Got Four Days? Fly to Dubai!

Ever since we've become a family of four our flying/traveling days have become a bit harder to come by. Certainly buying four air tickets is not as simple as it was buying one or two. And we don't live in SE Asia any more, where airfares allowed a lifestyle of travel and semi-luxury. Now we're a bit more static in our approach to life, but not beyond a nudge from time to time. 

Thankfully our friend Leanne - who we worked out we've known for 20 years now! - is still as energetic about travel as she's ever been. We all shared a Thanksgiving holiday so she decided she'd had enough time without us and bought herself a ticket from Singapore to Dubai for the long weekend!  And what a weekend it was!  It had been seven years since we'd seen each other but with Leanne that kind of detail simply disappears into the here and now and sharing of stories and dreams and plans and such!

With her in town we did some roaming of our own - albeit in the UAE - and made our way to Abu Dhabi (which she asked to do as a "new place" on her list) and the Louvre and Corniche there as well as a 'new' for all of us beach on Saadiyat island (what was it called?). Of course it would not have been appropriate to not also work our way around Dubai where it had been too long even for us. Al Seef. The Spice Souq. Jumeira Madinat. And, of course, our own little neighborhood including making our way to a Thankgiving dinner hosted by our ASD friend Elizabeth!  All great things!

And, since the World Cup is on you might as well make our way to the large screen to watch some soccer. As it turned out it was the France-Denmark game which, despite a simple 1-0 score, was quite fun to watch as well!  

We don't have the photos, but in there somewhere our doorbell rang one morning, followed by the surprize arrival of one of Irini's best friends, Katerina!  She's moved to Greece this year and this was surprise for us all!  So, as Leanne and Amalia and mommy and daddy made their way across the city, Irini happily ran around town with her friends - sharing the surprise with Katerina in every passing home they visited!  

When we took Leanne back to the airport our hearts were full even if we all shared that "why did it have to be so short?" kind of thinking. We're hopeful that later this academic year we can reconnect with Auntie Leanne!  Thank you so much for coming to visit us!!