The alarm rang at 10 o'clock. Annoying, but necessary – breakfast is only served until 11. So out of bed, quickly freshened up and off to the restaurant. Fortunately – it was worth it. ;)

Back in the room, it was finally time to really arrive: unpacking, enjoying the suite a bit. Almost 70 square meters, including a small terrace, fully equipped kitchen, separate bedroom, and even a dedicated dressing room. Not bad for an apartment hotel.

For today, I deliberately set only a few goals:

1. Relax
2. Shave
3. Continue relaxing
4. Listen to an audiobook
5. Relax even more
6. Buy groceries
7. End the evening in a relaxed way

That should be more than enough as a mandatory program.

In the early afternoon – I had just put my headphones in and was about to go to the pool – there was suddenly a knock at the door. When I opened it, a sofa was standing upright in front of it. In front of that, a hotel employee who explained to me that my room would be getting "a small upgrade" – and therefore they were now replacing the sofa. The old one looked like it was fresh from the catalog, but the new one had a built-in, full-sized bed. Five minutes later, the exchange was complete, and the pool could come.

Later, I was drawn to the beach, just to walk a bit, feel the sand under my feet. Suddenly, I found a wet smartphone in the sand. I took it to the nearby water sports station. The guys there laughed, called a colleague – and indeed: it was his. They had searched the entire beach, even already arranged for a replacement. So much for "thought to be lost".

From the afternoon, the pool was in the shadow of the hotel – ideal with the still very high temperatures. On the Palm Island, it's a bit more pleasant than on the mainland, "only" 35 degrees. I stayed until just before sunset and did what you can do so wonderfully here: nothing.

For sunset, I then made my way on foot to the other side of the island – not a big hike, only about 200 meters as the crow flies. The play of colors in the sky was really beautiful: orange, purple, gray. But then unfortunately somewhat disappointing. The sun disappeared well above the horizon in the hazy mist over the water. No clear sunset, more of a creeping fading. A bit like a Marvel movie without a cliffhanger in the credits.

After that, the last task of the day was still pending: shopping. I drove to the nearby Nakheel Mall to stock up on groceries and buy a charging cable for my watch. I had forgotten mine at home. A shopping bag full of basics – fruit, muesli, bread, a bit of cold cuts, pasta, tomato sauce – but immediately cost 50 euros. Ouch. Welcome to Dubai.

Since I didn't want to go straight back to the hotel, I treated myself to a smoothie in the food court and took the opportunity to sort through some photos. The mall is huge – and you can easily get lost there.

No wonder there are signs everywhere telling you to remember your parking space number. Of course, I didn't do that and needed two extra rounds at the end until I found my car again. Back at the hotel, just a quick meal, briefly stretching my legs on the terrace – and then completely exhausted into bed.

See you tomorrow.