The largest in the world!

I just knew I was going to have a good holiday when I arrived at Heathrow airport to be told that I had been granted a free upgrade!
I’ve just returned from eight days in Dubai spent with my son and daughter-in-law Tim and Alice, and my grandkids Oliver and Ella. They moved there just over a year ago but seem so settled that you’d have thought they’d been there years!
Everything in Dubai city is larger than life, except the city itself! It covers a modest thirty five square metres yet it hosts everything that is the biggest, the tallest and the most extravagant in the world. It’s a flashy, glitzy place that takes your breath away and never fails to amaze, amuse and astound.
Where do I start? Well, within hours of arriving I was whisked over the border into neighbouring Oman where I found myself not only in the middle of the desert, but beside a truly beautiful pool. And that was when I had my first surprise – a bar! Not the cheapest bar I’ve visited, but certainly the most welcome. It seems that the pool was part of a hotel, hence their licence to sell alcoholic beverages.

But that was not my only experience of the desert. One evening Tim took me on a desert safari. We joined a convoy of Landcruisers and took off across the sand dunes at breakneck speed and impossible angles! The evening ended in a desert camp where I got my first taste of traditional food and had a go at smoking a sheesha, a gurgling monster similar to a hubble bubble pipe. Oh, and we were splendidly entertained by a charming belly dancer!




One morning we all went to Wild Waddy! It’s the last place I’d normally visit – a water based adventure park! The kids were determined I should go, and to be honest I was pleasantly surprised! Now, there are three rules you should obey when riding up and down a twisting water slide.
1. Sit right in the middle of your rubber ring
2 Hold on tight
3. Remember rule 2!

There I was, on my way up and up the incline, being thrown this way and that, when suddenly the wrenched ring decided to turn upside down! Fortunately I stuck to rule 2, and I found myself being pulled at enormous speed up the slope until I reached the relative calm of the pool at the top. Once there I managed to clamber back on board ready for the terrifying decent to the water splash back at the bottom!And talking of bottoms, I sustained a couple of substantial bruises to my rear end as well as a bit of damage to my elbows. But I kept smiling!

Wild Waddy is situated between two fabulous hotels, the wave shaped Jumeira Beach and Dubais best known building, the Burj Al Arab Hotel. It’s the world’s tallest hotel and the only one to hold seven stars!

Dubai is synonymous with the words largest, biggest and most expensive! Set in the world’s largest man-made marina is the tallest building in the world, the Burj Dubai which when finished will stand 808 metres high. Alongside the tower is the world’s biggest fountain and the world’s biggest shopping centre, the Dubai Mall. Inside the mall is the world’s biggest aquarium and the world’s largest gold souk!

But probably the most remarkable feature of Dubai is the trio of artificial islands which are considered to be the eighth wonder of the modern world. Shaped like palm trees, their ‘fonds’ feature thousands of opulent properties each with their own beach front. The Jumeira Palm also hosts the fabulous Atlantis Hotel which opened last September with a concert by Kylie Minogue attended by hundreds of A-list celebrities.

It is however a city of extremes. I took a walk along the dock area of the creek to find dozens of rickety boats being unloaded with their cargoes of sofas, washing machines and household necessities! The whole area seemed ramshackle and disorganised, a totally different world from the glistening skyscrapers which looked down on the haphazard scene.

I could go on and on for pages! I did an open-topped bus tour of the city, I visited the wonderful Jumeira Mosque and I wandered though the backstreet souks. I also went to the beach!

My holiday ended on a high! We were invited to the British Embassy for a musical picnic on Saturday afternoon. There we sat in the shade of the trees whilst the Band of the Royal Marines entertained us.

The afternoon ended with the band marching around the grounds followed by dozens of marching children. I’ll leave you with a very short and rather dodgy video which gives you a little of the flavour of the afternoon, but not before I thank Alice, Tim, Oliver and little Ella for giving me a most wonderful holiday.

To see more of my pictures of Dubai in higher definition click HERE!

Tomorrows Dubai

So what does the future have in store for Dubai? Well, I’ve been doing a little research and come up with several projects which are either under way or about to be started. Try this for starters!

In 2012 the world’s longest and tallest arch bridge will open in Dubai. It will be one mile long and 670 tall! It will also feature the world’s first vacuum tube mass transit system.

Dubailand theme park is well under way. When completed it will be twice the size of Disneyworld and will have cost a staggering $814 million!

Another resort is about to constructed. The difference with this one, Hydropolis, is that it will be the world’s first underwater resort!

Dubai is about to see the world’s biggest skyscraper mounted LED screen. It will be 33 stories high and clearly ‘watchable’ for over a mile.

Pentominium is to be an apartment block twice the height of any residential building in the world. It will be 576 metres tall and constructed on the world’s deepest ever excavation

Restless Planet is to be a durasic style theme park featuring 104 autotronic robots of 40 species of dinosaur!How much will it cost? $1 billion!

Finally my personal favourite, and had I read about it on April the first I would have been highly suspicious! It’s to be known as Dynamic Tower and will be the world’s first rotating apartment block. Each floor will be able to change direction independently on voice command, and between each floor will be wind turbines to supply all the necessary electricity.

The wanderer returns!

I'm back! That was quick wasn't it? As they say, time flies when you're having fun, and thanks to Alice Tim and the children I had fun by the bucket load.

As soon as I get a moment I'll tell you all about it, but in the mean time I've posted a few photos on my Images site right HERE!

A fairy story

It was a spring day, the sort of day poets write about and artists paint. Wandering through the woods a little girl stopped occasionally to pick a flower to put in her hair, or to watch the scurrying creatures of the undergrowth go about their busy lives. The sun scattered dappled spots of light between the unfurling leaves of the trees which formed a canopy of palest green above her head.
The only sound was the babbling of a brook as it's crystal clear water tumbled over glinting pebbles and swirled among the rocks and reeds.
What was that? Was it a tiny voice or her imagination playing tricks? 'Wait for me' it seemed to whisper. She looked around but there was nothing to be seen.
She stopped to watch a little bird on a twig as it swayed back and forth in the breeze. 'Please wait for me' whispered the little voice again. 'Where are you?' the child said. 'Why are you following me?' There was no reply.
She stood on tiptoes on the stump of a fallen tree and looked all around. Nothing. Not a soul to be seen. Carrying on she climbed a gate into a field. Some cows looked up as she jumped down onto the ground, then they got back to feeding on the lush green grass. Then that little voice again. 'Please wait for me'.
And then she saw where the voice was coming from. A tiny fairy was sitting on a branch of a nearby tree, its translucent wings quivering, tears trickling down its alabaster cheeks. The girl held out her hand. The fairy fluttered into the air then landed in her palm. 'Why are you following me?' she said, 'why are you so sad? '
The fairy told her, choking on her words, that she was lost. She begged the girl to show her the way back to her home in the fairy grotto. It was a secret place known to only a special few, just the children who truly believed in fairies. The little girl knew exactly where to take her.
A few minutes later the tiny fairy was back with her family. The fairy godmother promised the girl that no matter what happened to her, in good times and sad, there would always be a fairy to watch over her.
So if you ever see that girl, and she looks over her shoulder and smiles, you know that her own little fairy is following just behind her. ,

Rosey says sorry!

.
I always thought I might have a problem with my friend Rosey when I helped her set up her own blog. At first she was very meek and mild. Butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. But now things seem to have changed. She's found her voice. And it aint a pretty one right now!


As you know I'm currently in Dubai with my family and I'm having a great time. Imagine my horror however when I saw what dear Rosey had been writing behind my back. She obviously thought I wouldn't see it. When I told her www stood for wibbley wobbley web she clearly believed me! I seems she had no idea it meant world wide and that I would be reading what she was writing. I pointed that out to her just now when I called her, and I also reminded her that many of her readers also lived abroad - a point she clearly had missed!


She has now agreed to post an apology. I expects she hopes that no one will notice it, so I thought I'd put a link to her blog here to make it easier for you to enjoy her grovelling! It wasn't there when I looked just now, but it should be published by the time you read this!


Click here for Rosey's apology!

Their silent language

This weeks prompt on Sunday Scribblings is one word Language. I'm away from home and using a different computer, so please excuse any mistakes! I don't alway have that excuse, so Im going to make the most of it this time.
They spoke a different language, at least in the usual sence of the word. Yet when Mary wrote poetry he felt the passion in her soul. Always the storyteller, Paul held her transfixed with tales of journeys imagined, adventures in faraway places and people he'd never met.
When he laughed she laughed, when he cried she cried.
With with a gesture, a move of their hands or an expression on their face, they spoke unspoken words.
They led solitary lives. There were few visitors. People from the council who were paid to care. I suppose they had relations, they must have done, but they seemed to have been forgotten. There was one elderly lady who dropped in occasionally often with a bunch of wiltng flowers or something in the bottom of a supermarket bag.
One night an ambulance arrived. Not with sirens and lights. It was in no rush. No one even noticed.
A few days later a herse pulled up outside th house. A gentleman in carrying a top hat walked towards the front door, head bowed and wearing a proffesional sombre expression n his weary face. Others, similarly dressed leaned on the herse smoking cigarettes and discussing last nights football results. Mary emerged from the house.
Everyone assumed Paul's funeral would be a quiet affair. But they were wrong. A considerable number of people, presumably long lost relations appeared at the church.
The little house had never seen so many visitors. If they had ben expecting a lavish wake then they were to be disappointed. But they were'nt there for a glass of sherry and a sandwich. It was Paul's will they were interested in for it seems that he had been a man of not inconsiderable wealth. But they weren't expecting what came next. Mary spoke.

They thought that Paul and Mary never spoke.They were right of course, they didn't. When they married they vowed to share everything, and that they did, right down to Paul's inability to utter a word. She announced to startled crowd that they were to get none of his money. I know it sounds something of a cliche but Paul did in fact leave most of his money to the cat's home, his final farewell joke.
What Mary said that day I'll never know, but when the relations left it was they that were speechless! I'm told by the priest who was present at the time that she finished with a flourish of her hands, then looked up to the ceiling and laughed. And she laughed and she laughed. She was still laughing as the relations left and then it was they who were speechless.
.

I'm outa here!

It’s holiday time! Yep, today I’m flying to Dubai to spend a week with my son Tim, daughter-in-law Alice, and grandchildren Oliver and Ella! It will be the first time I’ve visited them since they left England over a year ago.

My shorts, swimmers and Ray Bans are packed and I’m ready to go.

I’ll hopefully get to post a thing or two while I’m away, but I may decide to chill out instead! Who knows? I’ll see how the mood takes me.
I’m only gone a short while – back on 26 April so if we don’t get together next week I’ll see you then!

By the way, can you do me a favour? I have a feeling that my friend Rosey will take advantage of my absence and misbehave herself on her blog. Don’t believe a thing she says about me, it’ll all be lies! Keep an eye on her please.

True Colours Thursday

I couldn't believe my luck when I saw this shopfront!'

'

'

I've had several of these lovely little cars.

This lime and white one is a Citroen 2CV Dolly

.
A south London tram. Pretty!
.

A south london shopping centre

and a south London building site!

!

Click on pictures to enlarge

For more contributions to True Colours click HERE

.

Natures garden

Pigs grunt
Cows moo
Frogs croak
Doves coo

Sheep baa
Birds sing
Bees buzz
Wasps sting

Ducks quack
Cocks crow
Mice squeak
Winds blow

Branches wave
Streams run
Clouds float
In the sun

Swans glide
Fishes dart
Ponies canter
Bulls fart

I love the countryside!

'

.

Monochrome Monday

.

.

Eastbourne pier a couple of hours ago!

.

.

Click on pics to enlarge. To see images from other monochromers click here

'

'

'

Terrified

A scratching sound. Scraping on a pane of glass. A high pitched screech that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. It sounded like a branch of thorns scraping up and down the window. Yet there were no trees. A few bushes grew in the soil below but this room was high up in the house, and on that night there was not a breath of a breeze in the air.

A few minutes earlier the lights flickered then failed. All she had to illuminate the room was the stub of a candle which was getting dimmer by the minute. How long would it last? Minutes? Perhaps. An hour? Probably not.

A knock, rat-a-tat, from somewhere in the gloom. She gasped. She drew her knees up below her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs, cowering in a ball in the corner of the room.

The remains of the logs in the fire glowed orange. It was cold, very cold, but there was no way she could venture outside to fetch a new supply. Soon the glow would fade away. All that would remain would be a blackened pile of hot ash. And darkness.

The scraping on the glass became more frequent. More frantic. She could hear the beat of her heart. It was pounding, far too fast - it felt as if it was about to burst.

Rat-a-tat from behind her. She began to whimper uncontrollably. Tears of fear ran down her cheeks.

She tried to make herself breathe deeply. She decided she had to pull herself together. There had to an explanation.

The window. It was locked. Whatever was scraping on the glass was outside. She was inside. She was safe. She told herself over and over again, she was safe, she was safe.

She loosened the grip on her legs and slowly let her body unwind. Then a screeching on the glass sent her shivering back into the corner. Be brave she told herself. Nothing could harm her. Nothing. 

The candle flickered then died. All that remained to light her way were the red embers glowing in the fireplace. She raised herself up, and then slowly dragged herself along the wall. A chill breeze brushed her face. Where did it come from? Surely the window was closed. She gripped the edge of a curtain with her shaking hand, and moved her face close to the window. She drew the drape aside just an inch or two, and peered outside through half closed eyes. A swirling mist wafted a few feet above the ground. A full moon in a cloudless indigo sky shone down on the eerie scene below. Nothing scraped the glass. Everything around was motionless.

Still, silent.

A fluttering bat crashed against the glass. She flung herself backwards sending a table flying onto its side and scattering glasses, pictures and flowers all around the room. Rat-a-tat from behind her, scraping and scratching from in front of her. She was beside herself with fear.

In an instant the lights came on. She screwed up her eyes. The brightness hurt.

She thought she heard a voice. Listen. She was sure she heard a voice. Then a knocking. A knocking and a calling voice. A voice she thought she recognised. Was it her husband? Hush, listen, shhh. Yes, it was him. She rushed down the stairs and pulled open the door, just as far as the safety chain would allow.

Her husband stood shivering on the step. He’d returned early from a business trip and had mislaid his keys. He’d been trying to attract her attention for ages, knocking on the door and using a fallen branch to reach the window in the hope she’d hear him.

With quaking hands she fumbled with the chain for what seemed like an eternity. She flung open the door and collapsed into his arms. The past hour had been like a bad dream, a nightmare, and now it was over.

Suddenly there was a crash from upstairs.

Inspiration

Words not said
no need
She felt his happiness
he sensed her pain

Just a glance
no more
She saw his anguish,
he witnessed her joy

Two minds joined
as one
He was her soul mate
she his inspiration




To hear my poem click on arrow

;

.

A drop of black and white!

.

The theme for this weeks True Colours Thursday

is Black and White.

.
Please click on the pictures to enlarge image.

'

I'm staying very local for my selection of photographs this week. The first is a close up of the sign on the village green at Five Ashes. .
.


'
Just down the road from me there are several of these white look-out shelters where you can stand and stare out to sea. As you can see from the little girl on the bench this really is a black and white picture!
.


About five miles along the coast is the fishing town of Hastings. These are just a few of the black fisherman's huts just back from the beach.



'

An Elizabethan building in the ancient city of Winchester, once the capital of England and home to King Arthur and Oliver Cromwell. The King can be seen looking down from high on the market cross.
.

.
Finally a picture taken at the foot of one of the seven dramatic white chalk cliffs that dominate the coast in my part of England.
.

'
'

Click on pictures to enlarge image.

.

Next week we move from chalk to lime! To see other contribution to True Colours click HERE
.
.

.

Wordless Wednesday

.

.

.

Click on pic to enlarge! To see more Wordless Wednesdays click HERE

.

.

.'

Monochrome Monday

.

The Tiger Inn, nestling in a valley on the South Downs is the latest casualty of the financial crisis sweeping through Englands rural pubs. It closed last month after three centuries of serving the community. I took this picture last year in happier times.

.

Click on pic to enlarge. To see more contributions to Monochrome Monday click HERE

.

Sunday Scribblings - A Ballet

<

A thousand dancers adorned with

softest pink reach skyward

on a stage of April green.

The magnolia blossom

performs a ballet to celebrate

the gentle days of spring.

This weeks True Colour is Scarlet
.
.

.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
.
.

.
.
.
I just have to include this picture of my young friend Tia resplendant in her England shirt!
.

Next week we tackle Black and White. Mmmm!