December started on a good note- with us putting up the tree in time for our 4th Wedding anniversary. Somehow I always want the house to be decorated from our anniversary right up until my birthday.. It’s just a psychological thing which makes me feel good.
As always, we decided to go visit one of the neighbouring emirates for our anniversary. We must’ve been to every emirate at least twice in the past 4 years but that does not act as a deterrent!
A last minute decision led us to the Al Hamra Fort Hotel and Beach Resort in Ras Al Khaimah! I would not rate this a five star though. For starters, the attitude of the staff – They were not impolite but stood around without any smiles on their faces. Moreover, waiting for a golfcart to go check out a room took 15 minutes or more..
Having already explored RAK before, we decided to spend the day lazing in the hotel premises itself. Check in is at 2 pm and by half past four it was too cold and windy to sit on the beach. 
They have rooms facing the lagoon as well as sea facing rooms.. The sea facing rooms are set in villas and are really very nice. We opted for the lagoon facing rooms which sadly seemed a little too old and outdated for a new resort and makes you wonder how! The have 2 pools and is a haven for water sport lovers.
On exploring the hotel we realised there really wasn’t much we could do and headed out to the nearby Al Hamra Mall. Small though,it has a local Spinneys, CafeNero, Starbucks and Texas Chicken to name a few. Thereafter, we headed into the city. The only place we haven’t been to in RAK is ‘Iceland water park’ – a few kilometres away from our hotel. From the reviews I have got, I do have my doubts about ever going there.
Ras Al Khaimah offers you a plethora of things to do ranging from the ever popular Khatt springs to Iceland water park to microlight flying for as little as AED 550 an hour.
We however, did not take advantage of this and instead settled ourselves in the hotel and on the beach!
It was so cold at night that we brought in our anniversary shivering- Little did I know that Ras Al Khaimah is supposedly one of the coldest emirates in the UAE. Double blankets didn’t provide me with enough warmth- heck maybe I am cold blooded. At 12 am Mr. R surprised me with a cake- Only I know how difficult it was to get out of bed and get to the cake
On checking out of the hotel, early anniversary afternoon, we stopped over at our ever faithful Barracuda store. It’s that time of the year to wine and dine, not only with Christmas and new year but also with upcoming birthdays and anniversaries! After stoppin over at Sharjah at a friend’s place we headed home.
A short nap later we were refreshed and finally got out of bed to a friend surprising us! And then to an impromptu gathering with even more friends … and finally cutting a cake at 5 minutes to midnight- just before the clock struck the 11th of December 2011and our anniversary went past:)Â 
Short and sweet. Makes me think, the day ended before it even started! 4 years have gone past and it really feels like just yesterday. God has been good and I thank him for the gift of marriage, of life and of love:)
Pearls Of Blissdom by AntheasChronicles 
Anthea, very well written. Have you ever considered writting a book since somewhere you have commented that you have so much time on your hand…it could be as a travel writter or a foodie writter but you should seriously consider taking up writting.
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You are very good Anthea. Keep writing!
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