Wednesday, November 10

We have found a Carrefour ten minutes walk from the hotel, situated in yet another shopping mall. Dubai seems to have shopping malls spaced more frequently than bus stops.

This one, the Al Ghurair Centre, seems just the right size for us. The size of Itis, or perhaps smaller, it contains a full-sized Daiso, a Borders that actually sells a wide range of books in both English and Arabic, and a small Marks & Spencer.

We cannot understand how we have missed it.

Everywhere we walk in the centre we find enough people but not too many. Shops seem busy but not crowded. We wander around the Carrefour until we come to the section devoted to olives, which apparently come in almost limitless varieties.

I photograph one of the displays with some of the available olives. To my side a series of barrels offer draft olive oils of many kinds. I cannot see any containers. Either I have not looked properly or people bring their own.