Dubai Weekend

And so, we kicked off my spring vacation with a weekend in Dubai. My Mom has been to Dubai several times, including almost 30 years ago, when it was nothing but a road in the desert, so we knew we had to make it special.

We started off with an evening around the Creek and good food and great shopping. We had booked a "hotel apartment" so we had a big condo to return to each night.... 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen, a living room... and all for just over $150 a night! Unbelievable in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

Our plans to ride the new Dubai Metro were thwarted on Friday morning as... well, everything is closed on Friday mornings. We took a taxi instead, first heading to the big Palm island and the Atlantis hotel to look at the big aquarium, and to dance around in the huge hallways.

After that, we went to the Mall of the Emirates for lunch at a South African restaurant overlooking the famous indoor skihill.

On then, to the Burj Khalifa - riding the Metro (which was awesome!).

First, though, we went to the Dubai Mall (the largest something something mall in something... with the largest indoor aquarium or something again) to meet up with Grant and Dianne, who had lived with us in the Liwa hotel and worked in MZ. Now, they live in Sharjah and Grant had reserved our tickets for the Burj a week earlier to make sure that we could watch the sun set from the top (funny fact: The sun sets 30 minutes later when you are so high up!). As you can imagine, the whole Dubai skyline looked tiny from the top of the Burj!



Supper was a real treat (and here's a hint if you are ever in Dubai) at TGIFriday's, which has a patio overlooking the big musical fountain at the base of the Burj. Every 15-20 minutes, we were treated to a wee musical number, with lights and water coordinating along. Another great find by Grant and Dianne!

Exhausted from our long day (I mean, if Ty and I were tired, you can imagine my poor Mom!), we returned to our lovely little apartment to put our throbbing feet up.

The next day, we headed back to the Creek for more shopping and a wander through the Gold Souk and the spice market.

Our Dubai weekend was finished up with a nice visit to the Ibn Battuta Mall, a huge shopping complex based on the historical journey of a 14th C explorer who went from Morocco to China, and all the way up to northern Turkey and Timbuktu!

Really spectacular: Each part of the mall is themed to one of the places he visited.