We had crashed hard last night (um, actually this morning)…and were still up fairly early. We were starved, we were excited, and our day started by 8am with the most amazing breakfast buffet imaginable (known to be among the very best in Dubai). About half the food was Middle Eastern, and, though much of it contained meat or dairy, the hummus was beyond belief. We don’t get it like that at home. There were many other vegan options too, nutritious ones like quinoa with spinach and berries, and kale with blackberries, strawberries and papaya. There were several different kinds of nuts and fruits, and I was brought the most divine decaf Americanos with soy milk. No request was too big. I asked, they delivered. I could learn to love this!
Once awake, we were understandably not high energy today. A small part of it might have been jet lag (3 hours ahead of Venice) but, really, it was the fact we arrived in the middle of the night and were awake early. We explored The Palace Downtown property and spent some time in the beautiful pool with its loungers and sitting areas and view of the Burj Khalifa. Several parties were smoking hookah pipes (called shishas in Arabic), and they smelled amazing, and not a bit like tobacco (with flavors and scents like cherry and mint and grape). In fact, the whole resort, inside and out, has the most delightful scent, like a light herbal incense. I love it.
The entrance to The Palace Downtown with the Burj Khalifa behind it
The entrance lobby
The current ruler and his father
Being welcomed with Arabian coffee and dates
The pool and outdoor dining area where we usually ate breakfast
The view from our bed ;-)
Our lanai on the Burj Khalifa Lake where the Dubai Fountain is located
Eventually we changed and walked through the Souk (market in Arabic) Al Bahar, located directly next to The Palace Downtown. Souks differ from regular malls in that they feature predominantly Arabic food, clothing and décor items. The aromas here were amazing too…patchouli and musk and fresh roasted nuts and coffee. We crossed a pedestrian bridge across the Burj Khalifa Lake (the same water our hotel is on, and where the Dubai Fountain is located) and were deposited on the water side of The Dubai Mall. This area featured food carts and outdoor restaurants.
Walking around the Burj Khalifa Lake
I loved the gold bands on the Burj Khalifa that only showed up in the sun
The Palace Downtown from across the Burj Khalifa Lake
A Downtown Dubai Panorama
Beautiful, clean, wide walkways everywhere
We had three goals in mind at the mall: find where to go for our At The Top experience the next day, which would take us to the top of the Burj Khalifa; find where to go to get on our City Sightseeing HOHO bus the next day (also at the mall, but because this is the second largest mall (physical size) in the world, it was not anywhere close to At The Top); and find a place for dinner.
We walked, oh we walked! In fact, it was another 20,000+ step day (I’m seeing an alarming trend here!). And we looked. People watching as an art can be practiced in its highest form in Dubai. There are so many things that look different, smell different, sound different, are different. People were wearing everything: Western garb, all different kinds of Arabic attire (leading me to do a lot of internet research tonight to find out why that is), Indian saris…it was all endlessly fascinating.
And clean. Spotlessly clean. And very new. Most of this city is less than 30 years old. Coming from Italy and Greece, that alone was quite remarkable. The entire Downtown Dubai area, including the Dubai Fountain, the Burj Khalifa and our hotel is less than 10 years old. Happily, we noted there were bathrooms everywhere, and they were clean, too, with toilet seats and toilet paper, and free!
After noticing that there was every store in the mall that would be found in any mall at home (or so I think; friends know I am not a mall person!), including Hallmark and Pottery Barn, and Sephora and Apple, we found where to go to begin the At The Top experience, walked eleventy seven miles (and asked for directions eleventy six times) to the boarding location for our HOHO bus, and backtracked and settled on Subway sandwiches to go for dinner. We were hungry, but we were way more tired after a nearly sleepless night, and wanted an easy evening.
It was when we went back out to the Dubai Fountain complex that we saw our first LED light show on the Burj Khalifa. I was stunned (frankly, I didn’t know there was a light show until that moment). It is nothing short of spectacular. And while we were still making our way through the Friday night crush of people, the first fountain we’d seen at the Dubai Fountain started and that was equally amazing.
Honestly, I have not lived my entire life in a cave, but I kind of felt like I had that first day in Dubai. Everything was so different.
The Burj Khalifa behind the Dubai Mall
Start of the light show on the Burj Khalifa
EMAAR is THE property developer in Dubai, and they built the entire Downtown Dubai area.
Dubai Fountain from the Dubai Mall area
It wasn’t until we sat on the wicker furniture on our lanai that we realized just how fantastic the location of our room was. We were seated right on the edge of the water, could see the LED show on the Burj Khalifa (except for the spots where the palm fronds got in the way. I hate it when that happens! ;-)), and the little Agra boats that were taking sightseers into the water to watch the lights and fountains were cruising by in front of us. And the Dubai Fountain shows can be seen from from our lanai or our bed.
Taken from our lanai
Life is good. :-)
So we enjoyed our humble Subway sandwiches al fresco, accompanied by the best entertainment anywhere. The fountain show occurs every half hour from 6pm to 11pm; the Burj Khalifa light show took place every 30 minutes too. We barely had time to fit in eating between grabbing our iPhones and saying, “Here we go again!”.
That first day in Dubai: overwhelming, in the best possible way.