had
caramel popcorn along with regular and cheese flavors! Yummy! I really enjoyed this movie. I thought it was interesting and had a few stories going on at the same time, woven together very well.
The mall has a famous 5 start hotel The Kempinski. We didn't get to see it but we did see the indoor ski slope!
Yes, in the middle of a desert, a ski slope with ski lift, snowboarding, skiing, and even a tube ride. Just really cool! (no pun intended!)

Then there is this hotel...the Burj Al Arab, the world's only 7 star hotel. YES, 7 stars. The rooms are EXPENSIVE. I think one of the cheapest rooms is close to $7,500 A NIGHT! You can not even get into the hotel gates unless you have booked a room. or maybe have been invited by a sheik! Well, we didn't get our invitation since we were only there a few hours ;) The building itself is just amazing. It is on the sea which was a pretty shade of light bluish-green. Now, not sure what they do to make it a 7 star...we can only imagine, right?!

Well, that was our layover in Dubai. The flight back felt longer than the same flight there. Guess the excitement going made the 14 hour flight seem shorter....not so on the way home, though I was extremely excited to get back to our children!
I promise to blog about paradise...just let me have a few minutes to spare ;) We leave for Brasil on Saturday so....lots still to do here!
Hope you all had a Happy New Year!