First impressions
of the UAE. It is hot (not a big
surprise) and HUMID. That IS a
surprise. We assumed it would be dry
here but it is definitely very humid.
The first day it was about 95 with 75% humidity. Definitely a steam bath. This is going to make it difficult to be
outside.
The other
surprise in Dubai is the distances between everything. When researching our trip we pulled up a map
to help decide where to go when. And
sights seemed to be “right there” a short walk from other sights. Wrong.
They were often a 15 minute to a half hour drive. Dubai is definitely big and definitely sprawls.
According to our guide here in Dubai, the UAE and Dubai are always trying to have bigger and taller and larger everything’s in the world. The following is a list of items he mentioned as “the biggest”. (I did not confirm all of them but at least some I know are the “biggest/tallest” in the world. )
o Tallest Building - Burj Khalifa. (However, Dubai has broken ground on a building that will be even taller.)
o Tallest observation deck (148th floor. They have one at floor 125, but another building did a taller one, so Dubai made the 148th floor another observation deck to reclaim the title.)
o Indoor theme park
o Water park
o Man made waterfront (Dubai Marina)
o Largest Ferris wheel (Dubai Eye)
o Fountain - at the Atlantis Hotel, Palm Fountain
o Man made island -The Palm
o Indoor snow Park (SkiDubai)
o Tallest 7 star hotel (Burj Al Arab)
o Mall (Dubai Mall, when this one fell to second place they immediately expanded it.)
o Flag (50,000 sq feet)
We are quite pleased with our hotel...have great views of the bay and beach.
During our drive
from our hotel to “downtown” we had many views of the skyline and the
skyscrapers. They definitely have a lot
of interesting buildings.
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More Dubai Skyline
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Our first stop
was the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary.
We had put it on the list because we thought as a wildlife sanctuary it would be very different
from Africa. Well, first we had a
terrible time getting there as many roads were closed due to construction.
Our guide
eventually was able to get to a different entrance to the sanctuary. It led to a boardwalk out into the wetlands
where we saw a lot of flamingos very close.
And that is all.
Then it was on to
the Crossroads of Civilization Museum that was basically closed. You could walk the old windy streets but none
of the buildings were open. Bit of a
bust.
I wouldn’t say
the Burj Khalifa (world’s tallest building at 2,716.5 feet high) dominates the
skyline. It is too slender to
dominate. But it definitely towers above
everything else by a lot. A most beautiful building.
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More Burj Khalifa
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Every so often we would get a glimpse of Burj Al Arab, a sailboat shaped hotel. It is one of the most expensive in the world.
One area we drove
through was a neighborhood with lots of shops built out of stacked ocean
shipping containers. Looked interesting
and functional and creative.
While driving around town we saw lots of people on motorcycles with big boxes. They delivered meals everywhere. Anyway, while stopped at a light this guy pulls up right beside us. I laughed and took a fast (and ultimately blurry) shot. He saw me and laughed as well. I waved. He waved. We both smiled. Lousy photo but fun encounter. There is peace in the world.
We stopped by the
Blue Mosque…small but beautiful.
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More Blue Mosque
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We also visited
the Souk Madinat. Souks are markets but
this one was basically a modern mall with lots of enticing souvenir and tourist
shops.
And we visited
the Al Serkal Art District. That was
certainly different. It is a warehouse
district turned art galleries. And some
of the art was very, very strange.
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More Al Serkel Art District
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Then it was off
to visit the Burj Khalifa. We took a up
to the observation decks (At the Top) on the 124th and 125th floors. The elevator moves at 22 mph and took only 75
seconds to get to the 124th floor. Then we went to the 148th floor, 1820 feet high (At the Top Sky), as high as the public is allowed (the Burj Khalifa has 163 floors).
While looking out the window a couple from Belgium came up to show us a picture they had taken of us.
From the
observation deck we had great views of the city.
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More Views from Burj Khalifa
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We stayed up long enough that the sun began to set and the city lit up with lights everywhere.
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Dubai at night video
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More Dubai at Night
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And the fountains
below put on quite a show.
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Fountains video
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We later visited the fountains from ground level. We got there a bit late and couldn't get close but the combination of crowds and fountains made for some interesting shots.
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Fountains from below video
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We were up long
enough that we saw the sunset and Dubai at night. One interesting fact, the Burj Khalifa is so tall that one can see the sunset at the base of the building, then take the elevator up to the observation deck and see the sunset again. Surreal.
We made a trip to the Dubai Mall (largest in the world) to see the aquarium.
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Aquarium video
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In the evening we
had dinner at the Atmosphere, a high-end restaurant on the 122nd
floor of the Burj Khalifa. This is billed as the world’s
tallest restaurant. We had great views
and a great meal. They even had a
violinist entertaining the guests. What a special treat tonight. We were grossly underdressed. Particularly me. All the "Sweet Young Things" were definitely dressed for a big night on the town. Since we were just in from Africa our dress was pretty casual.
But the atmosphere was great, the views better and the food was memorable.
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| Pineapple juice at the bar |
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| The "bouquet" at our table |
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| Burrata and strawberries. Really Yummy!! |
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| Amazing Chocolate Ball |
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| The ball after they poured the hot sauce on it |
Great lighting on the Burj Khalifa at night.
What a great
first day in the Emirates.
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