I've heard a lot about Dubai prior to coming here. Mostly on the architectural accolades like the Burj Kalifa being the tallest building in the world and Ski Dubai being the biggest indoor skiing center and Dubai Mall being the biggest in the world.
Atlantis Hotel @ the Palm Islands
All those were true and I was quite impressed. However, I love culture, history, and heritage, so I was looking for more than modern Dubai. I wanted to understand why arabian women wrapped themselves in black from head to toe; Why there was a man chanting 5 times a day through a loud speaker throughout the city. I wanted to know what was here before all the skyscrapers and how did this city seemingly sprouted from no where in the last few years; and I wanted to know what their traditional meals were like and if they truly ate with their right hand and did their other business with their left.
Architectural Heritage Office at Bastakiya
Seating area overlooking Bastakiya
I got here by myself one day early, before the rest of my traveling posse. So I made sure to hit the things I liked because I know that the rest of my group may not appreciate culture the same way I do. I started in old Dubai, an area called Bastakiya where there were still the original earth toned cluster of buildings that Dubai grew out of. Many of these are restored and have now been turned into quaint little artists shops and cafes. It was a great area to just roam around, although the day that I went, it was more like a ghost town. What I realized from the locals was that it was Friday, which was the big prayer day for the Islamists. This was not dissimilar from what a Sunday is for Christians and a Saturday is for the Jews. I made a point of getting out their early to capitalize on my time but found out that many shops would be closed today and those that are open won't be until 2:30 after the major prayer session of the day.
Beam and ceiling detail typical of Souks
Man walking to the Mosque
Men in getting ready for prayer at the Bastakiya Mosque
With my camera in hand, I happily spent the time photoshooting the local buildings and architectural details. Praying was very important to the locals and they will pretty much pray anywhere once its time.I was walking around listening to the "chant", a calling over loudspeaker for people to pray. Most people made their way to the local Mosques but many of them will actually drop on their knees in the middle of the street and alleyways if they are not close enough to the Mosque.
Yes, that men praying in alleyways.
And even on the streets.
After witnessing the big prayer extravaganza, I took a local boat (called the Dhow) ride to the other side of the creek where the old silk and gold markets still are today. The boat ride down to through the creek reminded me of what a drive down a local busy city street of china and vietnam would be; both chaotic and exciting at the same time. The driver was experienced but left no room for comfort, not for the foreigners at least. Luckily, I preferred that type of driving myself so I was more amused than frightened.
Lamp detail at the local souk (a.k.a. market)
Locals buying slippers at the silk souk
The next day, the rest of the family came and we went to check out modern Dubai. First stop was the Burj Kallifa, touted as the tallest building in the world. It was a mixed-use building consisting of offices, hotel, and private suites designed and furnished by none other than Georgio Armani himself. From the skyline, this building was double the height of anything else around it. It was 200 stories tall and took about 6 years to complete, officially opening January 2010. We were smart enough to book to go to the observatory before coming here which costed $25 USD. For the on-site ticket purchase, you would have to shell out $100 USD just to get up there; and even at that, it was hard to get availability. After about 20 minutes of queuing, we finally got into what I would presume to be the world's fastest elevator, befitting to be in the world's tallest tower. We were zoomed up to the 124th floor in exactly 1 min and 15 seconds. The ride was very smooth and we didn't even feel it. You could've told me that we were locked up in a small non-motion room and I would've believed you. The observatory was fairly standard and actually less exciting than a few other towers I've been to mainly because Dubai didn't have the city views to justify it. There was the cluster of buildings, but beyond that, it was a stretch of desert. We were fortunate that it was a clear day though because the visibility wasn't great on the other days we were there.
Burj Kalifa in all it's glory
I made it to the top!
Well, the observatory at least.
Looking down at the fountain.
The black lines are the water spouts for the fountain.
Desert skyline.
The family at the top.
Rain drops falling on my head....
After coming down, we spent some time in Dubai Mall which was right at the bottom of the tower anyways. Dubai Mall boasts an indoor ice skating rink and an Aquarium with the world's biggest span of clear acrylic panel, recognized by Guiness themselves. Walking through the mall, we didn't miss home at all. Many of the north american brands were well represented here. We saw three Tim Horton's by now, a Seattle's Best Coffee, Aldo, La Senza and even Dunkin Donuts. A nice little gem I found was a Ducati shop which doubled as a cafe and Ducati merchandise store. I spent some time drooling over the stuff and shop design and was happy.
Aquarium with world's largest acrylic panel
Hanging out at Dubai Mall
The Waterfall at Dubai Mall was very cool!
Ice skating in the mall.
With a penguin friend too.
Yummy... Ducati...
For the afternoon, we signed up for a desert safari where we experienced what it was like driving crazily in a 4x4 on desert dunes. I liked it! We finished off the night having a BBQ meal in a arabian desert camp with the entertainment of the local dance and belly dance. It was a great night in the desert under the clear desert moonlight.
Playing in the sand dunes.
At the top of the dunes.
Janey trying out Henna for the 1st time
Kirsten bunny earing herself
The local arabian dance
Belly dance at night
Eating in an arabian hut
Riding camels in the sunset
The next day, we went to the Mall of Emirates which was the largest mall until Dubai Mall took over the throne. Our main destination was to check out Ski Dubai though. Imagine a ski destination in a desert? Come on, who could resist. I took Kirsten in and actually had a lot of fun in the Snowpark, which had a bobsled trail, a kid's toboggan slide, and a larger double person toboggan slide. Kirsten had so much fun that she kept on saying "Again, again!" The engineering behind this complex was quite amazing. They managed to fit a few runs for beginner and advanced along with two chair lifts. This is beside the kids play area. As I looked around, I saw large fans and compressors high up in the wall. Crudely speaking, I was skiing inside a large walk-in cooler, but it was a lot of fun!
Kirsten & I at Ski Dubai
Kirsten enjoying the sled
We had made reservations for dinner at the Burg Al Arab, Dubai's first famous building in the shape of a large sail. They wanted to be a hotel in the water and the sail symbolism was representative of early Arabian life where they would fish and dive for peals off sail boats. This hotel was the world's first 7 star hotel and it was more exclusive than a back stage pass to a Lady Gaga show. You cannot even get on the reclaimed island without paying a $100 admission or having a reservation to the hotel, which ranges from $1800 USD/night to $18,000. Yes, that was 5 digits a night baby! The architecture of the building was quite stunning but the interiors was not my cup of tea so to speak. It was decked out in bright blue, reds, and gold patterns, probably paying homage to the arabian style, a little too gaudy for me.
The Burj Al Arab in the backdrop
Kirsten & Cadence photo op.
Kirsten & I
Janey looking pretty in the evening
Overall, the visit was pleasant and it was quite amazing to experience the effects of Dubai's monumental growth. One question that I had throughout my visit was how can they grow so big, so quick. Dubai was nothing more than a small desert town in the 70's. When the seven local Emirates decided to band together to form what is now known as the United Arab Emirates, Dubai started to build the infrastructures for a modern city. The amazing thing is that 80% of the new downtown buildings was built in the last 5 years. I learnt that there is no taxes what so ever in Dubai. No income tax, no sales tax. A foreign company can come in and keep everything they make. Imagine if that was true at home? We would all be 40% richer or can choose to work half as much. I was wondering if this is because the local monarchy was rich enough with oil, but apparently, this was not the case for Dubai. The capital city, Abu Dhabi was were the oil money is. Dubai makes their money off tourism and trade. But I can see how having a no tax policy can attract a lot of commerce and tourists very quickly. So I think some credit should go to the king for being open minded and open for growth.
Modern mall, traditional wear.
Dubai is an interesting city where the old intersects the new. You will see many local arabians dressed in long traditional wear, some of which still respect tradition with their black or white headpieces, but some mixing the white bedsheet like gown with a baseball cap. This is all layered in with a americanized city and capital system. From the local 16 lane highway reminiscent of Vegas, to the tall glass towers; sometimes, it was hard to imagine that I am actually half way around the world in the middle east. Especially, when I am walking in a mall, shopping at H&M while listening to the Pussy Cat Dolls and Niki Minaj.
The old town of Munich looked very interesting as we walked back last night so we decided to just take our time and explore the area today. The main square was closed off to pedestrians only and there were many of them for sure. It made for a very lively plaza, full of people, shops, streetside performers, and even fruit stands. The buildings weren't as old as Prague's or Berlin's, but in the backdrop of the main walk were old cathedrals and churches which definitely adds interests. We chose not to join any tours here because of our limited time. Our hotel was very close to the main square and after our 2 days here I feel like I know the area, but because we didn't get the history and the tours like we did in Berlin and Prague, I felt like I didn't know the city at all. I know the map and I know what the buildings look like, but there lacks the depth that comes with knowing the history of a place.
Janey liked Munich best of all three cities. She states its because of the combination of old and new in the same place. I suspect, it might be because of the shops. Her first impression of Munich (developed through walking in the "darker" areas of the main train station) quickly changed when she walked the plaza and saw the many shops and name brands here. Note to other women reading this, there's a street called Maximillianstrause that many of the high end name brands all within a couple of blocks. There was also no coincidence that many of the cars parked on the same street were exotics. So as Janey was happily shopping away, I was happily photographing the building cars. You'll see in my photograph below that she did some "heavy damage" in this shopping stroll.
In the afternoon, we decided to check out the new BMW Welt (translated to BMW World) since we are in their hometown. A tip for car fans: did you know that BMW stands for Bavarian Motorwerks? Yup, Munich is the capital of Bavaria, one of Germany's 16 states. BMW Welt was very easy to get to, right by their Olympia Park. It's a huge cluster of buildings including BMW main office, their museum, their main plant, and their new car pickup center. Our timing was off because we apparently have to pre-book for the plant tour and their museum is closed on Mondays. Nevertheless, we explored BMW Welt (their new car pickup center) and that was amazing in itself. It was much more than just a showroom. They had some of BMW's history on display along with interactive displays for people to learn about their individual technologies and features available on their cars. There was a motorcycle section and a large gift shop. But for me, the most impressive was the building. It was a beautiful example of modern German architecture; a great counter balance to all the classic buildings we've seen so far.
Day Eight - Munich/Stuttgart:
Being a Porsche fan and fellow Porsche owner, I had to make a roadtrip to Stuttgart, where it all started. I was excited to pick up our rental car (fingers crossed and hoping that it was a foreign brand) and couldn't wait to experience driving in Europe. The experience was amazing, full of wonderful and strange feelings I haven't felt. My first instance of this was when I was coming up to two Polizei (German for Police) cars and I instinctually slowed down and pulled in behind them. Behind me comes a BMW 1 series which zooms by me and the cops. I had a sudden OMG feeling, but then remembered that we were on the Autobahn and understood why the cops didn't go after him. It's a great system where people can go as fast as they want as long as it's not reckless. It works because these people know how to drive. They understand what it means to "Stay right, unless passing", something that Canadians (Especially BC drivers) need to learn from. I managed to get myself an Opel and was gunning it as hard as I can and still got the spooks when I looked in my rear view and saw cars coming up my tail fast! I was doing about 180 km/h so they must have been well beyond 200! I had a strange feeling quickly got out of the way to the right lane. Ah, the beauty of the Autobahn!
We finally got ourselves to the new Porsche Museum and I was excited like a schoolboy on a fieldtrip to the zoo. The whole district is Porsche headquarters, very much like what Munich Olympic Park was to BMW. The Porsche Museum is a beautiful modern structure that looks like it floats above the round-about driveway. The interior is kept all white so the "art" inside is highlighted. The whole museum is designed in a ramp layout which allows for a chronological display of all of Porsche's cars beginning from the year 1900 to current day. I was having a blast photographing everything I saw. There were so many beautiful angles to the car and the space. It's nothing short of eye candy for designers and car enthusiasts. Double impact if you're both!
After they mopped up my trial of drool from the museum floor, we headed back towards Munich. We had plans to check out other places along the way, but my drooling costed us valuable time. But let me tell you, it was worth it.
Since it was our last night last night here, we decided to check out another highly rated restaurant, Augustine's Beerhaus. It's a local brewery that is also a restaurant. It had a great atmosphere, with bench seats like a highschool cafeteria. All the young people from the Hostel across the street probably helped with that. We decided to go upstairs to their rooftop patio and take in the twilight. It was a large but cozy patio in between 2 brick buildings; really gives you that medieval feeling. Being the last day here, Janey was determined to try German's famous Pork knuckles. I opted for the roasted chicken with a 1/2 litre of their famous Augustine Lager. The food was excellent and the atmosphere was amazing. Definitely a must try for those of you thinking of visiting.
We drove back to the hotel just after sunset and reflected on what a great city it was. My only regret is that we didn't have more time to explore the history of it and their famous castle in the mountains an hour south of Munich.
Overall, the trip was amazing. The people in Germany were super-friendly and helpful. In Prague, we experienced a mixture; the people on the streets were generally friendly, but the public servants were unfriendly and cold. One common theme for all 3 cities though is how much they love their beer and how cheap it was (Heck, it's cheaper than water). Case in point, we saw this one mountain biker on the subway and he had some serious gear with saddle bags and all. But the one thing that stood out for me was that he had a pouch in front of his handlebar where he used to store his beer. Of course!
With so much to see and do that I've forgotten what the first parts were like now. Thank god for blogs and photos.
