Day two: Dubai

Breakfast

We had a quick breakfast and then made our way to the other terminal when we found that the WiFi in our terminal wasn’t working. The other terminal is probably a 20 min brisk walk down the pier. But along the way is construction and other challenging obstacles. Finally we got there.

WiFi is paultry. I finally asked a lady at the information desk and she said it’s slow because the terminals that embark new passengers are busy. There must have been at least 30 such terminals.

This building is huge with many displays and probably 30 stores. I wandered around a little bit while Ed tried some of his devices.

When we finished, because of time and the obstacles walking over, I suggested we take a taxi back to our ship. The taxis have to drive a long way around to get to the other terminal so this was probably a 2 mile ride.

We endured the two security checks again, dropped off the laptop and iPads and had a quick lunch.

And then we’re off to the

Hop On Hop Off bus

It turns out this was just a shuttle bus from the ship to the exchange place which is at the bottom of the Burj Khalifi in the Dubai Mall. So we decided to go check that place out.

It’s enormous and they are adding 1 million more squarefeet. We wandered around, had a pan du chocolate, iced tea and espresso in a French place and connected to their superfast WiFi (I got a welcome email later in the day).

Red route

We made this one just in time. We got the top, front row seat. Yeah. Great for views and photos. The wind had been sharp and vicious all day and it sure was up there. Since it was overcast, the sun was not so much of an issue. But my poor hair was destroyed many times over. At times the wind was so fast that you could feel all the redundant skin on your face flapping like a dog’s jowls when it’s head is out of the car window.

Sand was everywhere: hair, clothes, shoes, packages, and especially in your eyes. I am so glad I had my eye surgery because I could not have made these trips with contacts. OMG it would have been like cut glass under those lenses.

We felt a drop of water now and then but no more. We went around so many interesting places and discussed returning to see them for a longer period of time. (alas that was not possible). The Dubai Museum, the Mall of the Emerites, the folk museum, riding a dhow on the river, so many more things. But we enjoyed seeing the old and the new. This Route took us over two hours.

Green line

So we switched to the green line which took us to the beach and the Ali Burj or whatever it’s called: that sail type 7 star hotel on the ocean. Then to the Jumeira Palms. At the end of this is the Atlantis, quite impressive. As we returned, we saw roach coaches all along the beach side.

Before this we also went across the river to Deria an area I had visited last time while Ed went to the top of Burj Khalifi. I went through the Gold and Spice Souks there and recalled those experiences to Ed.

We went through older areas and saw so many beautiful mosques that I lost count. Each different and prettier than the last. Villas (I wouldn’t mind that) and large apartment buildings everywhere.

About 4 pm you could feel the temperature drop dramatically. Some folks were wanting jackets but I thought it was perfect. The wind made it so much more tolerable.

Then it got dark and we got to see so many pretty things lit up beautifully. It is a different city at this time.

Pretty soon it was time to catch our shuttle back to the ship. We got back after 7 and had dinner. Ed went to the comedian. I would have enjoyed that but had things to do so I passed. He came in after 10 and we hit the sack.