Thursday
4 July
Day 4
93 to go
Well I think we are now happily living in Dubai time, waking at 7. We got ourselves sorted before heading for breakfast at 830am. While we were later, it wasn’t a lot busier and we were able to get our fill pretty quick.
Following breakfast, we packed up ready for our day out exploring. We grabbed a cab outside the hotel and had him drop us off at the Museum of the Future. This is their take on what might be around in the future and the technologies that we may use. We didn’t pay to go in, as I was far more interested in the futuristic architecture. It was very impressive.
We returned to the front, grabbing another cab and making our way to The Frame. This very tall, gold covered, rectangular frame is designed to frame the Old and New Dubai. We bought a ticket at the entrance gate and proceeded inside. We wandered through a small museum, before catching the glass viewing elevator 150m. At the top, we enjoyed 360 degree views of the city. If you walked along the middle section, the panels became see through! Thankfully today was not as hazy as yesterday, so the views were reasonable.
We returned to the elevator, riding it to the floor and out of the building. We walked the perimeter before making our way out and into another taxi, this time headed for the souks.
While it was still hot today, the humidity was dialled down and there was a slight breeze. The taxi driver dropped us at the entrance to the markets and we began our meander through the lanes. There was plenty to see and there were plenty of vendors trying to sell their wares. We got use to hearing “you want bags, watches, Rolexes” I just said, “no thank you,” waved and kept moving. We laughed at the optimism they showed.
I was intrigued by the amount of gold and the elaborate pieces that were on show, some things were spectacular others were just plain garish. I also loved the colours and smells of the exotic spices and the many colourful glass lanterns.
Following the souks, we made our way to the Dubai Canal and jumped on a wooden boat for a trip down the canal. Here the breeze was pleasant and the ride afforded great views of the buildings lining the banks. We were also lucky to have it to ourselves.
Our guide returned us to the opposite side of the creek to which we had alighted the boat. It was almost 1pm and we were ready for lunch. After finding a place to change some money, we entered the first restaurant we saw. It turned out to be a good choice. We ordered some chicken skewers that came with salad, hummus and chips. It was delicious.
We continued to wander the streets, ducking into another market area that was very quiet, as it was prayer time. We noted how nice it was not to be hassled. It didn’t last though and we were soon being harassed once again. After dodging them all, we escaped once again into a taxi and had him return us to the hotel. The taxis have been great today, allowing quick, air conditioned movement, but they drive like they are playing video games.
Once back in the hotel room, we sat back enjoying the cool, content in our quiet space. It wasn’t until 6pm, that we thought we should head out for dinner. Off to the Dubai Mall it was. We entered through a different entrance, leading to spaces we hadn’t seen before, but we were able to make our way to a food court we had seen last night and enjoy a falafel dinner. We couldn’t resist the Turkish pastry restaurant either, so we filled up on some baklavas to bring back to the room for dessert.
Once back, we settled in for the evening, ate the pastries and watched Safe House.
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