Thursday morning started off festively, with us celebrating Christmas with Dad and Sheila, since we won't see them over the holidays. Dad donned a Santa hat and we exchanged some small gifts. Daryl and I were gifted with cute Dubai-related items as well as a helicopter ride over the city (which we will redeem before we depart on December 11). In turn, we gave Dad and Sheila items that we had picked up for them along our trip, including beer steins and chocolate. It was a great start to the day.
We continued our day of relaxation by finally finishing the 2000 piece puzzle we had been working on since our arrival in Dubai. The puzzle features the 16 largest buildings in the world, including 4 from Dubai.
In the afternoon, we headed over to Barasti, a beachfront bar that features cold beers and comfortable loungers. The bar is only a 10 minute walk away from Dad and She's apartment. We settled in for a couple hours of relaxing fun in the sun.
*Daryl committed the ultimate travesty when he kicked over Dad's beer...faux pas
In the evening, we had dinner in and then headed down to the apartment pool to swim some laps before bedtime.
In contrast to our relaxing Thursday, Friday was pretty full of activity. We headed to the Dubai Rugby 7's, one of the nine tournaments that make up the HSBC Sevens World Series. The tournament is a variant of rugby that features seven players per side, instead of the normal 13 players. The games are short at only 7 minutes per half. The Dubai 7's is considered one of the biggest social events of the year. Dad had been told about the event at work and decided it was a must see during our stay. He wasn't wrong. Dad, Daryl, and I set off, while Sheila stayed home to catch up on some chores and relax a bit.
On the way to the stadium, which is on the outskirts of Dubai, we did our duty as Canadians and stopped by Dubai's first Tim Hortons, planning to fuel up for the long day ahead. Tim Hortons, for our international readers, is Canada's largest fast food restaurant and primarily serves coffee and donuts. While we assumed Tim Hortons would be mostly populated by expats from Canada, it seems to be popular with expats and locals alike. When we arrived the line was out the door. We decided to just head back another time when it is less busy.
*Tim Hortons in Arabic
As evidence of Tim Hortons popularity, we snapped this picture of Starbucks next door, which seemed deserted. So sad.
A 45-minute drive later, we arrived at the stadium. It was packed, with a lot of spectators wearing all kinds of costumes (we later learned that there were prizes for best dressed, funniest costumes, etc.). Dad and I wore our best Canadian gear (I borrowed a t-shirt from Sheila), while Daryl donned a rugby Canada shirt we picked up on site (we got shirts for all of us). We grabbed some beers and headed in to grab seats with Dad's coworkers.
The day was a ton of fun. We had a few beers, watched a little rugby (although not much), and socialized with Dad's work friends. They were a super friendly and lively crew. Unfortunately, Canada lost all three of their matches, to Australia, Wales, and Scotland. We took some ribbing from the Wales contingent in the crowd, but pointed out that our nation's teams tend to do better on ice. Our spirits weren't dampened too much.
*Dad's coworker Ian Byers, who requested to be included in our blog
In the evening we walked down past Barasti Beach to a restaurant on a boat that serves fresh seafood. We chowed down on crab legs, lobster, and shrimp. In order to preserve the cleanliness of our dress, we donned these awesome aprons. Check us out!
*View from the boat looking at the Dubai Marina, where Dad and Sheila reside
While we thought we would catch the fireworks for UAE's National Day (December 2 marked 40 years of unity), we didn't see any go off. Maybe we were misinformed. People tend to stay up really late here so it is also possible that the fireworks were scheduled for later in the evening. No worries.
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