Back to the Future: Dubai

It was so interesting flying from Dubai to Cairo because of the dichotomy between the two cities. Cairo, known for its antiquities, and Dubai, where everything is brand spanking new, could not be more different. The transition to Dubai was a breath of fresh air (literally – did you know that spending one day in Cairo is the equivalent to smoking a pack of cigarettes?). I digress… But honestly, I couldn’t wait to regain my freedom to see and go and do!

We were only back in Dubai for 6 days before heading back to Atlanta for two weeks. My girl, Lizzie, sent us Food & Wine’s Top Restaurants in Dubai a few days into the week; we were able to hit three of them in just a few days! We had some great meals (Thanks, Liz!), and I’m still impressed with our ability to make it happen.

One of these chart-topping dinners was with the local team.  The closing dinner took place at Coya, a delicious Peruvian restaurant.  It was one for the books, and the team gave us these awesome Coke bottles.  I don’t know how someone got sand in a bottle like that, but I love it!

As with Cairo, we saved our hyper-tourist activities for our last day in town. I didn’t want to hit the hot spots without Meadows, so we did them all together on Friday before flying out at 1am.

First stop: the gold souk. I still cannot believe Meadows agreed to go! But we both made our concessions: I didn’t buy anything. It was incredible to see shop after shop of genuine gold jewelry. And then outside the shop, there were peddlers selling fake purses and cheap pashminas – so funny!

When Meadows had enough of jewelry shopping, we headed to the Burj Khalifa. It’s the tallest building in the world (828 meters tall!), and it attracts a lot of visitors. It’s best to pre-purchase tickets to the top, and we opted for the VIP (read: skip-the-line) tickets. But in true Ann fashion, we were cutting it close on time, and Meadows was very worried we would be late for our designated time slot. We ended up sprinting through Dubai Mall. Meadows was not happy when I stopped to snap this photo. Malls in Dubai have everything, from skiing to aquariums!

No one seemed to care about the time on our ticket, so we ran for nothing… Going to the top was amazing though. The building is completely magnificent, and the experience visiting is fabulous, too. The elevators up and down have entertainment about the structure, along with a floor count – we watched in awe as the numbers went higher and higher and our ears popped! The weather was pretty windy and partly cloudy, which made for a surreal experience. The clouds blew by us!

Completed in late 2009 and open for business in 2010, the Burj Khalifa’s design mimics the lotus flower, which is sacred in the East. It weighs the equivalent of 100,000 elephants! I never thought I’d say a steel and glass structure was beautiful, but it is! It’s truly a piece of art proudly towering over Dubai.  (And yes, capturing it from below = the most unflattering angle ever.)

Our final tourist stop of the day was to see the Burj Al Arab, the 7-star hotel known for its sail design. We went to 360, which is a bar in the round that jets out into the Persian Gulf for the perfect view back at Dubai (and specifically, the Burj Al Arab). We had a picturesque evening with delicious drinks and a fantastic view of the sun setting on the city.

Side bar: I recently watched a special on the Burj Al Arab on one of our flights, and it’s even more magnificent than I realized. We all know that it’s an insanely luxurious property which hosted the tennis match between Roger Federer and Andre Agassi ten years ago, but there’s more to it! The documentary features some of the over the top opulence: 24-carat gold iPhones, rotating beds, Hermes toiletries. It was fascinating; they take service to a whole new level.

Meadows and I left after the sun set and headed back to the hotel to freshen up before our long journey back to Atlanta. We were so excited to see our family and friends again!