Before you panic and start digging through my site, no, there was no posting for “Dubai, Day 1” nor one for “Kiev, Once I Finally Got There.”  Maybe I’ll need to backfill a little.  But it is day two for us — which is actually our first full day here. It’s not quite over yet, so maybe there will be a part two to this.

Part one, though, was the beach.  This hotel — as do a few others here in Dubai — offers shuttle buses to a couple locations around the city, including a large public beach.  It is Jumeira Beach, and it is definitely set up for the tourists. Don’t get me wrong — it’s still a pretty decent place — but it is crowded (mostly with vacationing Russians, it seems) and the vendors there know they’ve got you captive.

It wasn’t a bad time, though.  We rented an umbrella and a couple towels, and as long as the breeze was up, being on the beach (in the shade) was actually pretty OK.  Once the breeze abated, that’s when you remembered that the still air is about a billion degrees.  That’s when you hit the water, which was great.

Honestly, if it wasn’t for the water — the Persian Gulf — I would have been hating the morning.  However, the temperature was great.  Standing out up to my neck was nigh perfect.  My wife loved the water too, which made me curious:  she always seems to be cold (except when we are out in the desert heat), and I would definitely call the water temperature a “tepid warm.”  Maybe she just doesn’t like air when it’s that temperature.

A couple hours there and we’ve had enough sun, surf and sand… although it seems like the sand might be sticking around a little while longer.  Even though I’ve showered off a couple times (once before leaving the beach, and again when back at the hotel), I’m still finding little bits grit here and there. I’d say I’ll probably get it all by the time I get back to Portland, but since we’re doing the safari thing tomorrow evening, I’ll be getting a fresh dose of sand to deal with.