Todday Daisy and I spent the day at Riva Beach, keeping mostly in the shade and also wallowing in the shallow water. We paid £15 for use of the facilities and that also gave us 20% off food and beverages. We shared a plate of nachos and had a large bottle of sparkling water which set us back £6 in total.

Came home and showered off ready to set out again at 6pm to meet Lucy in a lovely area downtown called Al Seek. It’s a recreation of “old Dubai” complete with heritage souk and nice shops and restaurants all along the Creek. Unfortunately I spent 30 minutes in vain trying to get a cab to take us there and in the end we had to give up. It was rush hour and no one wanted to have to fight the downtown queueing for the fare quoted for Careem (local version of Uber).

Instead we went to the Reel Cinema at the Pointe complex right out at the end of Palm Island. Another really nice restaurant and shopping complex looking out towards the Atlantis hotel, a very exotic and amazing sight at any time but especially so at night. The cinema was great – we went to the dine in show to see The Last Duel. We were literally the only ones in the cinema. We had burgers and chips of various ilks and combined with the ticket and a drink it was £20 each. Good value for what we had. The film was really good but a very brutal portrayal of a very brutal time. Especially for women, but in all honesty not a time I’d want to live in, rich or poor.

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Afterwards we came out just in time to see the fountain show there. Its the biggest in the world now, surpassing the Bellagio show in Las Vegas. Really gorgeous water and lights show with the fabulous Atlantis in the background.