Umm al Quwain, United Arab Emirates

Dear Friends, This is Lakshmi and Leila, we take care of the house of Madame Marta in the United Arab Emirates. Since we are in charge of the house and take care of Madame and Mr. Hans when they are at home, we asked to also be in charge of the 'at home' private page on the website.

A little about our house: It's a one-story bungalow with 5000 square meter garden, which really keeps Mohamed, our gardener, busy... as you can imagine! There is a 2 meter high wall all around the property, as is customary in the UAE. And when we open the double gates in the morning, we look directly at the beach and the open sea beyond, which is the Arabian Gulf.

When we first moved in there was no garden at all. Mr. Hans had to remove 80 cm of sand out so we could bring in proper soil for planting. A big truck delivered this and dumped it in front of our gates which then, with some hired day-workers, we spread carefully through all the garden area. This took 3 days and we drank a lot of water!

Here is a photo of us, Leyla on the left, Madame in the middle, and Lakshmi on the right.
Marta home in Umm al Quwain, UAE
villa in Umm al Quwain
Umm al Quwain

Cairo, Egypt

Cairo was home for a year, first in Dokki, then in Giza. Yes, Giza! When I stepped out of the flat into the street, I could see the Great Pyramid. Later, to be closer to my work at the Sheraton Gezira, I moved to Mohandessin.

Our place in Dokki was a penthouse with a 250 sq. meter terrace. A perfect place to entertain on balmy nights with a terrific view. Here are some photos.

penthouse in Cairo
Cairo penthouse