We missed the fireworks! They didn't last very long and we were in the wrong spot to see them. We had a nice evening walking the Marina and checking out resorts and restaurants. The bad part is that my cough is back and I think I've caught a cold on top of it.
Today we figured that riding the Metro Link and exploring on our own would be cheaper and more interesting than a hop-on-hop-off bus. It took about 30 minutes to ride to the Dubai Creek area. This is the Old Town of Dubai that is divided by a waterway they call The Creek. It is actually quite wide and deep, more like a river than a creek, and fed by the Arabian Gulf. Most of the city's Souq or bazaars are in this area. We walked the Gold Souq and the Textile Souq but missed the Spice Souq. John and I are not real fond of their sell tactics in the souqs. They are constantly yelling " Hey, Lady! Pashima, pretty scarfs!" It's very annoying!
River taxis, called abra, cross the Creek often so that is how we got to the other side. We had lunch Creek side then found the Dubai Museum with a fort and wooden boat outside of it but we didn't have time to linger as we wanted to get to Burj Kalifa for our 5 PM ride to the top.
We hopped on the Metro and arrived at the stop for the Dubai Mall, the worlds largest undercover shopping mall with over 1000 stores, an ice rink, huge aquarium, indoor waterfall, and over 150 places to eat on four levels. It was at least a 20 minute walk from the Metro to the mall. Then we had to navigate the mall to find the ticket area to go to the top of the world's tallest building - The Burj Kalifa. Once we had our tickets we explored the mall, which was amazing in its size, the number of stores, the variety of stores and restaurants, it tall ceilings, decorated domes and water features.
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| Our reflection in the shiny wall with the sunset to our backs. |
At 4:30 pm we lined up for our tour to the top, or the 148th floor which is as far as we could go although the buttons on he elevator went to 153. The tower is 818 meters tall (2684 feet). We were give tea and dates while we waited. Then we were crammed into the elevator which got us to the top in under 90 seconds and when we got off we were offered juice and candy. Then we wondered all the way around the 148th floor. Its a shame there is so much air pollution but we still enjoyed the view, the sunset and then the city lighting up for the evening. On the 124 & 125 floors we were able to go outside. On the ride down my ears clogged up and it was over an hour before they cleared!
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| You can see the lights and pipes for the fountain show in the lagoon 148 floors below us. |
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| The Palm Jumeirah. |
Every 30 minutes the Dubai Fountain show burst into the night. It's a show that rivals the Belagio in Vegas. They say that the water shoots into the air higher than anywhere in the world (500feet). After each song we are enthralled with the Tower lighting up with is own light show.
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| The 148th floor where we went is at the top of the green section. |
It was a day of tallest, biggest and best and we were the tiredest!
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