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| Sunset at Bab al Shams (Gateway of the sun) |
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| Bab al Shams in the moontlight |
17
January: Happy day; It is Tinus’
birthday and we’re having a lovely day. The reason why I’m blogging now is
because he’s busy getting a bone scan.
So a quick catch-up for those of you who missed the bits in
between: There were more spots … out
damned spot … there was the TB and lots of medications but spots are not going
away, so doc says let’s take them out .. de ja vu .. operation, took five lymph
nodes out some tested positive for cancer, yet another PET scan was scheduled
but we had to wait for op scars to heal.
It was Christmas then Lizana and Ulrich came to visit for ten days and it
was the best of times:
Having the
two of them here was such a treat! They
are part of our Hopefield family, our neighbours and such good friends. Upon arrival Ulrich announced that they will
take care of meals, which couldn’t have been more perfect. Many of my fondest Hopefield memories feature
an afternoon/evening spent with the rest of the family around some interesting
and or exotic culinary creations by the master chef extraordinaire team aka
Lizana and Ulrich.
On the way
here Lizana sat next to someone who said a weekend is all you need to see and
do all that there is to see and do here … good response word here : incredulous
… Lizana and Ulrich were here for ten days and I think we got about halfway
through everything we could have seen and done.
Dubai and the UAE is such an amazing place (how many times have I said
that :D ) and there are so many things to experience here that I actually
worked out an itinerary to make sure that we get as much out of the time we
have together as we can. I wanted to
make it so special, for this was also a holiday for Tinus, in the normal course
of living here he sees very little outside of his office walls or boardroom
windows.
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| Lizana and Ulrich in front of the Burj Khalifa |
Destination
Dubai:
Dear
Lizana and Ulrich
Thank
you so much for choosing Olivier tours for your vacation operator.
Please
find attached a suggested itinerary.
27
Dec: Arrival: 05H35 @ DXB followed by lots of hugging and kissing :D Relaxed morning, possible early
afternoon nap. (R&R) We were
thinking of sun downers at Bab Al Shams followed by Baskin Robbins (Ibn Battuta
Mall) and a night drive home via Shk Zayed rd
28 Dec: Sunrise
from highest building in the world - tickets booked for 06H30
Breakfast at Tiffany’s not
available (yet) but perhaps Armani ^^ or one of the many other places.
Possible
afternoon nap (R&R) for evening out.
Possible Festival City with water and light show.
29 Dec: Ain
trip: Camel chocolate factory, Camel
souq, tea at road side tea shop with ultimate aim for late lunch at Jebal
Hafeet which will linger till sunset and then drive home.
30
Dec: Bastika Heritage
tour – tickets booked for 10H30 The tour takes place in old part of
Dubai, after tour (which I think includes dates and coffee) we can take an abra
(water taxi) to the spice & gold souq, lunch at the creek side café. Possible movie under the stars in the
evening at Wafi rooftop garden.
31 Dec: Sharjah Blue
souq, Aviation museum, quick trip to the beach to dip our toes in the Persian
Gulf and back home for afternoon nap. (R&R) Desert Drumming – starts at 20H30 …
return home next year.
etc etc ...
“Olivier Tours” actually managed to stick to their schedule
fairly well. The strikethrough showed the ones we didn’t do. I loved
the way Lizana would say “When last did you do something for the first time? Oh
yes, today, and yesterday, and the day before that.”
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| Ulrich in the Old Souk |
The time
passed so quickly – ha ha – I just had this in my head : <disembodied
dramatic voice> “… like sand through the hour glass..” get it… sand ..
desert… anyway.
Before we
knew it Ulrich had to leave. His sister
and her family moved to Dubai quite recently and on the second to last evening
that he spent with us we had a lovely braai at our place with them as well as a
long-time friend of Ulrich’s who lives in our area and his family and a few of
our friends and parts of their family.
The evening turned out to be so much like the evenings at the Merry
Widow, a perfect end to a lovely holiday.
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| Lizana striking a girly pose in Rak Al Khaima |
Lizana stayed on for a couple of days more and
it was exactly what I needed, girl time :D
On the last day of Lizana’s stay she was part of one of our more regular
experiences – an appointment at the oncologist:
We went to
the doc to get the results of Tinus’ most recent PET scan, the one after
surgery in December. He showed us the
scan on his computer screen - it lit up like a macabre Christmas tree: bright lights showing hot spots from his left
clavicle to his lower right lung. His
oncologist suggests that we prepare for the worst – because of the lymph nodes
all being connected he wants us to consider the possibility that the cancer
cells could be spread all over his body and that he would now classify the
cancer as aggressive. And it was the
worst of times.
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