Deira Fish Souq

We tried to leave Thursday and Friday open as kind of "guest's choice" days so that Brett, Scott, and Jess would have an opportunity to do anything they specifically wanted to do or see, or else go back somewhere they really liked. They all love golf (Jess's boyfriend Matt is a golf pro actually) and so one thing they wanted to see were some of the famous golf courses here. I had to work Thursday morning, so they headed out to the Emirates Golf Course and then pooled it for the afternoon.

In the late afternoon, we thought it might be neat to check out the Deira Fish Souq, something Jared and I have never done before but has been highly recommended by friends for getting the freshest fish in town. It is probably the coolest fish market I've ever been too (HUGE just caught fish by the ton in wheel barrels) but our guests were a little sketched out by the smell (not good. the fishiest fishy smell ever as soon as we got out of our car) and we all got a little turned off by the guy who walked us through a back room over a floor inch deep in fish guts. Suffice to say, we decided not to buy anything that day, but Jared and I will undoubtedly go back and try grilling some fish from there in the near future.

Literally, fish by the wheel barrel, and we were also chased by a guy with an empty wheel barrel, trying to convince us that we needed one for the 50 pounds of fish he assumed we must be buying..

Giant Tuna, King Fish and the local favorite Hammour.

Giant crustaceans.

Showing off the wares.

I really enjoyed the Fish Souq, but once we decided not to buy anything, we headed home and made a plan to have dinner at the Kaleidoscope Restaurant buffet at the Atlantis Hotel on the Palm Jumeirah. Our visitors wanted an opportunity to see inside the Atlantis and we had coupons for the buffet so went for it. Coincidentally, Vanilla Ice was in town for a concert (who knew he even toured?) and Jared and Scott saw him in the lobby. After dinner with bellies full we headed to another favorite bar of ours, Buddha Bar, with the 30 foot gold buddha for a drink before calling it a night.