Our Blog No.16

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April 4th 2011

Published: April 4th 2011

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Grumpy Gramps

Mall of the Emirates

Amazing but not as good as Dubai Mall

Our Blog - No.16
Dubai

We had a really amazing experience in Dubai. If we are honest there was nowhere except the old fort (now a museum) that we could recognise, even the Creek has changed as it is now organised and the abras go in an orderly manner across the creek. The dhows have been tarted up for the tourists and look quite gaudy.
On the Friday we met up with Lyn and her husband who took us for a drive round the Palm area and Jumeira Beach. Everywhere looks so green and the accommodation such as apartments and houses are very modern but look very similar. The hotels are unbelievable and the Atlantis is enormous. Couldn’t believe the metro which covers a large area. There is also a monorail system on the Palm. There are extremely modern stations all air conditioned (even bus stops are now air conditioned!) and speaking to a couple who actually used the system it is wonderful and inexpensive - so clean and quiet.
We went in several shopping malls and they are mind blowing. So big, modern with all well known international stores there and full of shoppers. One has the most amazing

Dubai skyline

aquarium in it with sharks, rays and other large fish by the dozen - It is in the Guinness Book of Records - and definitely a wow! feature. This is in the Dubai Mall and it also has a large waterfall as a feature which is beautiful to look at and listen to. Outside there is a water fountain that is an entertainment in itself and draws thousands every evening for an entertaining performance.
We did several Big Bus hop on and hop off tours which covered the major areas of Dubai which we really enjoyed as we could see the developments that have taken place since we lived there 33 years ago.
We enjoyed our stay and seeing all of the changes from just a little desert town with nothing but sand Around to a thriving modern city with a skyline of some of the most modern and tallest buildings in the work. Did we like it? Yes and no. It is good to live in offering a wonderful lifestyle for so many ex-pats but it is so false - it has developed so quickly it has so little history left there is no character to look at. Good

Metro Station

Fully automated and fully air conditioned of course!

to visit for a short time but only to visit.
When we reached Port Rashid to join the Queen Mary 2 again we saw the QE2 in her berth. She has been there since 2008 waiting to be used as an hotel in the Deira Palm complex which is currently under construction. Her engines are being kept running to ensure she is still seaworthy and she looked well maintained. It was great as we sailed away as farewells were exchanged on the ships hooters as we got as close as we could before sailing off into the sunset.
We are now on our way to Egypt and had our training in the event of a pirate invasion. It is taken very seriously and there are a lot of measures in place to ensure our safety.

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