The Atlantis hotel, Dubai
Our second morning in Dubai and at Richards house began with a plan, and the plan was to go to the Palm and visit the new hotel at the end called Atlantis, its aquarium and its water park!… Off we went through Dubai traffic, which consists mainly of crazy expensive sports cars and lots of them, down the “golden mile” to the very end of the palm passing all the flashy tower blocks and as usual a who’s who of the sports car world.
Just driving up to the Atlantis is awesome enough with its massive Arabian arch cut right through the middle of it, but once inside it all manages somehow to just get better.
A slow wander past some rather exclusive shops brought us into the lobby and a cross roads of fantastic things to do, on one hand the aquarium and the other the water park… We opted firstly for the aquarium and as aquariums go it was pretty good, we all strolled through the very well decorated “Atlantis lost city” rooms taking in such sights as jelly fish and lion fish but its the very last room that makes the impression… Its an almighty great tank that has maybe 40ft square windows all around it, scuba divers inside keeping it clean and even a whale shark swimming around it! It was just amazing… It was as if we were all stood under the sea which I think is an important feature of any self respecting aquarium.
Next on the list was the wonderful water park, a giant open air complex with all sorts of water slides and rides to loose a few hours at. We found a spot on one of the beach areas and left Jo and Mandy sitting in the sunshine while Georgie and I grabbed a double rubber ring and set off down the lazy river. A gentle bob that turns into some rather fun rapids and works as a sort of bus where you can get in and out wherever you fancy, even stay in your ring and go up some escalators up to the slides.
We went all the way round a few times and done a few of the slides including the shark attack slide which shoots you through yet another aquarium full of sharks and out the other side.
We found Jo and Mandy where we had left them in the sunshine and Georgie persuaded them to have a go around the lazy river so with a little gentle persuasion I had the great pleasure of taking Mandy around in a double rubber ring. I was chosen mainly because of my deep fear of her as a mother in law and ergo her ability to control away from the rapids and down the calmer more dignified waters. We bobbed around for a half hour or so having a nice chat and a relaxing time, we even went as far as some gentle rapids to spice it up a little. On our return Georgie and Jo were sat in the now fading sunshine and Georgie was keen as mustard to get her old man around the river. They set off with what looked like a spill from Jo but were out of sight in no time.
As is often the case with Georgie and Jo things like this can spiral out of control and they tend to bring the worst (or best which ever way you see it) out of each other. A good hour had passed before we saw them again and when we did they were full of it, apparently had been down most of the slides and rapids. Georgie had been trying to get directions from an unusually cheerful member of staff for a good 5 minutes before, satisfied by the directions, heading off on their way and realising that one of her boobs was hanging out as a result of the last slide they went down… Cheerful for a good reason then!
The sun was well on its way down by the time we got showered off and headed down to the marina where Richard kept his boat Charlie which was to be our home for the next few days. Charlie was stunning and we couldn’t wait to be aboard. The marina itself was gorgeous, its fringed by big flashy tower blocks on all sides looking down on row after row of gorgeous white yachts gently swaying in the almost still waters. Surrounding the water before the tower blocks are loads of really nice restaurants with large outside seating areas and people puffing away on shisha pipes. Although its completely surrounded and overlooked the marina feels really peaceful, there’s a lot going on in the way of busy restaurants with full tables and the hustle and bustle that goes with it but that’s what makes the place feel so inviting… Its one of the few places in Dubai that doesn’t feel too flashy, too posh or too much.
We perched at a Leboneese restaurant for some dinner and the food was just awesome, stuffed and exited about the new digs… On a yacht we headed back to Richards house, had a few nightcaps and all slipped off to bed.
