Busy Weeks Again

As I get closer to the summer months the travel and store openings speed up. This week I experienced it. Monday was meetings in Dubai, flew out Monday night to Kuwait. Then Tuesday Wednesday in Kuwait doing store visits and meetings, flew back to Dubai Wednesday night for 8hrs, then up and at the airport Thursday morning for a 7am flight to Amman Jordan for store visits for all three brands.
These days are made extremely long because I usually visit stores till 6pm, then get dinner with business partners, go back to the hotel, then have to write up the reviews, action plans, download the photos, edit them, upload them to the US teams, and by the time I'm done with all this it is usually 10 or 11pm. Add Travel onto that day, and I'm up at the Airport at 5am, not going to bed till 11pm, with the time zone changes, I end up having a 20hr work day! So thank goodness this isn't a year round thing and I had the last two months as a breather.

I am in Jordan today -friday- and was hoping to go to the dead sea as my relax day after all the travel, but alas, it is 34 degrees out, pouring down rain and freezing! So being that I didn't expect it to be like the north pole, I didn't bring a jacket- so that trip has to wait to next time. For those of you in the midwest with 80degree temps- I envy you! :-)

I did take some pictures of the city. I am always impressed with all the limestone throughout the city. They have no forests here so no wood, and water is scarce with a capital S, so they can't use concrete so what they have is limestone- everywhere.

Istanbul in Winter 2

Istanbul in Winter

The best part of this whirlwind was that it ended with 4 days in Istanbul which you know is my favorite city. I hadn't been in Istanbul when it was winter yet, so was apprehensive that I might end up hating it if I couldn't have my coffee on the street with a warm breeze and rustling leaves- but to my surprise I LOVED IT. The city is also perfect in winter because although it's cold and snowy, the snow never accumulates, and the coldest it get is around 32. The city that is so beautiful in autumn colors, and summer heat, is even more gorgeous in grey and white.
For our last day, we went to the Spice Bazaar and Grand Bazaar. We also went to this store called "Pasabahce Magazalari" which is a local glass company that creates unique glass items for daily use, and sculptural pieces at reasonable prices. I picked up a new decanter and port glasses that match. Can't wait to get a house to be able to set it out in :-)

At The Top

These are the pics from the top.

And if you noticed the much improved quality of my photos, it's because almost all these pictures were shot by Daniel with his much better camera. So a big thanks to him for photographing the vacation.

Final Night of Vacation

To wrap up the week, we chose to the big event- the BurjKhalifa and Downtown. We had dinner at my favorite Italian place- BiceMare at Souk Albahar right in front of the fountains. Because there was a sandstorm that day, we weren't able to sit outside next to the fountains, but we were still able to walk out on to the balcony to see them. The sandstorm did create a really cool effect around the Burj Khalifa creating a glowing look. Then after dinner and a few rounds of the fountains, it was time for our 10pm timed tickets for "At the Top"- the viewing floor on the 123 floor of the Burj.
The views at night are great because you can see all the buildings outlined and the highways stretching out into the desert.
It was a perfect night to end our amazing week.

Desert Safari 2

Desert Safari

One of the best things we did was the desert safari. You get picked up from your hotel and driven out to the desert preserve. You then have to get out while they deflate the tires so the SUV's will get through the sand better. Next you drive out to an Oasis where you can get your picture taken with a camel and watch a falcon show.
Back into the Tahoe's and you go out into the desert to have some fun. I never would have believed that a Tahoe could go up a sand dune like it does, or skim over a peak 20ft dune, but it did it! One bad thing happened- we got buried- deep. We had to get out of the truck and wait to be pulled down off the dune by another truck. On the positive side we got some amazing pictures as we were out in the middle of the desert.

After the dune busting, be got to a point where we were able to watch the sunset over the desert. Very pretty. The final stop was the Bedouin camp. It is a camp out in the desert set up like the native people would have had- rugs for flooring, pillows to sit on, and brush tents. It was pretty cool- the food was great, and there was Shisa to smoke and wine and beer- so a very fun night. To close out the evening there was a belly dancer followed by 5 minutes of complete darkness under the sky to Stargaze.
And yes- I finally can say I have ridden a camel while being here! :-)

Vacation Days2

While we were in Deira we went up to the Gold Souk. I think because we had gone to Karama first, we were a bit jaded by how the high the prices were, so we were mostly just window shoppers. I was surprised by how many of the shops there were, but also by how many people were shopping. It was a weekday when we went, and it was still packed with people.
Leaving Deira we drove out onto the palm. I don't think people realize how many amazing photo's you can get when you're out on the rings around the palm. The rings go on the left and the right of the palm. We got some good pictures of the Burj Al Arab (white hotel), and on the left side you see "new Dubai" with all its sky scrapers and the new Infinity Tower that twists into the sky.

Vacation Days

Daniel and I had a nonstop week, but it was amazing and I saw alot of familiar places, but alot of places that I never go too. These pictures are from Diera which is Old Town in Dubai. Diera is where the Spice and Gold Souks are, and where the ports are where boats from all over the gulf come in to drop off and pick up shipments. We also had gone to Karama- the "knock off Market" of Dubai. That was an experience. You know in Sex in the City 2 when Charlotte goes with the guys and they trap her in the upstairs room till she agrees to buy some fake prada? Well- that didn't exactly happen to us, but there really are those back rooms. In once instance- we found shoes that we liked and the guy took us back to the corner of the store, unlocked "the wall" of denim, and there was a small passage back to this room. I wasn't about to go in- but then I saw other people, so I went. Daniel was like "sure- take us back to the room" --where the door looks like a wall and no one will ever know where we are! But it was all good and I got an amazing pair of Hermes sandals, complete with orange Hermes box! And it was an adventure.

finally time to blog!

Hello there! Well I have been on a world wind that is finally calming down. I had the week of vacation which was amazing. Daniel and I traveled all over Dubai and UAE, seeing lots of sights, had amazing meals, and some good shopping. Then it was full on the day I got back- had a four day conference with the franchise partners where we did lots of team building, planning of 2012, and time to connect which was much needed. Then the US team flew in for a week of meetings and visits. We were off to Kuwait, then back to Dubai, then off to Istanbul all within 10 days! Finally I got back to Dubai last night, exhausted and with a cold but ready to be normal the upcoming week. So trying to get over this cold I have time to just hang out at the house and catch up on the blog.