Dubai

This October I managed to escape the cold weather and travel to Dubai for 5 days with my family. We'd been before in 2014, but this time we decided to do completely different things and experience as much as we could.

This was not difficult, as Dubai is one of the most fascinating places I have ever visited. The sight of futuristic skyscrapers, surrounding blue waters and perfect beaches was incomparable to any other landscape I've seen - a perfect combination of a city break which incorporates guaranteed sunshine and beautiful scenery.

We stayed in an amazing hotel on the Dubai Palm, called the Waldorf Astoria. It was right next to a beach, where you could sunbathe and see in the distance the man-made branches of the palm built into the sea.

There were huge residential houses on the palm branches, where I'm sure a few celebs live...or at least that's what I told myself. In the distance you could make out the huge famous pink hotel called the Atlantis, and the skyline of central Dubai.

On the first night we got a glimpse of the AMAZING sunset which was so unbelievably bright and looked so perfect against the sea that we couldn't resist a few pics.

We then headed to the Dubai Marina Yacht Club and ate at a restaurant called Aquara which was on a terrace above the marina, and the backdrop was incredible. I don't think the picture above does it justice because the water was literally sparkling with the reflections from the skyscrapers. Such an amazing night!

Dressing for Dubai was something I had to think about, as it's important to respect the culture - which is not something I normally have to consider when packing clothes for a holiday.

However, I discovered a new love for long dresses which I found could be easily accessorised to look smart or casual. I had previously never dared to wear maxi dresses because I have not got the height to pull them off; although luckily I found a huge variety of maxi dresses in the petite section on ASOS, New Look and Topshop.

It also helps that they are meant to look a little baggy (for example the black dress shown previously and the khaki dress below) so as long as it's the right length then you can't really go wrong! Jumpsuits were another perfect alternative which my sister Evie wore in the picture above - a classic black jumpsuit from inthestyle.

The next day we visited the Dubai Mall which is the BIGGEST mall in the world. It has a cinema, an ice rink, 1,200 stores, an indoor theme park, and the biggest indoor aquarium in the world where visitors can scuba dive.

This is a recurring theme in Dubai, as it seems that everything they build has to be bigger and better than everywhere else in the world. They're currently planning to build a city called 'Falcon City', with bigger replica's of iconic structures including the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids, the Eiffel Tower, and the Taj Mahal.

We got lost multiple times during the day, but it was so fascinating to see all of the unique features of the mall and we finished by eating at a steak restaurant right next to the Dubai Fountain called the Entrecôte Cafe de Paris. I have to point out that in the picture above I look SO proud with my Cartier bag, however admittedly it only contains a brochure I picked up in there....I just wanted the bag.

Right next to the Dubai mall was the tallest building in the world: the Burj Khalifa. It looked stunning as we watched the sun setting in the background, followed by the fountain display which circled around the bottom of the building. Evie and I obviously had to take a pic touching the top, although my arm couldn't even reach and we gave up after multiple attempts.

Here's a few pics of the amazing skyline on the Dubai Marina. The picture directy above was taken at the same place where we ate on the terrace at the Aquara on our first night. It looked just as incredible in daylight. This is also the place where we got our Yacht for the day!!!

The Yacht was insane, it took us through the Dubai Marina and then out into the open sea where the views were incredible. We went right up to the iconic viewpoints such as the Atlantis Hotel and the Burj Al Arab - which is a seven star hotel and one of the tallest in the world.

The yacht then stopped in the middle of the sea for us to get off and have a swim with the amazing view of the skyline in the background. It was one of those moments where you have to stop and realise where you are at 11am on a Thursday morning. Definitely a day to remember.

We spent the last day at the waterpark in the Atlantis hotel which was a.m.a.z.i.n.g. They have slides with the biggest drops, where you travel through a tank full of sharks and huge sting rays on the way down. You could also swim with dolphins, go scuba diving in the 'Atlantis Shark Safari' or feed the sting ray - so much to do. There was also a lazy river which surrounded the whole waterpark so that you could float along to different rides....and this is where we spent most of our day; literally just floating around in the sun, which was heaven.

It was the perfect end to a perfect little holiday in an incredible city. It's hard to describe just how fantastically unique Dubai is, but being there feels like you're in some sort of futuristic film where anything is possible. The city is constantly being transformed and I'm sure in ten years time it will be full of even more incredible and unimaginable features. Considering that the whole geology of the city is completely man made, I don't think anything is impossible in Dubai.

Bella x