Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Today we decided to see Dubai from the water. We took a ferry along the coast and saw the city from a different perspective, just as beautiful. Went past the Palm Jumeirah, as we call it Palm Island, there are other man-made island complexes we passed like the World, a bunch of islands made to look like a map of the entire world. We made our way to the Dubai marina, it was constructed in only five years between 2005 and 2010. It was just untouched desert 10 years ago, and now you’re surrounded by high-rises and million-dollar yachts. While none of the skyscrapers have any sort of architectural merit, well besides the infinity tower with its twisted look, the area is known as the tallest block in the world. We walked around the promenade and looked at the shops and restaurants and drooled at the amazing yachts. The Palm Jumeirah was next, we know it as the crazy man-made islands shaped like a palm tree. Everyone also knows it as the island that has the Atlantis resort on it. Same owners as the Atlantis in the Bahamas, and looks same too. It is the worlds largest artificial island so we had to see it. We took a 15 minute elevated monorail ride across the trunk of the palm tree which gave us views of the fronds of the palm with their amazing homes and real estate. The boys were dying to see the Dubai version of Atlantis, so we spent some time exploring there and of course it was beautiful. For sunset we went to the Madinat Jumeirah, I huge complex with landmarks, hotels, restaurants, a gorgeous Souk and beautiful views. The architecture is pretty with tall wind towers and framed by palm trees everywhere, a real Arabian feel. We spent so much time wandering around the Souk we kept getting lost and finding really pretty things to buy. The Burj al Arab is the sail shaped landmark that put Dubai on the map. It’s one of the most memorable, beautiful and astonishing buildings. It’s claimed to be the world’s most luxurious hotel and it promotes itself as the worlds only seven star hotel. The lobby has dancing fountains decorated in gold leaf, it also has a restaurant that appears to be underwater that you take a submarine to get to. It was built in 1999 and it’s outline is inspired by the shape of a local Dhow’s sail. It definitely is a beautiful sight.
