Seeing Dubai from a London bus...but not from 160 stories!!

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Today we decided to be classic tourists and did a Big Bus Tour around this very unusual city. We got picked up at Atlantis as this is one of the stops on the tourist trail. Our first stop though was Dubai Mall, another of the massive shopping centres, this one with an Olympic size ice skating rink inside and the world’s tallest building outside. The Burj Khalifa is over 800 metres tall and has 160 stories. That’s twice the size of Q1! But standing at the bottom of it, it doesn’t seem any bigger than a normal skyscraper! Before you scoff at me, I have a theory on this. Besides the fact that yes, my spacial awareness maybe somewhat limited, there are no other buildings around to compare this monstrosity to. It’s only when you imagine Q1 being dwarfed alongside it, that you really get an idea of how bloody big it is. And then when you see it from afar as part of the Dubai skyline, you can fully appreciate the hugeness of it! We resisted the urge to go to the top and instead had some lunch and hoped back on the bus. The next stop was simply to change routes and see Old Dubai. We went past the Gold Souk, the Spice Souk, Dubai Museum, Dubai Creek (which is actually a big river), a few royal palaces, Burj Al Arab (the 7-star resort) and Jumeriah Beach. It was a great way to see a lot in a little time. This city, or at least New Dubai is certainly not what we expected and it wasn't until we went through Old Dubai that we saw what we imagined Dubai to look like. Old, crowded and lots of noise and people buzzing around.

This evening we went back to the Dubai Mall to watch the dancing water show at the base of Burj Khalifa. Edyn was fascinated but Mykenzie, as with the New Year’s Eve fireworks, hid in Jason’s shoulder not daring to take a peek! Afterwards we had our last supper with Simon and Belinda at a great little restaurant, serving fantastic Arab food. Wow, I didn’t realise Arab food was so yummy. Kebabs and hummus never tasted so good! It was a great way to end our stay in this very unusual city!

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