Mellow yellow

I did a three-day job this week with another incentive group, this time a mix of nationalities from all over Europe. It was so much fun, not only because I got to work with this group of great girls, but also because I got to speak both English, Spanish and a bit of French! I even encountered the only two Swedish participants, so I had a very multi-lingual few days of work.

And no, yellow might not really be mine (or anyones...) colour - but at least we are easy to spot!

When they've gone

Our last guests left early in the morning last Monday, and before their flight had even taken off, I had stripped the guest bedroom and started the second machine of washing!

And Carin - it's nothing personal, at all!
I had SO so much fun last week, but it doesn't actually matter who's been to visit, or for how long, I do the same thing every time guests leave - I clean out immediately, ha ha! The first day alone again I always look forward to getting back into routines, getting my laundry room and the rest of the space back, and just chill... but yes, then the loneliness calls...

So as I printed out their photo to add to my guest room wall, and reminisced of a great week, I felt a bit sad that this was it, no more guests this season. It's a very long time to go still on my own, until the summer holiday when I get to see friends again...

The Italians last day

Of course we didn't slow down just because it was their last day, even though I think all of us were a bit tired and tender after a full-on week.
First we went to visit the newly opened Presidential Palace, Qasr Al Watan. I wanted to take one of the guided tours this time, but unfortunately it was full so we did our own thing, which was ok too:

And in the evening we took on the F1-track, and TrainYas.

Some of us only did one lap, others went around again, a little bit faster than the first lap with all of us... Guess who did what...

I'm so glad I got to show my UAE to Carin and her family, and that they loved it too! We sure squeezed a lot of action, adventure and exploration into this week! I do believe they left with many new fantastic memories!

The Italians in Dubai, Day 2

We all stayed over in Dubai for the weekend so that we would have plenty of time to go explore. The Italians went up Burj Khalifa on Saturday morning, and then we had lunch together by the Dancing Fountains. It was still perfectly nice to sit outside, they were so lucky with the weather while they were here, not too hot at all. Just lush.

We did a little walk about in the Dubai Mall of course, had to show them the waterfall, the ice rink and the aquarium...

... and then Carin and I went to Kinokuniya, one of the largest bookstores in the world and heaven on earth, and got ourselves some (more) art books!

And no visit to Dubai is complete without a visit to the Goldman of course!

Hot date in Dubai

There was also another reason we all went to Dubai last weekend, and that was that Nathan and I had bought tickets to go to see a show with the comedian Michael McIntyre. We have been firm fans of him for a long time, both his comedy acts and his TV-shows. We were so excited he was finally coming here to the UAE.

So while our two kids were palmed off to our Danish friends, the Italians were left to go on their own adventures. Nathan and I on our end, started our night at the Dubai Stars N Bars to get the first taste of the Sidehustle Brews beer - in the wild! The launch was just a few weeks ago, and it was pretty cool to see the fridges loaded up with those colourful cans, and be able to order ourselves a 'Sandstorm'!

Then it was time to get to the sold out arena for the comedy show. So many people!
It was good fun, and I did laugh a lot, although I was a tad bit disappointed too, as he recycled quite a bit of his jokes we had heard earlier in YouTube clips. But all in all, a great night had, just the two of us!

The Italians in Dubai, Day 1

Coming to this part of the world, of course you want to see as much as possible, so while the Italians were here we had planned a few days in Dubai as well. They wanted to tick off the World's Tallest Building among other things.

But the first day we went to an area I wanted to visit, Al Seef and Bastakiya. A mix of modern and old, in the same style.

Such a pretty, pretty area:

Awesome little art installations:

We had a lovely local lunch at the Arabian Tea House. Rather touristy yes, but such a delicious meal!

 After lunch we took the abras over to the other side, to visit the Gold and Spice souq: