Yes, it is our 2nd day in Dubai and the city holds all the superlatives.
yesterday we flew from Delhi India, a rather dirty place, to Dubai, United Arab Emirates, a city that is superlative in every way. Six went to the “Top of the Burj,” the tallest building in the world and loved every minute of their excursion. Cathy and I stayed back and looked at other things, but were most intrigued with the furniture styles and colors.
After the top of the Burj Khalid’s we watched a delightful water show at the Dubai Mall, I would presume the biggest mall in the world. Surprise! It is filled with all the high end stores, and all the fast food restaurants of America. Our young waiter this morning said, the people of Dubai love it, but it doesn’t hold much interest for Americans. Correct!
Words cannot explain the size and magnitude of the buildings here. Also the architectural work is very, very modern and stunning. We noticed one building made a 1/4 turn as it reached for the sky. We did the hop on hop off this morning, but it was so hot we came back to our room about 3 pm to get out of the heat. We plan to do the night tour at 7:30 pm tonight. No doubt it will be super.
In 2020 Dubai is hosting the Dubai Expo and they are gearing up for it. They will have the tallest Ferris wheel in the world when it is finished. Work began on it in 2012. I say they better hurry up if they want to finish it in 18 months. It is expected to draw 3 million guests each year.
We also went to the area called “The Palms Jumeirah” which began work in 2000. They dredged sand from the Arabian Sea and got rocks from the Himalaya mountains to make the (sea turned into land) look like a palm tree with fronds. This was an amazing sight. Just about unbelievable. And it is all luxury apartments, shopping, and eating. We stayed on the bus this time. Too expensive for our blood. Guess what? They are building a second palm about 20 kilometers from this one and it is going to be half again as big. Really???
I’ve got to meet the gang for our evening bus ride. When it is 10:00 am in Michigan, it is already 6:00 pm in Dubai.
just a few more facts and pictures.
the Dubai Mall covers 1 million square meters. A meter is a little over a yard. It attracts 100 million visitors a year. I think most of them were there last night.
In 10 years 300 skyscrapers were built. I can understand why it is the fastest growing city in the world.
Yes, that is the picture frame building. It has two skyscrapers attache at the top with more real estate. The second picture is a hotel. Ron says it is billed as a 15 star with prices to match.
I leave you today very, very impressed with the magnificence of this city.