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.

Munich, 2011 Touareg Launch

My brief time in Munich started off quietly as a group of us, led by our very kind and well organized hosts from VW, wandered the hushed, snow covered streets in search of a tourist bus that would show us the city from a relatively warm and dry vantage point. When we did eventually find the bus, they wouldn't take us aboard for some reason, so we had carrot cake and walked around instead.

That evening, as I dusted off my 'job interview' duds ('journalist on the go' was wrinkled and sodden at home) I found that, not only does Germany get most of the Saudi Arabia based movie channels that regularly bring us classic films like Short Circuit 2, and Christmas Caper (starring Shannon Doherty, and gracing the small screen this March) here in Dubai, they also have some very odd televised costume parties that we don't have access to in the desert.

The event itself was surprising due to its particularly American choice of themes, which included a Late Night style interview format, hosted by the "David Letterman of Germany" and featuring a Late Night style band led by Germany-renowned percusionist and moustache farmer, Leslie Mandoki. Several of the interviews were conducted before a monument valley inspired backdrop, in front of which I insisted on being photographed, making for an awkward pause in the proceedings. My ego duly sated, they brought out performance artist Kseniya Simonova, whose deft hands craft evolving sand pictorials that are quite impressive in their scope and speed.

Throughout the evening, blue-jean and gingham clad servers in kiddie cowboy hats navigated the crowd, handing out a variety of tasty, if unexpected and ultimately forgettable (I just remember that they were odd, but good) appetizers. Our obliging hosts, in that unabashedly blunt German fashion, asked several of the attending VIPs who they were, culminating in my favorite reply: "Oh yes, now I remember. She's a very famous boxer." The evening closed with the music of Justin Timbalike who, sporting his trade marked fedora, shredded the violin alongside the Mandoki Players. We were gifted with Justin's CD on our way out, and most of us wrongly assumed it was the press kit and therefore didn't bother to hunt down the actual press kit. A press kit, or more specifically the Press Release, is what a journalist typically combines with a thesaurus to produce a magazine article. It was awesome. If you ever have the chance to attend a corporate launch party in Munich, the answer is "ja!"

Mallorca & Barcelona

Upon returning from one of the most relaxing trips we've ever been on, I was struck down by a crushing flu, from which I've only recently recovered. As such, I've been slow to return to my usual duties, and haven't written anything here in a little while. Mallorca and Barcelona were a welcome escape from the hot, dusty monotony of Dubai, and we enjoyed every sunny, obligation free minute if it. Most of the pictures above are from Mallorca, although Vanessa can be spotted in the top most picture as she patrols Barcelona's Boqueria Market for interesting treats.

Just before we left for Spain, our lease expired and we moved out of our overpriced studio and into a sort of high end rooming house. We now have domestic help for the first time, and count on our new pal Rajan for ironing and once weekly cleaning services-- all told, these rather minimal chores cost us 200 AED per month, or about $54.49. We've managed to cut our rent in half, but only after a good bit of wrangling. The transition form living by ourselves, to a shared living environment has been fairly smooth, as the new household is run something like a hotel.

As our lease was set to expire, we'd been looking around and after seeing several places, we informed Nabil that we were thinking of leaving. We used to think of Nabil as our crazy adoptive Arabian Uncle, but upon informing him that we wanted out of our lease, he responded that our lease required three months notice in order to move out. We re-read the contract and found that what it actually said was that we were required to pay the entire balance of the twelve month lease if we left before the lease period ended. I actually took the lease down to the Dubai Municipality rent board, who were very helpful, and informed me that Nabil was, to use the local term, pissing in my ear. So, we now find ourselves estranged from our chainsaw loving Arabian Uncle, and have the remaining task of trying to recover our deposit from him. All in all, it was worth the strife, and we're glad to have moved on. 

Dragon Boating

On a recent hazy Friday morning we had our first taste of dragon boat racing, rowing on behalf of a mostly rookie team organized by our friend Francis. Dragon boating is a fairly enjoyable form of rowing that, perhaps like other team rowing events, requires that team members row precisely in time with each other. If you lose the rhythm each person's effort will start to counteract that of their cohorts, making for the sort of team building metaphor that might give a motivational speaker the strength to get out of bed in the morning, but probably not. I can't say that our timing was excellent, but the crew of good ol' number three never quite came in dead last and that's good enough for me. 

In the topmost picture you can see the hull of an immense wooden boat being constructed on the opposite shore. Sadly, I don't have any pictures of these beauties, but from the water they were quite impressive. And really, that was the best part of the race for me; being out on the water at an hour when I'm typically contemplating the inside of my eyelids.

Dubai has become a favorite target in the UK press of late, causing enough of a stir that the Sheikh held a Q&A with local journalists over the weekend, something he reportedly hasn't done since 2001. I haven't read the Q&A yet, but one perhaps telling criticism is that international journalists were apparently not invited to participate. Among the headlines in yesterday's news cycle, were the Sheikh's pronouncement that the worst of the credit crunch is over, and a report by Colliers International that residential real estate prices in Dubai have dropped by 40%. While it's very difficult to know what will happen in the next few months, one definite possibility is that you may be seeing us a bit sooner than expected.

One of the main reasons we came to Dubai was for the travel opportunities, and later this month we will be traveling to China for Nessa's job. Dubai is an excellent hub for visiting much of the world, and quite often does an excellent job of making you wish you were somewhere else. We hope to take advantage of being here by taking a few more trips before our time in the middle east comes to a close. Here's hoping China is just one of a few interesting destinations on our horizon.