Tuesday, September 21st 2010 - Dubai, UAE

Well here it is, our big day with plans for Ron's skiing while Mary and I sit at our reserved restaurant table ready to capture every stunning moment.  We also had tickets to go up the tallest building in the world.  Although it's very hot here, we notice that there's a fair amount of haze, so not that great for photography although we can see things quite well.  Ron had a great time skiing and Mary and I were impressed by his wiggle back and forth as he came down the ski hill.  He took 10 runs in all and thoroughly enjoyed the experience.  Afterwards, he joined Mary and I for lunch in the restaurant and relayed the stories of his experiences.

We spent the afternoon looking around the Dubai Mall (which has an ice skating rink, waterfalls, cinemas and a whole load of expensive shops).  We also took the metro over to the Tallest Building to get ready for our trip to the top.  What an experience that was, the lift (or elevator) only took over a minute to reach the 123rd floor and it was black all the way up, although you could feel your ears pop at the various floors - unreal.  The view from the top was a little hazy, and I didn't want to get too close to the edge as it's a little scary all that way with the floor to ceiling windows that you feel you could just walk right out.  The water fountain show to Lionel Ritchie 'All Night Long' was quite a treat!  Everyone was in a party mood and we had an awesome busy day - slept well that night.