Happy New Year and welcome the year of DOG!

What a year it has been for us...It seems like a flash, and we have lived in Al Ain for nearly 6 months. Not quite adjusted yet to some of the local culture and customs, but life is quite alright after all.

On Mikael's one free day of every week, we like to get away from the hotel and visit the other two "more exciting" cities - Dubai and Abu Dhabi. We are always thrilled by the magnificent buildings in those two cities (will put up some photos later.)

For the days that we didn't feel like driving, we found the Al Ain Zoo a great place for us. It's said that the zoo is the largest one of the Gulf...It only takes us 10 minutes drive to get there, and the ticket costs 2 Dh per person(approx. 30p in GBP). I only wish that they could take better care of the facility and the animals. Yet for now, it is somewhere we could go for a half-day trip without spending much and have a great time. Especially for Gemma, she just loves seeing the animals in person.