On Monday, the 20th, we went
to Dubai for our first time. I am sure there will be many more trips
within the next few years! The tour group we traveled through offered
a deal, 50 dirhams for round trip on the bus. That was 100 for both
Shawn and I, or $27... and the bus was a nice charter bus with air.
Nothing like the bus we took to Al Ain. Yay!
The ride there was about an hour and a
half. I spent most of the time talking to my new friend Susanne while
Shawn played with her son, Amile. He is such a big kid at heart!
When we got there we were dropped off
at the Dubai Mall, the largest mall in the world, which just so
happens to be next to the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the
world. It was stunning to see and as I craned my next to see the top,
I was in awe. Especially when you look at all the other “tall”
buildings around it. They look like miniature models! Here are a few
pics, but they don't do it justice. They also cannot show the beauty
surrounding the tower. The water and shops were amazing.
We wanted to take the elevator ride to
the top, but apparently you have to book way in advance as they were
sold out for days. That was unless we wanted to pay around $200 for
the express lane. No thank you, we will come back another time!
A group of us, who like to do things
together, decided to go in the mall and eat first. This group is
Shawn and I (of course), a friend named Shon (pronounced the same as
Shawn. His wife is still back at home but coming later. I look
forward to meeting her), and the Safar family: Susanne, Fatti, and
Amile. We broke into groups, Shon and Fatti wanted sandwiches, and
Susanne, Amile, Shawn, and I went to this awesome sushi place. You
sit at your seat and the sushi comes by on a conveyer belt. The
plates are different colors, each representing a different cost. You
just grab what you want and eat, and at the end they tally up your
plates. It was very yummy!
After lunch we decided to venture out
and find the souks. A man from ADEC had suggested some for a real
authentic experience. A souk is a traditional marketplace, usually
open-aired. We found some taxis and after they figured out where we
wanted to go (at first they were clueless) we arrived at the silk
souk.
The souk was definitely as promised...
a real authentic experience. There were venders lined up in an ally
of old buildings, and as you walked by they would jump out to make
their sales. Usually they would be holding scarves, and they kept
trying to make us feel them and wrap them around our heads for a
picture. Shon finally got caught by one, in which we were then lured
into the shop. Although they had beautiful pillows, scarves, etc...
we finally had to wiggle our way out by telling the man we would come
back, which we didn't :o.
Man making fresh OJ
We found our way down to the water,
where we were told we could take a boat, called the Abra, across to
the gold souk for 1 dirham. We found some boats, but the men kept
wanting to charge us 20 dirhams for an hour tour. Luckily Fatti
speaks some Arabic and was able to find where we were supposed to go.
We found the right dock and soon boarded.
The Abra's are wooden boats, where
everyone sits in a circle around the middle. There are no railings or
any safely procedures, and the man collects your money as he starts
the boat across the water. The breeze felt good as we crossed, but
the smoke from the motor did not smell so great! Here are a few pics.
Once we got to the gold souk is when I
really started to melt. We had been out in the 100+ heat with
humidity for awhile now and my preggo body was having a hard time
with it. The gold souk was pretty much what you would expect, lots of
jewelry, although they were much more modern buildings. We walked
around a bit, popping into a shoe shop to enjoy the AC, and then
decided it was time to head back to the air conditioned mall. As we
walked back through, men would pop out of stores and try to have us
follow them by saying “watches, prada, gucci...” It was a fun
experience. We caught the Abra back and bought some snow cones before
catching a taxi back to the mall.
After cleaning up and almost taking a
shower in the bathroom because I was so covered in sweat, we decided
to split up to explore the mall. We walked by the huge aquarium they
have inside, but didn't pay to go in. We also walked by the giant ice
skating rink, but this mall is not the one that has the ski resort
inside. Again, another trip. We also passed by the Sega amusement
pack in the mall and the two enormous food courts! Yes, it is the
largest mall.
We popped into various stores,
including the Gucci Baby store for fun, where a pair of tiny baby
shoes costs $250. We also tried to find a way into the lobby of the
Burj Khalifa, but had no luck. We grabbed some ice cream and rested
our feet before finding our way back to the bus a little early to
make sure we were not left behind. Then we were on our way home.
I listened to music and tried not to
sleep on the ride home, as well as overhead some people with a little
bit of a bad attitude. Not sure is all the teachers are going to
survive here... but I know I love it!
When we got back, we made ourselves
sandwiches in our room, turned on the TV, and hit the bed for the
night. We had a fantastic day, but we sure were pooped!
Can't wait to go back to Dubai
though!!!!
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