Europa 2013

---

It was challenging getting up out of bed this morning after the previous evening's festivities but we were booked into a 'New Dawn' tour so no sleep-in for us! We toured the iconic landmarks that makes Dubai distinctive today. Our first stop was 'The Lost Chambers' an underwater exhibit at the Atlantis Resort which has over 65,000 species of fish and sea creatures. It's located at The Palm Jumeirah, an artificial palm tree shaped archepelago of some 6kms in area created out of reclaimed land. Following Atlantis we rode the Palm Jumeirah monorail and then drove around the Dubai Marina and Jumeirah Beach Residence area. We are talking serious money here . . . Next stop was a visit to the Souk Al Bahar, a traditional Turkish style market and the Dubai Mall, the largest shopping mall in the world. And I thought the Emirates Mall was huge . . . we are talking a third of the size again . . . 1200 shops! To finish we took the elevator to the observation deck of the Burj Khalifa, the tallest tower in the world at 830 metres high and with 163 floors! The view of the city from the observation deck is like everything in Dubai, breathtaking.

Back at the hotel late afternoon it's time to pack up in readiness for that early morning wake up call. Our flight to Amsterdam departs at 8.25am so that means being at the airport around 6.30am. Do we really have to get up at 4.45am? Really? Will try for an early night . . .

---

Photos

Dubai
Burj Khalifa

Dubai
Inside Dubai Mall

Dubai
Palm Jumeraih

Dubai
Atlantis