It was wonderful to turn the alarm off last night and allow ourselves to sleep until we woke up naturally. For me, that was around 7am, and I took advantage of my quiet time to write blog posts. By 9am or so we were at our final breakfast at The Palace Downtown, and that was truly a sad realization. Our breakfasts have been our biggest meals of the day, and kept us going right until dinner.
Today, our three waiters surprised us with a slice of cake, big smiles and hugs to say goodbye. The service level at this property was the best we’ve ever experienced. We are so completely happy with how we spent our time in Dubai and also with where we stayed. If we ever go again, we’d stay at the same place, but since that was a once in a lifetime experience…well, I’m not holding my breath.
One final Burj Khalifa view breakfast
Breakfast, round 1
Our wonderfully fantastic, attentive and very, very sweet team of waiters surprised us with a farewell cake. We’re totally spoiled, but it’s their fault! :-)
Breakfast, round 2
Those weird fruits are passion fruit
We sat out by the pool until noon, then headed inside to pack. We had gotten late check out since our flight to Singapore wasn’t until 8pm. We also wanted to update apps and download videos before we lost our super high speed WiFi. So one of us at a time sat on the bed and did that, and the other packed, and then we switched.
Surprise of surprises, there were fountain shows at 1pm and 2 pm. We didn’t expect that, and had never before been in our room at that time of day. It was a very nice last memory to have of the hotel and our Dubai adventure.
A fountain show in the afternoon. Who knew?
Packing up with a view. Life is good. :-)
At 2pm we stored our luggage at the bell desk and walked over to the Dubai Mall to use one last benefit of our HOHO bus experience: free admission to the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo, both located at the mall. Since this was free with a 3-day City Sightseeing HOHO pass, I wasn’t expecting much, but it was quite good. The lighting was all wrong for photos (too many reflections on the glass), but aquarium tunnels are always cool and we saw several divers in the tanks, too.
Aquarium tunnel
Spotted ray
Michigan colored coral. Some slight consolation after Saturday’s game. :-(
Whatever this is, it’s a big one!
Still, seeing the Aquarium was not without its challenges. We had walked by it at least once a day every day since we arrived in Dubai, and kept saying, “We’ll leave that for the last day after we check out of our room”. Do you think we could find it today? It took us wandering at least 20 minutes and asking 3 people for assistance to finally reach it. Then, walking back to The Palace Downtown, we took a wrong turn in the Souk Al Bahar and ended up in an area we’d never before seen. Honestly, we asked security guards for directions to the hotel so many times over the days we were there that they would recognize us and simply point. “That way”.
Lost again, we saw a part of the Souk Al Bahar we’d never before wandered through.
It took awhile but we made it back to our hotel, reclaimed our luggage and were preparing to order an Uber when a waiting Lexus offered to take us to the airport for even less than Uber had cost us. We were in it and on our way in no time, and arrived at the airport with time to spare, which we filled with people watching. People watching in the International Terminal at Dubai’s airport is nothing short of fascinating.
Finally we were through security, and I spent our last dirhams for mints for Singapore (no gum there) and snacks. The guys in the store were great, asking me how much I had to spend (45 dirhams, about $12) and then showing me different things to maximize their value. Finally, they threw in a candy bar that G ate on the plane, and the dirhams were gone.
I took an Ambien before I got on the plane, took my contacts out, and I barely remember my meal. We had sprung for Economy Plus seats, because on Singapore Air, that gave us a special menu, a leg rest and a seat that reclines more. That, plus the Ambien did what I hoped, and I slept about 5 hours (the flight was about 7 hours long), giving me hope that I’d make it through the day without a nap. (Edited later: haha, I napped all day.)
Next stop: Singapore!
