You heard it here first

Spotted at the kids school, JESS, this afternoon was none other than Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff, the best all-rounder in the world (yes, I do know about Jacob Oram).  He was being shown round with his children. Needless to say, he wasn't spotted by my wife as he came into her classroom. She just thought it was a big man who rudely didn't take his cap off and whose child had to be told off for rooting through her drawers.  Who knows, perhaps Mrs Flintoff has had enough of being abandoned in Preston every winter as he jets off to sunnier climes? I, for one, wouldn't blame her.

I have been at JESS quite a bit myself in the past week doing drop offs and pick ups. Janet twisted and slipped on some inocuous looking steps as we were leaving a friends party. It looked for all the world as if she had just sprained her ankle. It was only when we went to the hospital the next morning that the x-ray confirmed a nasty break and a maisonneuve fracture of the ankle. She's having an operation in the morning to put a couple of screws in. 

Atlantis

Eid al Fitr came a day earlier, and hence Ramadan finished a day earlier, than expected thanks to the keen eyes of the Moon Spotting Committee. The children have been on holiday all week and I took time off too. I did try to book a trip away but pretty much every hotel room in the Emirates was booked. Not to worry - this week we've been tourists in our own city.


The latest Dubai 'Mega-Project' to be completed is the Atlantis Hotel on Palm Jumeirah. Coined 'The Eighth Chunder of the World' by The Sun, this hotel is enormous - 1,539 rooms and over 1.5km long. It opened on the 24th September as planned in spite of a last minute fire on the roof of the reception. Some people we know who were staying there complained bitterly about the noise the construction workers were making throughout the night trying to put it right.


Anyway, we had a great day out there. It wasn't busy and they were obviously geared up for several times more tourists. The rides were good although we didn't try the 'leap of faith' - the near vertical drop into a tube through a shark filled tank. The rides probably were no better than Wild Wadi, although there is a much better sense of space as it is six times bigger. Still, it's not a cheap day out. For 5 people, with a fast food lunch, it costs over £200.