How did you spend Christmas day?

Well we spent our first Christmas in Dubai in a hotel as we are in the middle of relocating from South Africa.

We are used to the sun shining and it being hot on Christmas day, so that wasn’t a new experience for us. Christmas in Dubai happens, however it is optional. Although the malls are decorated and the Christmas songs are playing everywhere and the shop staff are wearing Santa hats, no one wished you a merry Christmas and it entirely up to you if and how you celebrate it.

After breakfast hubby and I played Santa and woke the boys up with last minute purchases as the  Christmas presents are in the airfreight, which is still in South Africa, then headed off to the house to walk the dog and wait for the builders to arrive, which they did, eventually, but that’s a whole other blog post. We met the boys back at a café near the hotel where hubby and I had a chicken salad, cookies and coffee and the boys went to Subway.

We then drove to the beach, which wasn’t as busy as I thought it would be.

Afterwards we headed off to Dubai mall where the sales have started, did a bit of car shopping and had dinner in the food hall of burgers, pop and ice cream.

We then skyped family and friends back in the UK and South Africa, ate chocolates and drank wine out of a mug.

Christmas wasn’t stressful, there was no washing up, no family logisitics to organize, we still had the family arguments lol.

What did you do differently this year? What would you like to change for next year?

The family Christmas for us is now over (insert sad face) the 4 older kids have left home and are spread out over the UK, the youngest who will be 16 by next Christmas has opted to spend it in the UK with family, so I guess unless hubby and I travel back to the UK, we’ll be spending Christmas in Dubai, but at least we’ll have our own home, tree and oven to cook a dinner in.