DUBAI
The arrival to Dubai was ROUGH! Our flight from Istanbul was at midnight so we thought we would grab a delicious bite to eat at trusty ol' Starbucks before our voyage. Well, deli sandwiches at 11 at night are a terrible idea. I've never actually seen anyone have to use that little white bag that they so wisely tuck into the backseat pocket of the airplane for you, until after I retreated to the oh so luxurious and refreshing airplane bathroom to release some of nausea where I met a very flustered Becca handing hers to the flight attendants. Those flight attendants were angels! I don't think I would even be able to stomach the ailed attendees much less show the compassion that they did. So it was a rough first day in Dubai. We stepped off the plane into this sauna of a city where everyone greeted us with incredible enthusiasm at 5:30 in the morning. Unfortunately, we were not able to return the warm fuzzies on day one. I spent the day horking up any rancid meat that was possibly left in my stomach while Becca mustered up the strength to wander over to "Hyper Panda", the Festival City Mall's grocery store, and bought some 7up, light snacks and medications. We attempted a lay by the pool which lasted about ten minutes. The 100 plus degree weather is not good for rehydration.

Following our recovery, we visited the Gold Souk and the Spice Souk. At the Spice Souk I was persuaded into buying a bag of coffee beans from Yemen first, because I could not think of a better gift for my coffee-obsessed parents, and because I couldn't look at all those huge jars of pumice stones, cinnamon sticks, assorted teas and colorful spices without getting something seemingly exotic. Becca and I wandered around the Gold Souk dodging the insanely persistent sales men who were determined to sell us their "designer" handbags and we just went window shopping. I have never seen so much bling in my life, fortunately I did not feel any burning desires to embellish myself with large rocks and gold treasures.
After the markets we went on a safari in the desert (I highly recommend!) Mohammed, our driver, picked us up in his four wheel drive Toyota SUV where we joined two married couples (story of our lives) for about an hour of dune bashing followed by a desert BBQ. We jammed to 104.4 Virgin radio as we risked our lives to the sand dunes of Dubai, but i would absolutely do it again. Dont worry becca has videos for facebook. We arrived safe and sound at the feasting grounds where we were joined by the rest of the caravan. Before dinner we went for a 'brief' camel ride which was okay with me. I was pretty determined to ride a camel in Dubai but a one minute ride does the job. They are so adorable but they sure do smell! And I'm pretty sure our camel did not enjoy having Becca and I on his back because it stood up real quick as soon as we got on, against the camel whisperer's command and then it kept reaching it's head back to sniff our feet. After the camels we hit up the henna tattoo hut where we got henna ALL the way up our arms! Then, everyone was called to sit around a stage area which was really just a large rug on the sand surrounded by seat pillows, and a man in a large fancy skirt came out spinning around in circles for ten or so minutes. Our adorable new Turkish friends informed us that it is a Muslim prayer custom where men will spin for hours with a hand raised to the sky. This was obviously for show and the man had ten, give or take,  different fancy skirts on, one of which had led lights. But he just spun around in circles forever and showed us all his skirts. After we ate dinner we got another show on the carpet-stage from a belly dancer. She was ... Uhmm workin it. Good for her. Becca and I weren't enthralled by the performance but she had some men rocking in their pillow seats and clapping a little too enthusiastically. I don't think their conservatively dressed wives were impressed. The safari concluded there but our night did not. When we got back we went to check out the hotel bar scene which was just poppin with middle aged men. Lovely. So we had a couple drinks and decided we should check out the clubs in Dubai instead but every time we decided we were going we found ourselves being awkwardly escorted by a man wishing to keep our company. So we opted out of the sexual slavery boat and called it a night.
The next day we went to check out the Dubai mall, the largest mall in the world, which is located at the bottom of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. We went to "the top" which is really only half way, and then wandered around the mall. We checked out the aquarium which is a huge tank full of big ugly fish and little sharks and sting rays! Loved. Then we wandered over to the fountains where they have fountain shows every half hour at night. I'm not sure if you can call it choreography since it's water, but I dont really know how else to tell you that the water was spewing up in the air artistically to Whitney's I Will Always Love You. Again, romantic honeymoon with my wife Becca. 
On our last day, we wandered around Festival City mall, picked up any last minute souvenirs and enjoyed our last moments to soak up the sun in the outdoor sauna that is Dubai. Over all, Dubai is really nice and provided an experience unlike any of the other cities. It's a very clean and new city; the technology is really advanced as is the architecture. It was also a different cultural experience because although America has surely left it's footprint, as can be found almost anywhere, and certainly in Dubai, we found ourselves wondering a lot more about the customs of conservative Muslim dress as well as various other aspects to the Emirate lifestyle including heat management. 
The UAE is also an interesting place because the a lot of the Emirates receive oil income and do not have to work and most of the working class are immigrants from India or the Philapenes. Therefore a lot of different customs and cultures are all intermingled in Dubai.

ISTANBUL

I absolutely fell in love with Istanbul and I hope to go back for a visit soon. There is way too much history and too many sites or things to do that simply cannot be covered in a short five days! We stayed on the Asian side of the city and had to take cabs and ferry rides to see a lot of the things we wanted to see every day but I really actually enjoyed our daily ferry commute across the Bosphorus. We were first lucked out in Istanbul with the happiest, most enthusiastic cab driver I've ever met. On our drive from the airport he started a little dance party in the car and fist pumped his own "I love America" chant. He taught us how to say 'thank you' which was our only Turkish word until we found the hotel cheat cards with short phrases. 
We spent our first two days in Istanbul seeing what we could in Old Town. We went to Topkapi Palace, the Basilica Cistern, the Hagia Sophia, the Blue Mosque and soaked up all we could of the history of the city. The Hagia Sophia and the Topkapi palace were my favorite historical sites to see. The palace had lots of things on display from the ottoman royal residence. In one courtyard there was a display of the sultans' clothing throughout the centuries, there were other displays of swords, crowns, jewelry, thrones etc. Everything was intricately decorated and plated with gold or made from emerald or other precious stone. The Hagia Sophia was also a really cool site to see; it had the clear evidence of it's time as a church with some uncovered remnants of mosaic imagery of Jesus, Mary, or the saints which were all covered when it was converted to a mosque. The only original mosaics that were allowed to remain were geographic designs. 
But, Istanbul was more than just site seeing... I'll let Becca tell the rest though. For now that's all I have!

G