A year in recap - Part 2

 Our Summer holiday was a river cruise - third year in a row and this time starting off in Amsterdam and hearing up the Rhine to Switzerland. 

The Summer had already been a hot one - my earlier visit to France for Golf and then back to the UK for a week had been characterised by beautiful sunshine and a noticeable lack of air-conditioning and this (the clear blue skies and scorching heat) continued on my return to Europe at the end of July.

Indeed, the only rain I saw throughout the month or so I was back (I WFH for the last couple of weeks in Kent) was on the first day of the cruise - I had travelled to Amsterdam from Dubai to meet Alex and E’s brother D the day before the cruise was due to start (E and V flew over the following day) and we had a day of browsing around the high-ways and by-ways of the Damm. 

The following day we joined the boat (a rowdier bunch of fellow passengers than previous years with plenty of Americans) and our first excursion was a graffiti art lesson at the modern art gallery followed by the opportunity to practice what we had learned on some nearby walls - as it turned out - in the pouring rain. It was actually great fun although V decided to spray her artwork (a fire breathing dragon) next to my bit of wall so my creation (a wall - it was intended to be ironic) suffered rather  by comparison…..

We then set off up the Rhine stopping off at Dussledorf where D and I explored the city by bike. However, this was as far as we managed to get in our original boat. The glorious Summer (and accompanying drought) had reduced water levels so much that the Rhine gorges were not passable so we had to change boats - taking a coach to Koblenz (scene of a famous camping stop by me and my mate J during our interrailing holiday some 40 years ago…..) and after exploring the old town another transfer to Kehl to pick up a new boat on the other side of the low water levels (E and V and had gone directly to the boat and so we caught up with them in the evening).

In Kehl we had a coach trip to Heidleberg - another stopping off place for my interrailing adventure and  - unsurprisingly - just as beautiful as I remembered it. We took a trip up to the  Castle and had a wine tasting before exploring the Old town. 

The following day we travelled to Strasbourg where we celebrated V’s birthday in style with a tour of the city - it is absolutely beautiful - I had been expecting something quite modern but the Cathedral and Petite France was lovely -  a most unexpected pleasure.

A year in recap - Part 1

 As previously noted, there has been no shortage of excitement this year. It got off to a relatively straightforward start as A and I travelled back early from Christmas in the UK - me to prepare for the last build up ride before the Spinneys 92 km race and A to see in the New Year with his Dubai based friends.

Unfortunately my bike ride was cancelled due to fog but otherwise January passed without further incident and in  early February I had a few days in Riyadh for work before E and my Cousin K and his wife A came out for a holiday - K and A as part of a cruise that took in a large chunk of the Gulf including Qatar.

During their stay, I did the Spinney’s Cycle challenge and  we also had a couple of days at a nice hotel in Fujairah - one of the Northern Emirates  whose shoreline faces towards Iran, 30 miles across the Gulf of Oman/Straits of Hormuz to the North. 

Fortunately, the the three of them had headed back home by the time everything started kicking off at the end of February but the next couple of months was certainly an interesting experience with plenty of bangs and crashes overhead as the Iranians put the UAE’s air defence systems to the test.

Whilst certainly not something I would want to repeat, there was never a permanent sense of jeopardy although there were some uncomfortable nights particularly with the regular missile alerts and unsurprisingly the family suggested that rather than they coming to see me for Easter as originally planned, I should go to them in the UK so I headed back at the end of March for a bit of R&R.

By the time I returned in mid-April things were much more settled although my travel around the region was limited until a visit to KSA in July. I did however manage a trip back to Europe in May for some Golf in France (and catching up with the family again in UK) as well as some work related travel to London in June and to South Korea in July. Stay tuned for further updates.

Golfing Sunday

Taking advantage of A’s presence in Dubai, we also decided to take advantage of the cooler weather (and, killing two birds with one stone, also ticked off today’s 30 minutes of exercise) with a round of golf at Meydan’s The Track.

In a city that is well served by golf courses, this is probably the closest to where I live and so when planning a round, this is usually the most attractive option. It also has the advantage of being floodlit so an evening round is also possible (today we started at 5:30pm and so had around 45 minutes of daylight before enjoying views back towards the Burg Khalifa as the sun set).

Night golf is all very well unless, like me, you are a little wayward when it comes to ball direction. Sadly, I very much lived up to my somewhat erratic approach to the game today, and managed to lose around 5 or 6 balls. On one occasion, my ball ended up stuck in some particularly malodorous mud (think the bog of eternal stench in  Labyrinth). Having (very) carefully extracted it from that hazard, I then managed to slice it miles off course into some dense undergrowth where no amount of thrashing about was able to reveal its location.

In any event, I am always a little wary about scrabbling around too much in the dark undergrowth (the floodlights only really cover the fairways) given the number of snakes and spiders reputed to reside therein. We were, however, accompanied by more visible examples of the local wildlife during the round in the form of oryx (in various shapes and sizes) and a desert fox.

All in all, a very enjoyable round and will try to post some of the wildlife photos in later instalments.

BBQ Saturday

 Lovely day to today weather-wise and food-wise.The recent slightly cooler temperatures continued and we were able to have BBQ in the back garden for the first time for many months. 

Our Landlord had recently decided to give up on maintaining the grass in the lawn and had gone full artificial - it looked like someone had laid a vivid green carpet outside our back window and so we had the ideal opportunity to test it out.

To be honest, I suspect that it will take me a while to get used to the change - it certainly looks neat and tidy but I think that I preferred the more natural look even if it was mostly moss!

It did not however, detract from our enjoyment of the BBQ. We started with lobster tail - an old favourite from our days at 10B Street - and some giant prawns which we marinated in a combination of paprika, garlic powder, lemon juice, pepper and olive oil. We then had a huge ribeye steak with some garlic butter sauce with buratta and onion washed down with some Chapel Down sparkling wine.

A great culinary start to the weekend but a high bar has been set!

Mixing business with pleasure

The week has ended with a combination of exercise (a cycle ride early this morning that fulfils today’s 30 minutes of exercise for the Dubai Fitness Challenge), half a day of pouring over documents for work and then an afternoon of schmoozing with colleagues, client and contacts at a construction industry charity event.

I attended last year’s edition in “smart casual” only to find that everyone else was in business attire. Since Covid times, I have gone out of my way to avoid having to wear my suit unless I am meeting clients or in formal proceedings but given last year’s experience, I carefully donned my suit only to find that this year’s dress code was smart casual….. .

Fortunately among the 300 + guests, I was not the only be-suited attendee but nevertheless, I felt very over-dressed particularly given the fact that the a/c was not strikingly efficient.

Despite my sartorial mis-step, it was an enjoyable afternoon - the venue is famous for its roasted pork (almost unique in Dubai where a special licence is required to sell it) and there was plenty available. Pretty much the whole of my work team came along and it was a great opportunity to catch up with colleagues old and new in a relaxed environment.

In the meantime, A attended the medical examination for his Golden Visa so his visit is off to a good start.

Return of the Prodigal

As foreshadowed in yesterday’s post, A has made the trip from UK for a Winter Sun holiday. Despite various bomb alerts (all hoaxes fortunately) on some European flights over the last few days (and the somewhat delicate ME situation I also mentioned yesterday), the flight was incident-free and he arrived earlier this evening.

It is always good to see him and his main plan for the trip seems to be to continue his applications for jobs but with better weather! Job-hunting is particularly tricky for Graduates in the UK at the moment so hopefully the change of scenery will also bring with it a change in fortune. 

We are also going to take advantage of his presence to get a Golden Visa for him so he has the medical for this tomorrow and there are various plans being made for a Pub Quiz, BBQ’s and visits to his Dubai based friends over the next couple of weeks.

My participation in the the Dubai fitness challenge continued this lunchtime with another 30 minute walk around the Trade Centre although it was a a little slower (and therefore less sweaty) than last time as, rather annoyingly, I managed - shortly before embarking on my walk - to jar my heel while getting out of the chair in one of our Quiet rooms (these are enclosed areas we can use for phone calls away from the desk to avoid disturbing nearby colleagues and are very constrained in space but given the fact that I have been using the Quiet rooms for over 6 years now, there really was no excuse for my clumsiness).

One advantage of the slower pace was that it made is slightly easier to navigate the hordes of people who were attending what I think must be the last day of the GulfFood event as I tried to stay in the air-conditioned areas  - although there was still a fair amount of weaving and ducking to avoid the delegates as they queued for the free food samples.

Predicting the future

 The last few visits by friends and family to the Sandpit have usually been preceded my a marked increase in regional tensions. I am sure that this is just a coincidence but it does seem quite unfortunate that a slight question-mark has hung over whether or not my recent visitors would actually be able to travel.

Last time this happened, it coincided with the visit of E and  my cousin K and his wife A earlier this year after Christmas. In the weeks leading up to their flight, I was inundated by enquiries as to whether it was safe to come out. Having lived here for over 16 years, a certain degree of geo-political uncertainty has always been present and for the most part, given absolutely no cause for alarm and this was the message that I conveyed. 

As I will explore in later posts, this time my confident response to their enquiries was perhaps somewhat misplaced although in the event they had a very pleasant and successful visit, and had safely returned to UK by the time things kicked off in earnest out here in February  - much to my (and certainly E’s) relief.

However, my son A’s imminent arrival for a holiday has also coincided with an escalation of rhetoric from the various warring parties. I am hoping that the results of the recent mid-term elections will have sent a sufficiently salutary message to the President that his escapades in the region have not been completely successful so I am keeping everything crossed that there he will be dissuaded from further action for the time being and that there will be no last minute hitches.

Meanwhile, in other news I have not only managed to keep up with publishing a post a day (recognising we are only 4 days in to the 30 day writing challenge) but also with undertaking 30 minutes of daily exercise although yesterday’s lunchtime walk around the Trade Centre certainly brought home to me how hot and humid it still is at Noon despite the recent cooling of the weather. My bike ride this morning in the (relative) cool of the morning was definitely the better option.