So where were we... oh, I was just waking up on Friday morning afternoon in my sweet hotel in Dubai. I accidentally slept from midnight until 4pm. oops. But apparently I was exhausted and needed the sleep. Luckily the city is awake all night so it wasn't a big deal. I had the rest of Friday and all day Saturday to continue to explore Dubai so I was still able to fit in lots of fun things....
The Beach --
The Gold Souk--
The gold market in Dubai is definitely something to be seen. The government regulates the quality of gold being sold and there are so many vendors here that competition keeps the prices good. So you can actually get a pretty good deal here -- if you're into fancy gold jewelry. I tried to find something plain that I might actually wear but that is was easier said than done.
The Architecture --
Construction is everywhere which is incredible because there are already SO many tall buildings in Dubai. When taking the elevated train around Dubai I kept thinking, "oh this must be the edge of town" and then another downtown looking area would pop-up. It's crazy! These are all from different spots around Dubai.
The Hotel Pool --
While it was neat to go down to the beach - it was just too hot to actually enjoy it. The first 3 minutes in the water felt nice - but then the water no longer felt cooler than the air and you can only sit in a hot tub for so long. So I headed back to the oh-so-refreshing hotel infinity pool.
They definitely were regulating the water temp and had to be cooling it down. It felt so nice. I spent some quality time here on Saturday enjoying the views, sipping on fabulous drinks from the swim-up bar, reading my kindle, and ordering lunch poolside. My bill ended up being a little pricey but it was well worth it :) I so would have loved to relax more.
The Mall of the Emirates--
In the last post I mentioned going to the Dubai Mall - and although it is the biggest in the world, it's definitely not the only one. The Mall of the Emirates seemed felt pretty big too and is also known throughout the world. Inside the mall is an indoor ski range! I knew I had to check it out - mostly I just wanted to be able to say I actually saw people skiing in the middle of the desert. :) I think I hyped it up in my head a bit too much because when I actually saw it - it was not as neat as I thought it would be and not as big as I imagined either. But in the grand scheme of things - if you grew up in the middle east region and you'd never seen snow before, this place would have been pretty cool. :)
The Desert --
I didn't really get to see much of the desert which was kind of a bummer. But to do a desert excursion would have been pretty pricey and there were plenty of other things to experience in town. I did get a glimpe of the desert on my taxi drive between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It wasn't really as glamourous at I had thought it would be anyway.
So that's pretty much my experience in Dubai. Up next will be my final day and a half in Abu Dhabi!
The Beach --
I was really hoping to see someone in burkini (like in sex and the city 2) but I didn't. Instead I saw women walk into the water with their whole burka on and other women just sat on the beach in their black burkas while their kids were in swimsuits in the water. That was even more incredible to me because it was so dang hot on the beach. (I literally burnt my feet on the sand!) I also saw a lot of women in regular bikinis. Dubai is so full of tourist and non-local residents so it's a big melting pot and on the beach there was a wide variety.
The Gold Souk--
The gold market in Dubai is definitely something to be seen. The government regulates the quality of gold being sold and there are so many vendors here that competition keeps the prices good. So you can actually get a pretty good deal here -- if you're into fancy gold jewelry. I tried to find something plain that I might actually wear but that is was easier said than done.
 |
| lots of gold shops! |
 |
| world's heaviest ring -- guinness book of world records |
Construction is everywhere which is incredible because there are already SO many tall buildings in Dubai. When taking the elevated train around Dubai I kept thinking, "oh this must be the edge of town" and then another downtown looking area would pop-up. It's crazy! These are all from different spots around Dubai.
While it was neat to go down to the beach - it was just too hot to actually enjoy it. The first 3 minutes in the water felt nice - but then the water no longer felt cooler than the air and you can only sit in a hot tub for so long. So I headed back to the oh-so-refreshing hotel infinity pool.
They definitely were regulating the water temp and had to be cooling it down. It felt so nice. I spent some quality time here on Saturday enjoying the views, sipping on fabulous drinks from the swim-up bar, reading my kindle, and ordering lunch poolside. My bill ended up being a little pricey but it was well worth it :) I so would have loved to relax more.
The Mall of the Emirates--
In the last post I mentioned going to the Dubai Mall - and although it is the biggest in the world, it's definitely not the only one. The Mall of the Emirates seemed felt pretty big too and is also known throughout the world. Inside the mall is an indoor ski range! I knew I had to check it out - mostly I just wanted to be able to say I actually saw people skiing in the middle of the desert. :) I think I hyped it up in my head a bit too much because when I actually saw it - it was not as neat as I thought it would be and not as big as I imagined either. But in the grand scheme of things - if you grew up in the middle east region and you'd never seen snow before, this place would have been pretty cool. :)
The Desert --
I didn't really get to see much of the desert which was kind of a bummer. But to do a desert excursion would have been pretty pricey and there were plenty of other things to experience in town. I did get a glimpe of the desert on my taxi drive between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. It wasn't really as glamourous at I had thought it would be anyway.
So that's pretty much my experience in Dubai. Up next will be my final day and a half in Abu Dhabi!
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