Day 7, December 29: Pie in the Sky and Other Places

Ain Dubai, the largest observation wheel in the world, in Dubai shown at night. It is 250 meters (more than 800 feet high), twice as tall as the better-known London "Eye". It can carry over 1700 people with one complete revolution.

Today was a day totally on our own. Patrise had done the research to evaluate a list of places we wanted to see in Dubai, Not the tourist sites, but the places where everyday residents of Dubai lived, worked and played (outside of the heavily visited tourist areas.) Once she had gotten the list together, Marshall developed the order of visits for us and had one of his drivers, Akass, to accompany us.

Most of the day was good, but there was one trauma-inducing moment and one "I-can't- believe-I've-actually-done this" moment, and not in a good way. Details to come, but first, Akass picked us up at the hotel at the agreed time of 10am. He began the tour driving through the Al Meydan City area is a high end commercial shopping and residential district, known primarily for its internationally famous horse racing track. We did a drive through, as Akass pointed out some features of the area and answered our many questions. He continued the drive until we reached the Ras Al Kohr animal conservation area, which is specifically a bird sanctuary inhabited by a large flock of flamingos. The flamingos only come here in the winter season, so we were fortunate to be in Dubai during the time of their arrival and seasonal stay over. Patrise helped Akass find parking, while I proceeded to the wildlife refuge to grab a few pictures: After parking, Patrise joined me in the refuge and we stood in the "hiding box", observing the flamingos without disturbing them. It was a peaceful moment, seeing and being reminded of the beauty of nature.)

After leaving the Al Khor Conservation area, we to Sheikh Mohammad's palace and also the separate palace of his son, the Crown Prince. The grounds for the Sheikh's palace are spacious and well appointed, by all we could see. Our driver could not drive close to it, as you might guess. Even as pedestrians, we were only allowed to approach a limited distance. Included in the royal family compound were three mosques: the new one that Sheikh Mohammad currently uses, the old one his grandfather built and a third that his father built. Here are some photos of the palace (the Zaa'beel Palace) and the new mosque.

At this point, Patrise could sense some anxiety I was experiencing, because I could not get a new watch to work correctly. This watch was a Christmas gift from her, which she had purchased in one of the local jewelry shops; and I did not want to leave the country without the watch working correctly. Therefore, we took a detour from the planned trip and proceeded to head back to the Gold Souk and that shop, to have it looked at. We did find the shop, but it turns out that it was closed. That would not have been surprising, since it was a Sunday; however, the shop's website declared that it was open on Sunday's. So we felt justified in going there. A local merchant saw our bewilderment and tried to come to our aid by calling the shop's owner. After a phone exchange (in Arabic), it was clear that the owner would not be coming to open on this day. Of course that helpful merchant offered to sell us a new watch. We declined, but did go to his shop, just a few steps away, and bought a shawl, as an expression of appreciation. All's well that ends well. The watch begin working anyway and Doug figured out how to work it to set the date and time.

Getting back on the originally planned tour route, we drove through the Al Muteena (also spelled as the Al Madeena or Al Madina) District . This was clearly a part of town where ordinary, working class residents -- all ex-pats, not Emiratis -- lived, worked, shopped, played, and prayed. Neither the shops nor the residences had the same appearnaces as those we had seen today in Dubailand District.. And frankly, this is why we did the tour; to observe and witness where and how the 80% lived.

Proceeding from the Al Mateena District, we immediately drove into and through the Deira area. Deira is in the far northeast of central city Dubai, and it is a financial district -- with all that that designation implies. Think Dubai Wall Street (only there is more than one financial district in this city.) A quick sampling saw the Sharjah Islamic Bank, the Dubai Islamic Bank, the Emirate National Bank of Dubai, the Commercial Bank of Dubai, the Dubai Creek Golf Course, and lots of upscale residential, commercial and retail. From, Deira, we went into the Jumeirah 1 district, which was/is even more toney, even more shee-shee-foo-foo than Deirah. Deira and Jumeirah 1. (There are also Jumeirah 2 and Jumeirah 3 districts.) We were headed to have lunch at a popular mall and resort spot called the Souk Mandinat Jumeirah. Jumeirah one had financial institutions as well, but it also had a wide array of aesthetic dermatology clinics, plastic surgery practices, cosmetic dentistry offices, haute couture and bespoke tailor shops, the Cleveland Clinic -- yes, that Cleveland Clinic of US fame -- many "polyclinics", fancy, dancy restaurants, and it seemed, a mosque on every block.

That last statement is a bit hyperbolic, but not too far from the truth. There were without a doubt, a mosque every three (3) to four (4) blocks, and I kid you not. And not small, shabby affairs, but well maintained, fresh-looking edifices, at least as far as the outside goes. It would be the equivalent of driving through an upscale residential neighborhood and seeing First Baptist, First Methodist, First Presbyterian, First Episcopal, Parish of St. Paul/St.James/St. Mary/Immaculate Heart AND MORE, all rolled up into one neighborhood or down one long expensive street: a la, Rodeo Drive (Los Angeles) or Lakewood Drive (Chicago). Here are various photos from this part of our excursion:

1st row: plastic surgery clinic (one of several), aesthetic dermatology practice (again, one of many), and one of at least a dozen mosques;

2nd row: Souk Madinat Jumeirah (the upscale mall where we had lunch), Taverna menu (the restaurant where we ate lunch) and Patrise at Taverna;

3rd row: Boris (from Cameroon) preparing to serve Patrise's red snapper, a flag in the mall (one my favorite sayings from Lord of the Rings), and the Souk Madinat Jumeirah.

More Jumeirah District 1 images

Leaving the restaurant provided the drama for the day. Our driver had driven in the underground parking garage, demurred from eating lunch with us, then insisted we should meet at a location that we had not been to nor knew how to get to. By following some signs and asking a couple of the merchants along the way, while fending off the several who pounced upon Patrise, trying to sell her things we already had purchased, we eventually made it to a location where the driver could pick us up. However, it was nerve-wracking, and we were not in a pleasant mood, when we finally reunited with our driver/guide. We were already leaning toward truncating the remainder of the planned tour and just heading back to the hotel: this episode definitely sealed that decision for us.

We rested briefly at the hotel, then prepared to go out for the evening. Doug had made a reservation for an attraction called "Dinner in the Sky," prior to our departure from Atlanta. It was much ballyhooed on the internet, when asking about places to see in Dubai. We got to our destination, but it became apparent that this was not what he thought we would experience. What he thought was that this would be a nice dinner at a high floor in the Burj Dubai, surrounded by four walls, having a solid floor, etc. What it proved to be was literally being strapped into a chair (with other guests) around a table, then hoisted by a crane, 50 meters (165 feet) into the air, where a set of chefs served prepared, preordered meals, took photos of you, and moved to loud, mostly hip hop, tunes while you looked at views of the Dubai skyline and the ground. There were two crane-lifted tables with 18 dinner guests each. The food was actually excellent, but the "environment" made it difficult for Patrise and I to truly relax. We placed this in the category of "been there, done that, got the t-shirt": those things we will say that we did, but also be quick to say that we are not likely to do again. Here are several "Dinner in the Sky" photos.

...and more...

It was quite a day and evening. When we returned to our hotel, we got dressed for bed, packed all of our things, in anticipation of checking out tomorrow morning, then fell into the bed asleep (Doug). Patrise lay awake, reflecting on several events of the day, including our little dust-up with the driver/guide about the whole lunch kerfuffle.

Tomorrow, we check out of the hotel in the morning, say good bye to Dubai, then head to Al Ain and eventually Abu Dhabi City.