the cove rotana

it is a fancy new resort that just opened a mere 5 minutes from our house in ras al khaimah. 

woweeeee, so nice (as you can see in the photo from the vantage point at the cafe). the main building with restaurants and function rooms overlooks the sprawling property loaded with villas, pools, lush greenery, water and of course, the beach and arabian gulf. it's amazing really - we were just saying that being in a place like that makes you feel like you're on vacation, but it's where we live! 

so nice to be sitting in lovely surroundings, beautiful weather. i even think that we ACTUALLY were seated near someone important. maybe the son of the sheik? i don't even know if he has a son. all i know is several people went up to him and shook his hand and talked to him like he was important, and i heard one of the people who worked there (manager types) say something about "his highness". CRAZY. (not really.)

i will say, however, that the cappuccinos we ordered were quite crappy. we left a comment card re: their complete lack of getting it right. it was basically a cup of coffee with milk, lukewarm. no foam! what a scandal! we would have been better off with some sort of milkshake that the dudes next to us ordered. now THAT looked good. next time.

we walked around and went down to the beach - apparently, the villas near the water were for sale. not sure if they are timeshare, or if they are even decently sized, or completely overpriced, but now i'm curious. of course, i don't think we should even entertain the idea of moving to one (were it a possibility), because people would come and visit (hooray!) but never leave (potentially problematic). and having tourists around you 24/7 would be a bit of a bummer. on the plus side, you could order room service...

regardless, we had a nice afternoon, crappy coffee and all, and julian had a ball playing in the sand looking for shells.

serge wants me to add that the day was topped off with his 15 dirham haircut. dirt cheap!