Dubai

Dubai

On Wednesday morning we headed to the club to have breakfast while Karen had a tennis lesson. After, we headed to Dubai.

Dubai is only 45 minutes from Abu Dhabi by car. From the moment we arrived in Dubai I was astonished. According to Karen, Dubai contains more of a younger crowd than Abu Dhabi. There are more bars and the people are much more liberal. The first stop we made was to a Souk which is a marketplace of sorts. We had to cross the ocean on abra boat to get to the Souk. There were lots of clothing, scarves, and other items you can buy from the marketplace. I bought some postcards and a pair of red shoes (Gerry haggled from 120 dirham’s down to 70 dirham’s!) from the Souk.

After the marketplace, we headed to the Dubai mall which is right next to the Burj Khalifa (world’s tallest building). The mall was amazing but by the time we arrived, we were starving. We headed to the food court and I searched everywhere for the Taco Bell that I had heard was there. In the end, I couldn’t find it and we settled for another taco place.

 After reviving ourselves with some food we headed outside to take pictures of the Khalifa. The world’s tallest building was quite impressive. I mean, it’s the world’s tallest building. And…Tom Cruise jumped off of in the newest Mission impossible. J. At 6pm, there is a light and fountain show at the base of the Burj Khalifa.

Harvey’s friend Christian lives in Dubai and picked us up from the mall around 615. We headed to his apartment that is around the marina. Christian lives on the 26^th floor of his building and it was not until I got up there did I realize how afraid of heights I was. My knees were knocking!  The view from his balcony was incredible.

After a drink, we headed to a bar called the barista for supper. Harvey had a seafood pizza (crab, shrimp, kalamari) while I had a beef pizza. After, we headed to the main part of the bar to have shisha (hooka). Grape and mint!

We met up with the rest of the family (Grace, James, Gerry, Karen) at a restaurant next to the Burj Al Arab which is a seven star hotel in Dubai. 7 stars out of 5, crazy! Apparently, having afternoon tea at the Al Arab will set you back about 70 pounds or 120ish dollars. The only other 7 star hotel is the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi which we are visiting on Sunday.

Dubai was in short, an enormously great experience. It ended as quickly as it started and I am determined to go back someday.