A few of you have asked, why the desperation to get back to Scotland? Is it really so bad in Dubai.

It’s a fair question and the answer is no. Dubai is actually not a bad place to be. We consider ourselves fortunate to be here and in comparison, we have lived in a lot worse places. The UAE in general is quite an easy place to live  and lots of people stay here for a long, long time, making it home. But thats our problem, its where we live but it’s not home. Scotland is.

Downtown Dubai with the Burj Khalifa

We have been in the UAE for just over 4 years. 3 of those were spent in Abu Dhabi. We are often asked which we prefer? Abu Dhabi or Dubai.  I suspect I can speak for wifey when I say, on balance, Abu Dhabi.  Dubai feels like a fast paced, frenetic party town. It’s always busy, the traffic is a nightmare 24/7. Its all new and exciting and, I suspect, great if you are young, free and single.

In contrast, Abu Dhabi feels more relaxed and a little more grown up and dare I say better suited to families and those of a certain age. The indulgent parent to the impulsive Dubai teenager.   Traffic is also marginally better in AD. At times. To be honest the traffic is a pain where ever you are, tail-gating, lane jumping, general impatience and lack of consideration leading to the inevitable daily tally of accidents.  It’s just that there is an awful lot more of it, traffic that is, in Dubai.

It sometimes feels like everyone has at least 2 cars in Dubai. What I can’t figure out  is how they manage to drive them both at the same time as that’s the only way I can rationalize just how many cars there are on the roads.  The infrastructure is generally great. 5 or 6 lane highways everywhere and they are always chock a block with nose to tail vehicles.  Traffic is an issue and the authorities are constantly trying to improve safety and adherence to the traffic laws, but with so much traffic, its a difficult task.

At least you get a better class of traffic jam

I suspect if you were to talk to anyone who lives here, traffic would come high on their list of bugbears, but there are lots of upsides to living here too.

Back in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, there are lots of things to do to distract the  resident Wanabescot.  For instance, last weekend we visited the newish Warner Brothers World on Yas Island in Abu Dhabi.

Warner Brothers World Plaza

We stayed at the Yas Raddison Blu hotel, primarily because it has a great Belgian Cafe with lots of Belgian beer choice and some food food on offer.  It’s also a short ride to the Yas attractions.  We checked in Thursday night, quaffed a few malted Belgian beverages before retiring and got up early Friday to head off to the theme park.

We had promised the trip to small daughter as she has worked so hard at school and managed to get on the swimming team. And choir. And soccer team. And athletics team and……. well she has done well.

Warner Brothers world opened on the 25th July 2018. It’s entirely enclosed, fully air conditioned and very well done. The attention to detail is impressive and of course there are plenty of opportunities to spend sackful’s of Dirhams.

It’s divided into 4 ‘worlds’; Gotham City, Metropolis, Bedrock and Cartoon Junction, all coming off  a central plaza.  Doors open at 10.00 and there is a grand cinematic spectacular to start the day at 10.45 in the Plaza.  The cinema show was very impressive and introduces you to all, or at least an awful lot of the famous Warner Bros creations.  The ‘worlds’ and rides all open at 11.00 once the cinema spectacular is over.

We wanted to go on the fastest, scariest ride first, so after taking staff advice, went to Dynamite Gulch in Bedrock. Or possibly Cartoon Junction. It may even be a stand alone land. Hard to say as they kind of merge into each other. Anyway, as it was early doors, there were no queues and we got straight on. It was a very short ride. Good fun, but my 7 year old Adrenalin junky daughter thought it was a bit tame. That proved the theme for the day. We spent a good 6 or 7 hours there, we had lots of fun, but we all found it a bit tame overall.  It would be very good for families with younger kids.  And obviously those with 7 year olds who are not thrill seekers.   We probably spent more time in Gotham city than anywhere else. Wifey was desperate to have her picture taken with The Batman and she did. Favorite ride was in Gotham also. The Riddler Revolution.  Their are lots of characters wandering around to offer photo opportunities. Scooby Doo and Shaggy. Tweety Pie. Tom and Jerry. Batman and Robin, Superman, the Green Lantern, Wonderwoman……… you get the idea. As I said, it is very well done, but sadly small daughter prefers more thrills, so doubt it will be a regular fixture in our social life.  Oh, incidentally, if you do go, I recommend leaving the bedrock river adventure till last. We went on just after Dynamite Gulch.  It’s a fairly placid ride around in a boat with a backdrop of Fred, Barney and the gang in the Disney, ‘It’s a Small World’ kind of gender. Then you get to the end and the boat nosedives around 20ft. We were in the front and got absolutely drenched. We all thought this terribly funny. Wifey would have wet herself from laughing so hard were she not already soaking.  But as it was the start of the day, in an enclosed air conditioned environment. i.e. quite chilly when you are dripping wet; it necessitated purchase of a change of clothing. So small daughter wandered around the rest of the day in her new matching Wonder Woman T-shirt and Shorts. I’m tight, so I just suffered.

Gotham City in the heart of Yas Island.

Another evening spent in the Belgian Bar,  this time in the company of some good friends from Abu Dhabi and next day off to Ferrari World.

Now we are talking.  This was more to the taste of small daughter. I do fear what she is going to be like when she grows up.

Ferrari World Abu Dhabi.

Ferrari World at Yas boasts the worlds (current) fastest roller coaster, The Formula Rossa. Sadly small daughter is 1.5cm too short for this one, but took the disappointment in her stride.  She is perfect height for the rest of them though. One of the highest rollercoasters with some impressively scary twists and loops, is The Flying Aces. I think she managed some dozen or so goes on this one. I was happy to make the sacrifice of sitting it out and minding the girl’s matching Wonder Woman handbags, procured the previous day, as they repeatedly got thrown around. I can say with certainty however, the coffee and crepes are wonderful.  The Turbo Track is a fast and thankfully short ride which I couldn’t escape. Otherwise, small girl impressed us with her climbing skills in the Junior training camp. A series of daunting climbing challenges.  There is enough to entertain all but the very young or the terminally boring here. I enjoyed seeing some of the iconic Ferrari cars dotted about the place and also some of the newest. I had no idea the Ferrari 488 is so pretty. All in all, it was a big tick and Ferrari World may well become a regular feature of weekends in the UAE.

Small daughter taking one small step for a girl

Ferrari World adjoins Yas Mall, so retail therapy opportunities post Ferrari visit abound, should you have any money left. Neither Warner Bros or Ferrari World are cheap. Other nearby attractions on Yas include Yas Waterworld. Doesn’t look that inspiring from outside, but well worth a visit, trust me. The Yas Gramp Prix circuit, Du Arena and Forum, a huge IKEA and, my personal favorite, Ace Hardware. I could spend hours in Ace.

I don’t know if we were lucky or if it’s typical UAE spoiled for choice syndrome, but neither Warner Bros or Ferrari World were exactly busy. No huge queues for the rides, no hordes of people to wade your way through. Both were quiet. Great from our perspective, but I do wonder how these places make money, especially given the obvious investment sank into them.

And that’s the thing about the UAE. They want to be the best. They want to be the home of the biggest and the fastest. In one small area of Abu Dhabi, you can find a fistful of world class attractions. A short drive and you are at The Louvre Abu Dhabi, a bit further in the opposite direction and it’s Dubai Parks, with LEGO Land, Motiongate and a bunch of other themed attractions. All well done and all surprisingly empty. You could argue they have the funds so why not. But that would be missing the point.

I freely admit, I admire the attitude of the Emirates. On UAE National Day, December 2nd, the whole country celebrates and they exude genuine pride in their country. Not the nasty jingoism often encountered elsewhere, this is a genuine honest pride. A pride in what they have achieved since independence and a genuine pride in their nation and of being an Emirati. I think we could learn a thing or two from them.

I have heard expats scoff at such displays of patriotism, describing it as silly and naive. Well shame on you say I. Certainly in Britain it seems to be fashionable to be critical of the country. Apologetic for being British, for the colonial empire and history we forged and for our past achievements. Britain may not be the country it once was, but that doesn’t change the facts that once upon a time Britannia was a force to be reckoned with in the world. I am not saying we should live in the past. Look at the Emiratis as an example of how to forge ahead, but whilst times and perspectives change, but facts should remain constant.

In the UAE Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan is quoted as saying “ A Nation without a past is a country without a present or a future”. You can see this emblazoned on the walls when you arrive at the airports in Dubai or Abu Dhabi.

Well Great Britain has an awful lot of past and I fail to see how denying or decrying that, just because it doesn’t suit current trendy politically correct thinking is going to help us going forward. Might not be great right now, may well be set to get a whole lot worse. But that’s a whole contentious discussion for another day and I refuse to mention the ‘B’ word. I guess my point is, I have no idea what is going to happen to Britain in the future. I fear the worse. Not because of the ‘B’ word, but because it seems so many of my hand wringing, virtue signaling, compatriots seem desperate for it to fail miserably, just so they can say, “told you so”

I may not agree with everything that is happening back home, but I want my country to be successful. I like my home country, I love Scotland and I like what used to make us British, a sense of FairPlay, a self deprecating sense of humor, good manners, a steely resolve, ample common sense and a fondness for tea. I would love for us to rediscover these simple principles.

How hard can that be?