Day Trip to Dubai
Dubai Mall
Over the last year Shani and I had taken a couple of tourist day trips to Dubai and we had narrowed down some of the must see things when we put together an itinerary for site seeing with my parents. Our plan was to not tell them any details in case we had to jettison one or more of the sites if we got caught with too little time to see it all. We knew we would be pushing it even if everything did go according to plan and by the time we dropped the dog off for his play day and we got lost on the way to the metro stop we were already behind schedule, a trend that would continue through the day!
The first order of business was getting our metro passes as we figured this was going to be the most time efficient way to see the sites of Dubai. A very helpful RTA employee got that sorted and made sure we had the English copy of the Dubai Metro Handy Guide which we did.
As no visit to Dubai would be complete without a visit to the Burj Khalifa that was our first metro stop. Seeing the tallest building in the World up close is something everyone should experience. It just keeps going up and up and up. The metro stop is for the Dubai Mall too, which is an amazing place in and of itself. This is the home of the Dubai Aquarium and Underwater Zoo as well as the dinosaur exhibit, Souq section, high fashions, and really just about any thing you can imagine, even an ice skating rink! The mall is unlike anything else in the World.
The next stop on our tour was a nice juxtaposition between the old and new of Dubai as we headed to the spice and textile souqs. This involves crossing Dubai Creek in a boat called an Abra. It was such a nice day to be on the water even if for just a few minutes each way. The old souq section is really a feast for the senses with all of the colors and smells and each vendor trying to entice us is for just a quick look.
By now we realized we were now going to have to abandon our marina tour if we wanted lunch and so we found a lovely spot on the water and had a very good meal.
Back on the metro for the last stop of the day, Ski Dubai! Each time I visit I’m just amazed at the engineering that makes such a thing possible. This time there was some sort of penguin show going on for the little ones and so we watched some penguins waddle around their frozen wonderland for a few minutes before heading to collect Sebastian and wrap up our one day tour.
Ski Dubai
Of course I took a wrong turn and we did a strange circle around the city but in a way it gave some perspective on just where we had been for the day, from a giant aquarium full of sharks and rays to the tallest building in the World to the old town and finally penguins, the city sure does have a lot on offer!
Here’s some more pictures from our day in Dubai.
