What are the chances?

I'll have to wait for Kirk to post the pictures, but you won't believe what happened at lunch today. Since the City was basically under curfew, and the road outside our hotel was closed, we settled for eating lunch in the hotel - really our only choice. "Flavours on Two" offered a spectacular buffet spread for lunch. Bested by almost none I've ever had.

We had slept in, having arrived at the hotel after 2 am and going to bed about 3, so lunch was our first meal here, at Noon. This is actually a little earlier than local custom for lunch, so we had our pick of tables and chose a small one by the window overlooking the road (Sheikh Zayed Rd.) in front of the hotel. Not much going on to see, except the other tourists and some locals running out on the highway to take pictures of this very unusual sight. It was pretty boring right up until we saw the police car, and the low flying helicopter go by, followed by the President's motorcade! What are the odds that we would come so close to our own President after traveling nearly halfway around the globe? {kirk here, below is the picture, if you do not see it click the title of this entry and it should appear there. To be specific the helo was a Gunship, there were 4 black SUV and one limo and It is anybody's guess which one the Pres was in. The photo below is one of the SUVs and the Limo}

But back to the buffet - an amazing spread of probably a dozen cold salad and appetizer dishes, two soups, a half dozen hot sides, with as many meat dishes and appetizers, as well as a 'made-to-order' meat station with lamb chops, duck and a couple others we didn't try. Due to the impromptu local holiday, the crowd, and staff was a bit thin, but the food was plentiful and delicious. The executive chef himself guided us through the line and described the various dishes available.

After we finished our leisurely lunch (did I mention the desserts? YUM) we went out the back door of the hotel to check out the fitness center and pool, and then took a long walk. Seems many other people were getting restless and were out and about walking around the area. We downloaded all the pictures to Kirk's computer - so we'll post later, after his class.

After the walk, we determined - and the concierge confirmed - that the city was once again open, so we hired a driver to take us on a 'three hour tour'. It was wonderful, especially since there was so little traffic, we got to see much more of the city in those three hours than we could have on a normal day. Oh, and apparently they were able to cancel the rain in honor of the President's visit, so although it was cloudy, we didn't get wet.

Dinner was at "Lialy Lebanon", a nearby restaurant, slightly off the main road. The Lebanese food was wonderful and our fellow diners (again few, because we ate earlier than the locals), were enjoying their Hookahs or Shisha. Note to Mom - you would have loved this food!