As I write this I am sitting in the airport about to embark on my 15 hour flight home. Security to go to the U.S. is rather intense - we went through four separate entry points before making it to our gate. Luckily we left our hotel early, and I have some time to write before heading out.
Yesterday was an incredible day. We decided to depart Abu Dhabi to spend a day in Dubai, which is about an hour and a half away by car. We left the hotel around 9 a.m. and were able to rent a van that took the remaining eight of us into the city. We had plans to go to to the Burj Kalifa that night, so as we were driving into the city we all frantically looked around to see if we could find it amongst the other buildings in the downtown area. It was kind of odd, because we really couldn't spot a building that was that much taller than the rest, even though everything seemed to caress the sky already. One of the funniest moments of the trip was watching Eileen and Kevin trying to distinguish which building it was, and expressing disapointment when we realized that it wasn't even that tall....
At least that's what we thought. Until we learned that there are actually TWO downtowns in Dubai. How crazy is that? We drove through an entire metroplex that was larger than downtown Dallas and it wasn't even downtown. It took us another 25-30 minutes to reach the true downtown, where we finally did see the Burj Kalifa. This time we had no doubt that this was it, as it looked as if it was double the height of all of the buildings around it. The excitement in the car was thick, as everyone was struck by how incredible it was that man could complete such an impressive endeavor. The architecture of the surrounding buildings was also beautiful. Everywhere we looked there was a building that would be the feature of any other city. If I were an architect, I would flock to Dubai to be able to make my mark in the playground of all architects. Today in Dubai must be the equivalent for architects that the renaissance was for painters. It provides an environment where creativity gets pushed to the next level because someone else, at the same time, is trying something that is just a little bit riskier than you are, and they're going to win if they make it.
When we made it into the city we started our expedition in the gold markets. I have never seen heavier jewlrey in my life - the necklaces could have doubled as shields. I'm not sure if everything we saw in the shops was actually gold. It would be awe-stricking if it was - it was like El Dorado of the Middle East.
As you probably could have guessed, we didn't make many (read: any) purchases at the gold market, but then we went on to the spice markets, which was an incredible experience. It wasn't quite as interactive as the spice markets in Istanbul, but it's a huge thrill to be able to smell and taste all of the different offerings. Some markets even sold pure sulpher.
After leaving the spice markets we took a river ferry for one durhim across the way to the textile market. It wasn't too different than the first few, although I did pick up some nice pillow cases and a pair of embroidered shoes.
After we departed the markets our group broke up and went two different ways: the first group went into the financial district to explore the malls and see some of the architecture up close, while Shuarya and I went out of downtown area and into the "second" downtown to go out to the Palm Islands. The Palm Islands are a man made creation, and each of the different frawns are filled with homes, while the circumference is packed with luxury hotels. It was fascinating to travel out onto an island that had no reason to exist other than as a showcase of wealth. To get there, Shaurya and I had to take two subways, a tram, and a monorail. The end destination was the hotel, Atlantis, which was at the very furthest point on the islands. They made an incredible vacation destination out of that resort: on the grounds they had waterparks, pools, beaches, restaurants, bars, and a massive aquarium.
We left the island to meet back up with the group at the Mall of Dubai in the other part of town. When we arrived at the mall the first thing we saw were two new Lamborghni's parked out front. It was a fitting entrance to the LARGEST MALL IN THE WORLD. I don't particularly love malls, but this place literally had everything you could ever want. There were food and dessert options from around the world, every clothing store you had ever heard of, and lots of interactive activities. We were at the mall, however, for one reason: to enter into the tallest building in the world.
The Burj Kalifa was completed in 2010 and is 829.8m tall (about 200 stories). The top 40 floors of the building are not open for the public, but we were able to ride the elevator up to the 124th floor. The view from the top was pretty breathtaking. It was a joy to see everyone's reactions as they stepped out onto the balcony to explore the entire city below. Eileen said that she thought she could see the curve of the horizon because it was so tall. A fun fact about the building that we learned was that it is so tall that you can watch the sunset twice every day by starting at the base for the first one then watching the second at the top.
When we came back down from the clouds we decided to head back to Abu Dhabi and to bed for the night. We woke up early the next morning to catch our 15.5 hour flight back home, and now we've made it back to the real world. Work starts back up today, and I'm sure it'll be a lot to catch up on, but the trip was absolutely incredible, and I am so glad that I got to take it with all of my dear friends.
