Apr 7 - Jumeirah Beach

Patty and Bob were up early to play golf. Doug and I, after breakfast, finally hit the gym. There are no restrictions on when men can use the gym on weekends. We went for a walk afterwards. Ernie Els, the PGA golfer, has a gorgeous golf course nearby with a gated community of lovely homes bordering it. We saw lots of gardening crews watering gardens.

When Patty and Bob got back, we headed to Jumeirah Beach - a lovely 12-hectare park on the Arabian Gulf. It's got lots of children's play areas, volley ball courts and lots of food kiosks so it's very popular with families. There are also vendors in a little outdoor market selling clothing, jewelry, shoes, souvenirs and lots of other bits and pieces. We had delicious gelato while we walked. There are lovely restaurants overlooking the beach. In a few weeks, it will be just too hot to be out at the beach and this whole area will be deserted.

From there we walked to the marina area where there are fabulous boats and some of the most expensive condos in the whole city. We watched people zip lining from the top of a nearby skyscraper down to the marina. A 30-second ride costs $200. We passed on the opportunity.

We drove home via the Palm Jumeirah, an artificial archipelago created using land reclamation. No surprise here - Palm Jumeirah is the world's largest artificial island. The complex has fabulous hotels, high end restaurants, a water park and very expensive condos and villas. When viewed from the air, the whole thing looks like a giant palm tree with a 2-km long trunk, 17 fronds and a surrounding crescent. It has its own monorail system, the first monorail in the Middle East.

Two observations - first, cell phone towers here are disguised to look like giant palm trees. Secondly, designing new buildings here must be very, very challenging. All the good ideas seem to have already been used.

We are now watching the Masters coverage from yesterday and relaxing after a very warm day of seeing the sights. Tomorrow is Patty's first day back at school after a two week break. Doug and I are probably going to do the Hop On Hop Off bus tour.Read more