"You're going to wave at me, Beatrice, right?" her mother asked, in anticipation of her daughter's starring role. Beatrice waved and beamed and wriggled around happily. On the monitor before her, the mother could see Beatrice sitting on the carpet, which appeared to be whizzing through the air, weaving among glass-and-steel towers in a virtual-reality tour of Dubai. People began to gather around to watch lovely little Beatrice and wave at her. Beatrice gamely waved back. More people gathered, until there was a crowd of about 30 pressing in on her, laughing at the spectacle of Beatrice zooming around the city on a carpet.

Then Beatrice stopped smiling. Her tiny, perfect features warped and contracted, and she began to cry. "Keep waving, sweetie!" encouraged her mother from the sidelines. "You're all right!" But Beatrice had had it with the waving. She had had it with the music and the vibrating carpet ride and the laughing crowd. She scooted herself toward the edge of the carpet. "Be careful, darling!" her mother yelled.

At Ski Dubai, two hours of indoor skiing, including the clothing and gear, costs only $38 (Sue Parkhill) [enlarge photo] FEBRUARY 2007 ISSUE • Table of Contents • Secret Hotels of the Riviera Maya • James Turrell: Sky High • Dubai: Just Add Money • Eat Like a Local: Melbourne • Five Hotels: What 99 Pounds Buys in London • Road Trip: Hawaii • 40 Best Vacations

On the screen, we watched Beatrice clamber off the carpet and disappear. And then there was only the magic carpet, zooming emptily through the skyscrapers of Dubai.

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