I was honored to receive an invitation to attend the Sharjah Children's Book Fair. My books were recommended to the selection committee by Annie Oswald, a VP of Books and Audio for FranklinCovey Co. As we are also cousins, it was exciting that we were both invited to attend the book fair and spent time together there.
My flight was originally to Seattle, where I would meet up with Annie and fly to Dubai. But, because my connecting flight was delayed, I was fortunately rerouted to San Francisco, and then flew to Dubai, arriving only an hour later than planned. The business class flight on Emirates Airline was amazing!
Annie and I were taken on Monday by our driver to see the exhibit called the Rainroom. If you enter the large "rain shower" slowly, censors recognize your position, and hypothetically you don't get wet. :)
Then we walked to the Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization, which had many interesting, ancient relics.
That evening Annie and I took a cab to see the modern Sharjah Mall.
We took a quick dip in the hotel pool, which looked lovely in the evening. Everything about the hotel was wonderful: my beautiful room and the wonderful Mediterranean buffet meals at the restaurant.
On Tuesday, I sat at lunch with other authors and was invited with a small group to tour the House of Wisdom. The Fair supplied drivers to our hotel to take us to this and other Fair-related excursions. This new building held thousands of books including special editions owned by the Sheikh of Sharjah.
Tuesday evening Annie and I took a cab to Dubai. We started with the spectacular 4-story mall.
Inside the mall is also a large ice skating rink and this huge aquarium.
Just outside the mall is the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. It was a beautiful night filled with people enjoying the sights.
I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the mix of modern and traditional, and the peaceable mix of people who come to live and work in Dubai from all over the world.
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