Beautiful! Burj!

I really think this place is fantastic! I could move here in a heartbeat...it's a shame there's no non-profit sector OR carpet industry here!

Weekends here are Friday and Saturday. Friday brunches are quite popular so we decided - when in Rome, do as the Romans. Or really, when in Dubai, eat like Dubaians! So, we went to Al Qsar which is one of the five star hotels at Madinat Jumeirah. Madinat Jumeirah is set up to resemble an old souk but is new, has air conditioning, and fantastic shops that are moderately priced (not super cheap like the souks). We ate at a fantastic Lebanese restaurant (Nights of Arabia) at Madinat our first night here.

Brunch was super yummy complete with camel's milk rice pudding and (thank goodness!) a latte with traditional Arabian espresso (which has a slightly different taste - but still the lovely caffeine). The resort has abra-type boats (you can see them in the picture below) that shuttle passengers around on the property - from shops to restaurants, to the beach, and hotel. From the hotel we had lovely views of the Burj Al Arab - the sail-shaped seven-star hotel that has become the icon of Dubai. That's the Burj in the background - - looks like a huge sail out on the ocean.

After brunch we headed to the beach for even better views of the Burj - complete with helicopter landing on the helio pad (that is also the tennis court) - located on the small circle "hanging" off the side of the building.


You can just barely see the helicopter. It's just to the right and above the circular landing pad on the right.

There was also a camel sighting. OK, not a real camel but exciting anyway! We felt he needed proper accesorizing - hence the hat.

Another word about camel's milk...we've had two kinds now - one is just plain camel's milk - - fairly yummy. Tastes a lot like cow's milk. But then there is a flavored brand - we tried the saffron flavor - I was not a fan but I was quite fond of the brand name - Camelicious! It's logo is a stylish camelicious-looking cartoon camel. :)