We took advantage of our European location once again, flying to Dubai over our extended Easter holiday weekend. We left on Thursday morning, arriving around 10:30pm and making it to our hotel an hour later, just in time to grab a late night snack at the hotel's British themed pub. The weather was a little different than in Switzerland, allowing us to sit outside at midnight in shorts and short sleeves and still be warm.
We booked one of the Rotana hotels (big chain in UAE). We went for a club room at the Mediterranean style Al Murooj, where we received complimentary pick up from the airport as well as access to the club room's breakfast, afternoon tea, and drinks accompanied by appetizers and dessert in the evenings. We took full advantage of the drinks and food but never made it to the tea service. There were always fresh flowers in the lobby and on Easter they gave us a little basket with chocolate - nice touch!
The plan for Friday was to catch the popular Big Bus tour early in the morning and get acquainted with the city, which is really spread out. The city is like the offspring of Hong Kong and Las Vegas - there are pockets of really tall buildings but it's not very dense nor pedestrian friendly (the blocks are big and there are vacant lots of desert in between), and like Las Vegas it feels a little showy and fake with a lot of "this is the biggest . . ." in the world. We took both Big Bus routes, taking in all the highlights, including the Sheikh Zayed Road (lined with tall buildings), Burj Al Arab hotel, Jumeirah beach, marina district (more tall buildings), Palm Island, big malls, Deira (old town) and Dubai creek.
We got off at the Mall of the Emirates to see the famous indoor ski slope. The ski slope was impressive (given it was ~100 degrees outside). There was a play area for children, a chairlift, and a downhill slope. However, we felt like we could've been in any American town (that has a really big mall). It had many stores and restaurants you'd find in the States, including several high end designers, and everyone greets you in English. The only indication that you're not in the US are the men in dishdash (white robes), women in abaya (black robes) and the dual Arabic & English signage.
We hopped back on the bus and headed towards the old town, hopping off around the gold souk for lunch and to wander. The old town is very different than new Dubai - no tall buildings, more density and less displays of wealth. We found a local fast food place for lunch then proceeded to try to find the gold souk, famous for the amount of gold contained in the ~300 stores. The maps we had weren't very detailed and it took us tome time to find the souk. We ended up wandering around the wrong streets, hitting the creek and then following the crowds to the souk. The souk was much different than the ones we experienced in Marrakesh - there were more formal looking stores and less chaos overall. After wandering around for a bit we caught the bus to finish the circuit.
On Friday night we walked from our hotel, across an 8-lane road packed with Lamborghinis, Ferraris, and Rolls Royces to catch the fountain show at the base of the Burj Khalifa. The fountains are connected to the Dubai Mall, the world's largest shopping mall. We were surprised by the amount of people out and about at the mall, which stayed open until midnight, as it was 5 rows deep to see the fountains. We stayed for the next show and jockeyed for a better position. Afterwards we headed to the 63rd floor of the Address Hotel to have a few drinks at the Neos bar, which had great views of the Burj.
On Saturday we took a bus to Abu Dhabi to see the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, completed in 2007. Being a mosque we needed to wear appropriate clothes, and an abaya was provided for free for Kate (and all women). The place was impressive - huge, opulent and very white (it can hold 40,000 worshipers). It was so hot, we hit the triple digits and Kate was melting in her black abaya!
Afterwards we went to the Emirates Palace hotel, a luxury hotel known for having six Ruler's Suites reserved for Emirati royalty. Another attraction is the gold vending machine, where you can purchase gold bars from an automated kiosk.
For lunch we headed to the marina district, another neighborhood of tall buildings clustered around a man-made inlet, and a favorite neighborhood for ex-pats to live. There is a nice walkway around the water lined with stores, restaurants and another big mall.
In the evening we went to the Madinat Jumeriah, a hotel and leisure complex designed to resemble a traditional Arabian village, complete with waterways navigated by traditional abra boats. There are many restaurants and bars, and we were fortunate to find a table with a great view of the Burj Al Arab all lit up.
Sunday was a relaxed morning, lounging by one of the hotel's two pools, and then we then went on a desert safari excursion in the afternoon. The safari picked us up at our hotel (along with four other guests) and we headed for the desert. On the way it was a virtual convoy of Land Cruisers taking tourists on safari. We all stopped at a convenience store for a bathroom break and to purchase snacks (along with hundreds of other tourists). Nothing convenient about the stop though, wish we could've skipped it. From here we headed off road for a bit of dune bashing (driving through the sand dunes - which was fun but bumpy), and ended at a desert compound catering to tourists - henna tattoos, dune buggy rides, camel rides, sand boarding, falconry, hubbly bubbly, buffet dinner, and food & drink. During dinner we were entertained by a belly dancer and a tanoura dancer (a traditional male dance where the dancer spins the whole time). The guy spinned non-stop for 15 minutes, quite impressive!
Our last day was spent at the mall. During the morning we walked around the Dubai Mall checking out the stores and killing time before our lunch at the top of the Burj Khalifa. We both made a few purchase and Scotch & Soda may be our new favorite store?! We had reservations at At.mosphere lounge on the 122nd floor (the building has 163 floors, but the top 40 floors are private). We had a window table with an amazing view of the city, and enjoyed great drinks and food.
Afterwards we went back to the mall to meet a sister of a friend of a friend of Kate's, who provided us with several tips and insight before our trip. Michele has been living in Dubai for 4 years and it was fun to meet her and talk about her experiences living in Morocco and Dubai. After coffee we took a night tour of the city with the Big Bus before heading to our hotel for our final dinner and complimentary ride back to the airport. It was a good experience, but Matt's glad we had to fly only 6 hours instead of ~14 hours to visit the city. Meanwhile, Kate could've used an extra day for the pool or beach!
