Friday 29th August
DUBAI
Well, we’ve had a big day today in the land of the super
shopping mall!
I set the alarm for nine o’clock last night when we finally
turned out the lights at 11.30 (8.30 UK time), as I thought sleep might prove elusive
and late. I was right; it took a while to get soundly to sleep, but when the
alarm went this morning, we were both slumbering very soundly indeed. But it
was good to get up and dressed, and take ourselves downstairs to the hotel’s
restaurant, Open Sesame, for breakfast. We could have anything our little
hearts desired, so Lex had the Eggs Benedict, and I had an omelette, plus a
little pastry, and some fruit. All very nice!
We checked out the hotel’s free shuttle bus, and discovered
that it went to the Dubai Mall at 10.30, and picked up from there at 4.30. A
look out the window discouraged any thoughts of outdoor activities – the dust
haze is very thick today. So, we caught the bus to the mall, then went to check
out what we could do in the glorious air conditioning.
Dubai Mall is the biggest in the world (of course). It has
many levels and many buildings, all inter-connected. It takes a lot to get your
head around. There are also some of the major attractions in there, such as the
Dubai Aquarium, an ice-rink and an art gallery. We liked the sound of the art
gallery, so after wandering around to get the feel of the place, we went there.
Arte Museum Dubai seems to be a branch of the Musee d’Orsay in Paris, which we visited in 2014. It’s the art gallery there which focuses on the work of the Impressionists, who are always our favourite painters. Their current exhibition (it changes every 6 to 8 months) is called ‘Eternal Nature’, and it has ten rooms of immersive digital displays, sounds, and in some cases fragrances! We really enjoyed it – most of the rooms were very different from each other, and for most of the time we had it to ourselves (no one here gets up early, apparently). There were crashing waves, total flower gardens, fantasy landscapes and animals. In two rooms, you could colour in a creature, then scan it and see it come to life on the screen!
But the best room was the largest, at the end – as well as a nature video, it also then devolved into a French railway station (which the Musee d’Orsay was originally) and then worked its way through videos derived from the great Impressionist and post-Impressionist masters. It was breathtaking in places, and went for over 20 minutes. Good thing they provided seats if you wanted to sit down and take it all in. It was a brilliant way to spend a good chunk of the morning, and well worth visiting should you ever come to Dubai.
After this, we decided it was lunchtime, so did the extensive rounds of the food court area. There were foods from all types of countries, but we wanted to have something Arabic, so finally settled on Express Sah El Nom, which assured us that it had the best shawarma in town. We would have to agree that it was pretty good! I had the chicken platter, and Lex the beef, so we could swap and try both. We had chargrilled rotisserie meat rolled in wraps and cut, plus interesting ‘broasted potatoes’ (boiled and roasted?) They weren’t crisp. There was a white garlicky sauce that was so good with them. The pickled vegetables, however, were so salty that I just couldn’t eat them. Anyway, it was a delicious lunch.
After lunch, we went on walking to see what else there was to see. We found the waterfall, a huge double work of art which thunders at one end of the mall and is quite spectacular (and very cool to be near!) We ventured outside into the heat to take photos of the Burj Khalifa, which is right next door. At 828 metres high, it’s the world’s tallest building. There’s a (very expensive) viewing deck at the top, but given the current dust haze, it wouldn’t be worth it. Visibility is very low here today and has got worse as the day has gone on.)
We went past a tea shop, and decided to go in for a cup, as we hadn’t had one at lunch time. Well, that was the most expensive cuppa we’ve ever had! It was the TWG tea shop, which specialises in the best teas from around the world. Lex had the Tung Ting Blue tea (Thai) and I chose the London Breakfast tea. They both came in huge teapots – we could have done with having Jo with us again to help drink it all! It was an experience, anyway.
By now, it was 3.30, so we worked out how to navigate our way to the walkway back across the road to the building we’d originally come into, which was where we needed to meet the shuttle bus. We walked past the huge ground floor aquarium viewing windows, which have a show better than Underwater World’s, and were surrounded by people gazing at the sharks, rays and fishes. Then we retraced our steps from this morning without too much trouble, and were grateful for a seat in the downstairs waiting area. The bus came pretty much on time, and we were back at the hotel a bit before 5.
I was so glad to wash my hair, which has been needing it for days, and Lex had a read and a rest. Tea was in the restaurant downstairs – very expensive, but then Dubai is expensive, we’ve found. We’re now sorting check in for Sunday’s flight to Brisbane, and looking at tours for tomorrow. One more Dubai day and then we head home to Oz!
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