Day 11: The Penn Glee Club Explores Dubai

Our day began with a great treat: we were invited to spend the morning in Atlantis The Palm Dubai, one of the swankiest hotels in town. As it turns out, the wife of the president of Atlantis The Palm Dubai, Cathy Leibman, had attended our concert at the American School of Dubai. She was so impressed that she invited us all to go to the hotel - for free! 

We arrived at the hotel and were immediately whisked away to a delicious breakfast buffet. We were also given passes to get into the main attraction of the hotel - the water park - for free! After singing a toast to Cathy, we headed to the water park for the day. 

The Penn Glee Club poses in front of an aquarium that was inside the hotel. 

The water park was filled with many awesome attractions. Some of the more impressive slides were the "Leap of Faith," which was a nine-story slide that was a nearly vertical drop; the "Shark Attack," which sent you through a shark-infested tank (obviously, we were in no danger!); and the "Poseidon's Revenge," which puts you in a capsule before the floor falls out beneath you, hurtling you through a tube at roughly 40 miles per hour! 

After returning to our hotel, we changed into our Ties & Tails and headed to the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building - it's nearly 2,800 feet tall! We traveled up to the 124th floor of the Burj Khalifa and saw breathtaking views of Dubai. We also took tons of pictures, especially because we were in our Ties & Tails - after all, it's not every day you can say that you went to the world's tallest building in classy evening wear! We also got to see the famous water show outside the Burj Khalifa. 

The Glee Club poses outside the Burj Khalifa. 

Don't look down! 

The view from the 124th floor of the Burj Khalifa. 

The famous water show.

We then headed to the Capital Club, one of the more exclusive places in Dubai. We were invited by Navin Valrani, CEO of the Engineering Services Cluster of the Al Shirawi Group. Mr. Valrani was essentially the reason we had so many awesome experiences in Dubai. We were invited to the Capital Club to perform a private concert for Mr. Valrani and some of his closest friends. We then were fed a delicious dinner and mingled with the guests, telling them all about who we are and what we do. It was a great last gig of tour. 

After returning to our hotel, we had our annual "Last Night of Tour" festivities. We began the festivities at 11 PM and, in typical fashion, did not finish until roughly 5:30 AM. It was a very emotional night - tears were shed, memories were made, and the Club grew stronger as a result. We then headed back to our rooms for bed. 

We only have one day of Tour left and, while we're sad about having to finish up this splendid tour, we're also looking forward to coming home.

We'll see you soon, Philadelphia!

The Penn Glee Club