Smoking Room

Curt took this photo at the Vienna airport. He thought it was funny that smokers had to go into this little box (like a phone booth) to smoke. It's right in the middle of the cafe for everyone to gawk at like a little prison. So happy we don't smoke!!

United Arab Emirates

We've had a very successful week (actually 5 full days) in Dubai, U.A.E. Our operations (including all 3 areas: cargo, moving and relocations) in Dubai are growing and expected to continue to grow in the near future. Not surprisingly, many of our friends and family are unfamiliar with Dubai's location on the map so I found two which will help.

It's location is in the Arabian Desert and it lies on the Persian Gulf Coast. Dubai is one of 7 emirates in the UAE. It became famous to foreign investment when the Jebel Ali free zone, comprising the Jebel Ali port (reputedly the world's largest man made port) was established in 1979, which provided foreign companies unrestricted import of labour and export capital.

Since 2002, the city has seen an increase in private real estate investment and has even gained the support of such famous investors as Donald Trump. The most famous projects are The Palm Islands, The World Islands, Burj Al Arab, the recently opened Atlantis Hotel and the almost complete Burj Dubai. The Burj Dubai is still under contruction and is currently standing at 688 m. The finished project will be the world's tallest building.


Above is a photo of one of the three Palms. These islands are finished and most of the construction on them is either complete or in progress. We looked at a few properties on Palm Jumeirah so we can better understand where some of our client's assignees choose to live. One location was a penthouse sharing a private beach, swimming pool and restaurant with the building and neighboring building. The 2 story unit was between 5000-6000 sqf and furnished with modern furniture. Each bedroom was built with an ensuite and built in closets. The annual rent was 400,000 Dubai dirhams (AED) which today equals just over 100,000USD.

We also viewed a large villa with 4 big bedrooms (again all with ensuites), lots of living space, a tiny front garden, small private pool, 2 car garage, private beach (yes, private beach!) located on a quiet street in a secure gated community. The sqaure footage was approximately just over 6,000 sqf with an annual rent of 425,000AED. Today this is just over 115,000USD / year. Both rents have drastically decreased in the last year by about 30%.

This group of islands that have just been created are meant to look like the world from above. The islands have been built (seems a bit of an odd thing to create) and the development is just starting to take way. If you are interested in buying property here you can check it out directly on their World site.

Most people recognize this very famous Burj Al Arab hotel which is meant to be the most expensive (or at least one of) hotels in the world. I don't know much about it other than it is beautiful. I've only known friends who have went in to have a drink or a coffee and even these are extraordinarily expensive!

Here is the newly complete Atlantis Hotel which we had the pleasure visiting last night. It is a very beautiful 5 star resort with an unbelievable water park, many incredible restaurants (including the delicious Nobu where we ate our Valentine's dinner last night) and many indoor fish tanks that are the home to 1000s of fish including sharks.


Here is a photo taken from space and posted by NASA where the Palms and the World islands can be seen. These and the Great Wall are still the only man-made creations that can be visibly seen from space.

As you can see, Dubai is an unbelievable place. It's fun but at the same time a bit odd and unrealistic. Other than our successful meetings and great food, the weather in February was my favorite. Today was almost in the mid - high 20s Celsius (80s F). A great experience when back home it is freezing cold and only about 0 degrees C! At least it'll be great for our skiing trip next weekend.

Cannot wait to get home to our babies tomorrow. We've spoken to them every day by telephone and miss them very much.

Back from DC

We are finally back home from our trip to the Employee Relocation Council's 2008 conference in Washington, DC. Flew all night, barely slept but the weather in Budapest is so beautiful and sunny that it is helping us stay awake and moving. So far, we've only seen Terence as he was home from school today. He's in the back playing soccer with Curt right now while we wait for the girls to get home from the Heidi Ovoda nursery school. Then, the 5 of us are off to a Halloween party.

The conference was fantastic. Move One Relocations was well recognized at the conference. We are happy to announce that we won 4 awards this year and the PR was fantastic! 2008 has been an excellent year for us.

Here is the only photo of Curt and I. I took it on a tour that we did with one of our biggest clients. We toured DC at night. It was beautiful. I was happy when we had the opportunity to get out at one of my favorite sites: the Lincoln Memorial. Incredible!

Gone to Italy

Curt and I arrived in Italy on Mother's Day (Sunday, May 11th). We took the 6am Wizz Air direct flight to Rome. We were excited that our tickets were only about $100 each (round trip and with tax). We got on the train from the Rome airport to the train station and then jumped on another train directly up to Florence. Our round trip train tickets were more than our airplane tickets (both journeys were about the same length in time). Curt splurged and got us first class cabin tickets which were very comfortable. The journey was 1 hour and 40 minutes through the beautiful hills of Tuscany.

Today, we returned to Rome where our business conference begins. We are having our first dinner meeting in 9 minutes (meeting in the hotel lobby). It's chilly and raining in Rome, however, it's not a city that ever looks anything but beautiful. Our long hours of conference meetings, exhibits, dinners and events will be easier to get through if the sun is behind gray clouds! At least we were lucky to get great sunny days in Florence. What an incredible city that is! I'll write more on our 2 1/2 days in Florence later. Now, I need to get my shoes on, put my lip gloss on and head downstairs as it's meeting time!