Costa Del Sol, Spain: Audi A8 Drive event

Hotel Finca de Cortesin is probably the nicest hotel I've ever stayed in, and I've stayed at some swanky (and not so swanky) pads since becoming an automotive journalist. My pal Reg, a seasoned reporter and interviewer, claims that in the old days, organizations like GM would tote journalists about in their private jets, and that events could last a week, rather than the current standard of one, maybe two nights. The good folks at Audi Middle East have, at least at the events I've attended with them, added a second night at their own expense, which helps cushion the blow of traveling so far, for such a short amount of time. And so we spent a second night at a nice, if less memorable and quite empty, resort hotel. I missed dinner that night because Reg kept buying pints and telling tales of war zone bartenders and Rolls Royce sporting johns on the prowl in the GCC.

Think of me at the first joint, a lovely sprawling golf resort, plotting to depart from Spain's Costa Del Sol, where it was raining, for the crumbling, under-insulated but not charmless hotels of Morocco. I enjoyed driving the A8, which is a powerful and fine tuned machine, and was pleased to navigate the winding mountain roads above the coast with the car completely to myself. Not that I would have minded driving with a partner, as often happens, but more often than not these press trips afford you very little time alone, something I'm used to having plenty of.

I enjoyed the luxury hotel and my time in Spain, a country whose language I can speak passably. From there I went to a place where I didn't speak the language, where nearly everyone I met was hustling me for a few Dirham, and where hot showers could be undertaken only during prescribed hours. I was prepared for this contrast, but admit that, after four cold nights in Fes and Tangier on the cheap, I was ready for warm, clean, and thoroughly plastic Dubai. Still, I enjoyed Morocco quite a bit, and look forward to writing more about it.

The Crack in the Sky

I've finally figured out what Dubai's ultimate aspirational landmark signifies-- it's the giant crack in the sky that marks the end times. The sky isn't falling though, not yet anyway. It just has a lighning bolt shaped rift in its fabric, a rift not unlike the one that has threatened to swallow your local economy. Seen from the edge of town, the Burj Dubai appears almost complete through the gauzy haze of Dubai's soiled air, however it's very much still under construction. 

We managed to recover our camera in time for a recent over night in Al Ain, however this picture of the skyline at dusk is about all that we came home with. We did very much enjoy some time away from our increasingly cramped  apartment, which now includes one of those pink yoga ball things as a sort of ottoman. I like to sit on the coach with my legs stretched out, balanced precariously on the yoga ball, which happens to be across the room in the kitchen. As a result, I've gotten really good at fixing snacks with my feet, which is one of the perks of being six two-ish. The downside is bumping your head a lot. In fact, I was born with a normal size head, but it has since become so calloused through abuse that, as you can see in most pictures, it is now roughly twice the width of a yoga ball. I'm seriously thinking of becoming an anchorman, or possibly making a run for congress.

My giant cranium did fit nicely in the shiny Audi Q5 that my new best german friends (BGFs) saw fit to lend me for review. While I admit a sense of relief upon reclaiming possession of our noticeably smaller Subaru, the Audi was exceedingly comfortable, offered more features than I had time or patience to enjoy, and would have been more than sporty enough to get several speeding tickets, had I not religiously used the cruise control to rein in its turbo charged 4 cylinder engine. 

Rumors have been circulating that revenue strapped Dubai has been issuing an unusual number of dodgy tickets lately, and Ness did in fact get a parking ticket in the exact spot where she's been parking since she started her job last summer. Anyway, it was nice to have use of the Audi for our trip, and if you absolutely have to own an flashy luxury SUV, this one at least isn't hideously ugly like the American offerings. But really, the car that Dubai makes me want to own is a VW micro bus. An old, weather beaten one, with a "Too slow? Too bad." bumper sticker-- we could use the affordable housing.