Blogs from United Arab Emirates, Middle East - page 183

April 19 This morning, I went to the Western and (relatively) touristy shopping malls on Jumeirah Beach Road. There seemed to be a preponderance of UAE shoppers; all the goods were either Western or pitched at tourists. Nevertheless, Peggy said that Magrudy’s Bookstore in the Magrudy Mall is the best in Dubai (at least in English). MagGrudy Mall is an “outdoor mall”, more like a market of stores in an approximate square. The selection was extensive, with an excellent travel section and quite a few local history and travel/picture books. The latter are expensive, however, and the pictures are very commercial, i.e., stylized and not reminiscent of what I’ve seen. I did buy a book, set in Al Ain , one of the UAE cities. (Peggy remarked that it’s not that good.) I a... read more

During the day, I wrote travel notes and enjoyed reading in the cool of the apartment, with a swim later in the afternoon. Every afternoon, after either a rest or a snooze, I go to the swimming pools in the apartment building. There are often a family of Indian children playing in the pool when I arrive. This afternoon there were also some English children and some sun bathers. Usually I am the only adult swimmer, although John often swims later in the day. I read and swim in the intervals of taking a dip and go back to the apartment after a couple of hours. From anywhere in the city, to return to the apartment you just tell the taxi driver to go to the Lulu Centre, which is about 3 blocks from the apartment. ... read more

On Saturday, Peggy had to work – the equivalent of Monday. John took me to Sharjah , the neighbouring, very strict emirate. (No liquor at all is permitted.) Oddly, the architecture and design of Sharjah as a city is much more flowing and beautiful than Dubai. Even Dubai’s oldest buildings and most of its newest are blockish with minimal design. Sharjah makes use of Arabic curves and arches, light colours, tiled designs, etc. The Emir prefers this apparently and is having the road infrastructure designed in curves, with grassed and treed boulevards. Nevertheless, Dirk, whom we met for lunch, told us that his daughters had been pelted with vegetables recently, presumably because they were on their own. (Their friends did later show up.) And, their dress didn’t cover enough. Drivi... read more

The Lufthansa flights to Frankfurt and then to Dubai were easy – only about a third full on the first leg but every seat taken on the second. I had heard about great shopping in Frankfurt airport, but I don’t know where, because the areas around the gates where we landed and departed – in two different terminals – were almost bare of any amenities. From now on, I will travel with water; it cost US$3.00 for a 250 ml bottle of mineral water! Thank goodness I had a peanut-butter-filled hot-cross-bun to munch! Regrettably, I landed in and depart Dubai at night, so I won’t see the desert and the sea from the air. Seated beside me on the plane was a man who was Croatian, living in Germany, stationed for the last six months in ... read more