Ooops .... pictures out of sequence! Eights months and I still can't get this right!! :)Joel, Riitta and I ...... recovering from dune bashing maneuvers .... never got a single picture in .... my hands were glued to the roll bars throughout ..... Scary stuff but thrilling ...... smoking shisha later calmed things down :) .... yup Tim, if you are reading this, your mother did indeed smoke up!! :) .... green apple flavor .... no wonder you kids like that shisha bar on 17th avenue!
Ma is-salaama Dubai ........ Goodbye Dubai ... couldn't resist sticking my hand out from an open window at the "top of the world"
Burj Al Khalfia!
Burj Al Khalfia!Gorgeous handmade jewelry at the Gold Souk
..... intricate designs
Interesting view of the water fountains at Dubai Mall .... which is, of course, in keeping with Emirati style, the largest mall in the world!!
View from the 124th observation floor of Burj Al Khalifa .... as high as tourists are allowed to go ... at 828 meters, it is the highest freestanding building in the world ..... these bigger, better, best distinctions all help to build Dubai's tourist base ... I doubt the Emirati nationals are ever likely to revert back to being the bedouin traders and fishermen they once were ..... don't think many maseratis, zillion dollars houses, designer this and that, can be purchased with a fisherman's salary :)
View of water fountains near the base of Burj
........ magical at night ..... similar to Bellagio fountains in Las Vegas
Love all the mosques .... dozens of them scattered throughout Dubai .....still enjoying the prayer calls when I chance to hear them ..... no conversion to Islam in my future, but I do get the urge to sit down somewhere and give thanks whenever I hear the prayer call :) It is one of the things I do love about Islam .....
Jumeirah residential area, known here simply as JBR .... dotted with sidewalk cafes and restaurants at the base of the high rise apartment buildings .... European in flavor ...... very pleasant place for a morning walk ....... cobble stoned and tiled sidewalks alongside the sea .... saw a pod of dolphins early one morning ..... sweet!
The Finnish trio of Joel, Riitta and their son Niko and AJ and Nick from Chicago rounded out my Dune bashing safari group ... we finished our day with an authentic Arabic dinner in the desert ..... rugs and pillows on the sand formed our seating, all while entertained by belly dancing gyrations and twirling of a very talented young lady and lad!
..... intricate designs
Interesting view of the water fountains at Dubai Mall .... which is, of course, in keeping with Emirati style, the largest mall in the world!!
View from the 124th observation floor of Burj Al Khalifa .... as high as tourists are allowed to go ... at 828 meters, it is the highest freestanding building in the world ..... these bigger, better, best distinctions all help to build Dubai's tourist base ... I doubt the Emirati nationals are ever likely to revert back to being the bedouin traders and fishermen they once were ..... don't think many maseratis, zillion dollars houses, designer this and that, can be purchased with a fisherman's salary :)
View of water fountains near the base of Burj
........ magical at night ..... similar to Bellagio fountains in Las Vegas
Burj Al Arab .... opulence galore ...... ..... the only seven star hotel in the world! ..... one would have to surmise that the Emirati are somewhat compulsively obsessed with having the biggest, tallest, most fabulous, exclusive, the No. 1 airline, fanciest airport terminal, oh just whatever! ...... must say though, the premise is working :) .... Dubai is overrun with tourists ..... if they can get past the halal and sharia rules that control a big part of the tourist industry ....... (most hotels, strangely enough, do have liquor licenses .... a concession to tourism I imagine) .......... and add casinos, the tourist world will be their oyster ..... :)
The goal is for tourism to offset the dwindling oil reserves and take over the country's economic growth ..... I would venture to say this has already happened .... (Dubai itself has little oil left .... although Abu Dhabi and the other countries that form the seven United Arab Emirates, are still somewhat awash in the black gold) and I think they share :)
Dinner at Burj Al Arab ... fabulous lamb sirloin, my first red meat in many many months ....
The goal is for tourism to offset the dwindling oil reserves and take over the country's economic growth ..... I would venture to say this has already happened .... (Dubai itself has little oil left .... although Abu Dhabi and the other countries that form the seven United Arab Emirates, are still somewhat awash in the black gold) and I think they share :)
Dinner at Burj Al Arab ... fabulous lamb sirloin, my first red meat in many many months ....
I finally shook of any residual disappointment in the evolution of the Arabian Gulf ..... the ultra modern life that is now the ME, did take me for a bit of a loop ...... this despite all I have read and watched on the news over the years. .... and I know, I know, I know that time marches on and I have been living in a vacuum or something for far too many years .... :) ..... In the 1970's when the oil money started trickling in, the bedouin mind set and culture was still relatively intact ..... It has taken thirty years, but a rampant materialistic, consumer based ideology has replaced the old ways (well everywhere it seems and not just specific to the Middle East) ..... I was somewhat heartbroken ...... in a bit of a funk, grumpier by the day ..... I yearned for the old outdoor souks, even the junky hardware store that sold everything from furniture, to dishes, towels, soaps, shampoos, pots and pans, toothpicks .... oh just everything!! ..... For God's sake, I was not expecting a world class mall! ..... largest in the world, of course!! His Highness, Sheikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum et al would have it no other way!!! ...... I yearned for the old chaotic ambiance of the bedouin culture. It may still exist in the desert somewhere, scattered here and there, but for the most part, has vanished from Dubai's landscape ..... well, one CAN take a tour and experience a re-enactment of bedouin life and there are always museums! :) Still, there does appear to be a revival or perhaps more of an appreciation for the old ways ..... Strangely enough, I have noticed that some of the younger women have returned to wearing a complete burka!!! ..... go figure ..... surreal to see them in the malls, shrouded in black, carrying their Louis Vuitton bags, with Christian Laboutin heels peeking through the abayas ..... sheyla and abayas are somewhat common here with the Emirati ladies, (personally, I think it gives them a sense of their historical identity/superiority (they do appear rather haughty at times) in this desert kingdom .... my opinion only :)) .......... but the full meal face deal ...... that WAS a bit of a surprise ...... it did not exist much in Kuwait even during the 1970's except with the very elderly ladies!! (Maybe the young ladies are just having bad hair days or forgot their makeup .... heh, that's actually a cool idea ..... forget the beauty routine and just throw on the abaya/sheyla/burka!! :) ..... love it!) .... In 2011, you can live in Dubai, without ever having to learn a single word of Arabic, never have to sample the delicious shwarmas, felafel, babaghanouj, hummus, lamb stews, fatoush ..... all those delicious Arabic dishes ....... international cuisine is everywhere! ..... Thankfully, somewhere during my second week, the nostalgic blues veil lifted , and I said goodbye to the Middle East of my memories. Progress is a given ..... On a positive note, I now totally get why so many expats now live here!! (in the seventies we numbered in the thousands or even hundreds but now it is in the millions) ........ The climate is great for almost half the year ........ of course, unbearably hot the other half ..... (we in Canada live with central heating to survive the temperature extremes .......... the Arabs with air conditioning) ........ Seems every form of distraction/entertainment etc. is available here!!! ...... world class golf, tennis, football (soccer), film festivals, theater, movies, libraries, oh and of course that ridiculous passtime of shopping your brains out, museums ...... what?? ...... dhows on display!!!??? ..... ( Brian and I used to watch the fishermen haul in their daily catch from these same dhows ..... they are no longer functioning fishing boats but tourist dinner cruise boats for God's sake!! .... hmmmm :) To get out into the sand dunes, you pretty much have to sign up with a tour company (I did) ........ in fact, everything we used to do as a matter of living here during the 70's, is now a tourist attraction or worse, sits in a museum ..... we're antiques!!! ........ Ahh, but no need to go on ..... there is much beauty here in Dubai ...... the Gulf waters are like a warm turquoise bath ...... and for the adventurer, there is so much area to explore throughout the Middle East ............ No worries ...... I am not considering a move here again ....... but I do understand why my nephew Brad and his family have continued to live here for over ten years. Dubai is a very very pleasant place to hang your hat and call home! ....... I must encourage my sisters and our daughters to make Dubai a "girl's week" destination some year :) ........ The Middle East was my home, my first with Brian ..... and the memories are precious. They will always be with me ...... Ma is-salaamah Dubai ... al-hamdu I-laah .... Ooops .... forgot I posted a few more pictures ...... so, to continue ......
Love all the mosques .... dozens of them scattered throughout Dubai .....still enjoying the prayer calls when I chance to hear them ..... no conversion to Islam in my future, but I do get the urge to sit down somewhere and give thanks whenever I hear the prayer call :) It is one of the things I do love about Islam .....
Jumeirah residential area, known here simply as JBR .... dotted with sidewalk cafes and restaurants at the base of the high rise apartment buildings .... European in flavor ...... very pleasant place for a morning walk ....... cobble stoned and tiled sidewalks alongside the sea .... saw a pod of dolphins early one morning ..... sweet!
The Finnish trio of Joel, Riitta and their son Niko and AJ and Nick from Chicago rounded out my Dune bashing safari group ... we finished our day with an authentic Arabic dinner in the desert ..... rugs and pillows on the sand formed our seating, all while entertained by belly dancing gyrations and twirling of a very talented young lady and lad!
..... love the red orange hue to the desert sands
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