Thursday is usually the most interesting day on a major race weekend, as it is less crowded and we generally have more access to the facility and the drivers, teams and cars. The Abhu Dhabi Grand Prix was no exception. The grandstands weren’t even open on Thursday, so we spent much of the day in…
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Abu Dhabi
Our main reason for visiting Abu Dhabi, and the UAE, was to attend the final Formula 1 race of the season. Before the race weekend started, we did do a little sightseeing in Abu Dhabi, including visits to the magnificent Sheikh Zayed Grande Mosque and Ferarri World. Sheikh Zayed Grande Mosque is the third largest…
Historic Dubai
Dubai evolved in the 19th and 20th centuries on either side of Dubai Creek, north of the modern Downtown Dubai development. The buildings and traditional marketplaces there today, while oriented towards tourism, still give a flavour of what the city was like prior to its oil-driven economic boom. We spent a few hours exploring the…
Modern Dubai
We remember reading the news reports when Ski Dubai opened in 2005. An indoor ski resort in the middle of the desert is so over-the-top that we had to check it out. Located in the Mall of the Emirates south of the newer Downtown Dubai development, Ski Dubai is the world’s largest indoor snow park…
Dubai Desert Safari
We were looking forward to visiting the ultra-modern, newly-built city of Dubai, but we also wanted to see the real desert while we were there. And not just a little sand, we wanted to see the endless dunes and Jennifer really wanted to ride a camel. We had an excellent seven-hour adventure with Platinum Heritage…
Amsterdam Fireworks
The Dutch LOVE their fireworks. The city literally erupted for several hours before and after midnight on New Year’s Eve. The main show didn’t exceed others we’ve seen, but the breadth of the displays was absolutely unrivaled. The entire sky was ablaze as seemingly every resident was setting off fireworks. We had a fabulous evening…
2018 Summary
We began the year in Falmouth, UK and will end it in Amsterdam, NL. The cities are only 399 miles apart, yet we travelled 4,403 miles between them and have now covered 70,123 miles in Dirona. This year we also crossed the Arctic Circle and reached our farthest point north yet in Dirona, to 69°39’N…
Downtown Dubai
Dubai is a city of superlatives—the biggest this, the tallest that—and of explosive growth. When James visited over a decade ago, new skyscrapers were springing up everywhere. And the same was true when we visited in late November as part of a trip to the United Arab Emirates to watch the final Formula 1 race…
METS 2018
METS (Marine Equipment Trade Show), held annually in Amsterdam, is the largest trade exhibition of marine equipment, materials and systems in the world. This was our first time attending and we were amazed at the scale, with over 1,500 exhibitors from across the globe. Over two busy days we didn’t come close to seeing it…
First Two Weeks in Amsterdam
During our first two weeks in Amsterdam, we did what most newcomers to the city do: we waxed the boat :). Waxing the boat is one of the few jobs we typically hire out, but we want to get rid of that brown “Kiel Canal moustache” on the bow right away. Arranging for someone else…
