For the one year anniversary of my dad's passing, my mom wanted to go somewhere super cool (or um... really hot!) After all, my dad would have really wanted that!
We had initially decided on Egypt, but during our planning phase, some crazies blew up a tourist bus that was heading to the Pyramids, so we scrapped that idea and went to the United Arab Emirates. They have very pretty passport stamps!
We arrived after 6 pm (see previous post) and our driver Sandish picked us up and drove us to our hotel, the Sheraton, Mall of Emirates. This was the bathroom in our room. What? Who designs a bathroom like this? You can put the shades down but you are always putting them down and never putting them back up... so why bother?
We were a little nervous about the alcohol situation in the UAE. It's a VERY dry country - although exceptions are made for tourists or those who have a "license" to drink alcohol. We didn't really learn about this until a week before we left, so ... no license for us. We knew you could drink in your hotel room, and that you could grab a bottle or two from Duty Free at the airport to do so. But we bypassed that because it seemed a bit excessive. Instead, we went to the hookah bar downstairs and hardly anyone was drinking. Most people were smoking out of the hookah's (not us!) ... but we were able to get some snacks and drinks. And they even had Makers Mark!
We learned that there was also a bar up on the roof of the hotel (along with the pools) so we went up there after dinner in the downstairs bar. Very faintly, just slightly left of center you can make out some tiny, tiny vertical lights on the horizon that are on the Burj Khalifa. But the hazy and humid and sandy skies mean you can't often see it, even from our somewhat nearby hotel.
We also discovered that there was a rooftop bar at the pool and it was nice and breezy up there, so we went up for a nightcap. The Burj al Arab was all lit up!
In the morning of our first full day here, we had to get some money out of the ATM. Of course, even though I called my bank, it did not allow me to take out any money. So my Mom had to get all of the cash for us. So embarrassing. Isn't their money pretty?
Pardon my finger, but this is the view from our hotel room. In the far distance on the left is the downtown area. In the middle on the right, you can see the indoor ski slope that they have in the Mall of the Emirates!
Our driver picked us up and took us to the Burj al Arab, which is the iconic sailboat looking building that everyone thinks of when they think of Dubai. (Not to be confused with the world's tallest building - that's the Burj Khalifa which is downtown.)
Both sides of the lobby have big old fish tanks!
This view was taken after we took the escalators up to the second level, looking back down at the lower level of the lobby.
Whoa. The inside of the Burj al Arab is BEAUTIFUL.
I love the rainbow of colors to the top!
Naturally, you've gotta have a lot of bling here since it's known as the world's only "Seven Star Hotel." That's not what it's actually rated... that's just what people call it. There are no hotels over a five star rating in the entire world. But management doesn't stop people from calling it this.
This beautiful building opened at the end of the last millennium at a cost of $1 billion. It's also the 7th tallest hotel in the world! Superlative, check! Although it is one of the tallest, almost 40% of the hotel is non usable space (i.e. above the helipad!)
Whoa. Mosaic tile is my favorite.
Close up of the beautiful floor tiles in the upper lobby of the Burj al Arab.
I'm loving that chandelier! And the floor! And the door frame! And the clock!
Our tea was served at Al Muntaha which is all the way up on the 27th floor. To get there, you go through the beautiful doors on the left and up a glass elevator. (Eeeeek!) I took a video of this, so I don't have any pictures of the glass elevator ride.
Up we went to the 27th floor of the Burj al Arab - to the Skybar to have the most incredible tea! It was a SEVEN COURSE MEAL. To say that we could barely finish 4 of them would not surprise a lot of people.
The food for the seven course tea. In case you can't read it (or can't read Arabic), it started with a "Delicate 'Baeri' Caviar with Balik Salmon and Cauliflower lightness on a freshly made Blini." Then we moved on to "Selection of Finger Sandwiches from our favourite British growers." Then, it was on to "Traditional John Stone Farms Beef Tourte." (Todd's former boss has his own farm?) Then it was my very favorite, the "Williams Pear Grantite, Rose Petal Jelly." This is the point at which I'm so full I can hardly stand it. But yes, there was more. Next it was the "Homemade Scones with Willie Rodda's Clotted Cream, a lucious lemon curd, and a homemade strawberry and rose jam." After that, we got a "Selection of Pastries, Grand Cru Chocolate and the inspirations of the moment." We didn't even stick around for the "Midnardises." We were pretty sure we were going to explode.
They had nine different types of teas. I had the Jasmine Pearls Green tea that was out of this world.
The view from where we had our tea at the Burj al Arab faces to the northeast. A lot of the shoreline is under construction as they carefully place fill along the coastline so they can add to their square footage. I still can't understand how they can just dump sand in a spot and build a 56 story building on it. I actually asked about this at one point because my Mom and I were wondering how the buildings didn't have severe settling but all of our guides assured us, "It's fine. They use a lot of rocks!" Ha! This floodplain manager is skeptical. Settling has to be a problem.
Well, wasn't this a nice surprise! A nice glass of champagne in the prettiest champagne glasses I've ever seen!
Fe sahatek, Mom! (Fee- sah-HA-teck)
It's a bit hard to see (as many things were on this slightly hazy day) but in the distance, you can see The World Islands. This man made archipelago consists of seven sets of islands that correspond to the seven continents. It was thought up by Sheik Mohammed (the ruler of the Emirate of Dubai) but fell on hard times during the financial crisis of the mid to late 2000s. So far, the only islands that have been developed are Lebanon and "Europe," which is a big island with a few different European country themes.
Course 1: I wasn't sure how I'd feel about "Delicate 'Baeri' Caviar with Balik Salmon and Cauliflower lightness on a freshly made Blini" but I gobbled that right up! It was delicious!
Me: How can I get some of these beautiful plates? Bottom of plate: You can't.
Dude. This was one of the best things I've ever eaten. It was a "Williams Pear Granita with Rose Petal Jelly." A Granita is kind of like a sorbet, but it's grainier. It was outstanding. Natalie and I like anything rose flavored, so I had to send her these pictures and a video all about it!
Time for scones! Naturally, my mom and I differed on our choices here. I liked the strawberry rose jelly the best. My mom enjoyed the lemon curd. I didn't even finish one scone though. So. Full.
We literally did not make it through seven courses. I feel kind of bad, like I should have trained harder for this or something. But I didn't know what to expect - and you should come HUNGRY. Next time I will be more prepared! When we left, we exited through a ... motherboard?
I can be all smart about geography and motherboards... and then I can just be a girl who loves her high school colors set forth in a pretty mosaic tile pattern.
I'm super glad they brought my Rolls Royce to pick me up.
After tea at the Burj al Arab, we went back to our hotel. Honestly, it took me a while to figure out what was going on with the toilet. Can I shower here? What's with the spray hose on the left? Then, the German in me kicked in. There's no toilet brush. Instead, they clean their toilets with a high power spray.
I didn't bring enough clothes to wear in the UAE... maybe on purpose, so that I could go shopping at the Mall of the Emirates, which our hotel was connected to. Mom and I did a little shopping in this massive mall after our tea. It's not as big as it's cross-town counterpart, the Dubai Mall, but it is pretty huge!
After our very delightful day, we went up to the roof of the building to enjoy the evening. The roof of our hotel had two side-by-side infinity pools that were so pretty.
The evening views from the top of the Sheraton Mall of the Emirates were lovely, but very hazy. The Burj al Arab, where we were earlier today, clearly stands above the rest.
But here is the top of our hotel! Which we are very near! And at night, it is so pretty all lit up.
Am I in Los Angeles or Dubai? That highway is only 8 lanes across.
No need to worry about traffic up here with our Stella Artois from our favorite mixologist, Rikesh!
Every night we were there, the Burj al Arab lit up in various colors with twinkly lights moving up and down the famous building.
Until next time, Burj al Arab!
We had initially decided on Egypt, but during our planning phase, some crazies blew up a tourist bus that was heading to the Pyramids, so we scrapped that idea and went to the United Arab Emirates. They have very pretty passport stamps!
We arrived after 6 pm (see previous post) and our driver Sandish picked us up and drove us to our hotel, the Sheraton, Mall of Emirates. This was the bathroom in our room. What? Who designs a bathroom like this? You can put the shades down but you are always putting them down and never putting them back up... so why bother?
We were a little nervous about the alcohol situation in the UAE. It's a VERY dry country - although exceptions are made for tourists or those who have a "license" to drink alcohol. We didn't really learn about this until a week before we left, so ... no license for us. We knew you could drink in your hotel room, and that you could grab a bottle or two from Duty Free at the airport to do so. But we bypassed that because it seemed a bit excessive. Instead, we went to the hookah bar downstairs and hardly anyone was drinking. Most people were smoking out of the hookah's (not us!) ... but we were able to get some snacks and drinks. And they even had Makers Mark!
We learned that there was also a bar up on the roof of the hotel (along with the pools) so we went up there after dinner in the downstairs bar. Very faintly, just slightly left of center you can make out some tiny, tiny vertical lights on the horizon that are on the Burj Khalifa. But the hazy and humid and sandy skies mean you can't often see it, even from our somewhat nearby hotel.
We also discovered that there was a rooftop bar at the pool and it was nice and breezy up there, so we went up for a nightcap. The Burj al Arab was all lit up!
In the morning of our first full day here, we had to get some money out of the ATM. Of course, even though I called my bank, it did not allow me to take out any money. So my Mom had to get all of the cash for us. So embarrassing. Isn't their money pretty?
Pardon my finger, but this is the view from our hotel room. In the far distance on the left is the downtown area. In the middle on the right, you can see the indoor ski slope that they have in the Mall of the Emirates!
Heading for high tea at the Burj al Arab and bam... 97 degrees. Phew. This was nothing compared to what we would feel a few days later.
Our driver picked us up and took us to the Burj al Arab, which is the iconic sailboat looking building that everyone thinks of when they think of Dubai. (Not to be confused with the world's tallest building - that's the Burj Khalifa which is downtown.)
Both sides of the lobby have big old fish tanks!
This view was taken after we took the escalators up to the second level, looking back down at the lower level of the lobby.
Whoa. The inside of the Burj al Arab is BEAUTIFUL.
I love the rainbow of colors to the top!
Naturally, you've gotta have a lot of bling here since it's known as the world's only "Seven Star Hotel." That's not what it's actually rated... that's just what people call it. There are no hotels over a five star rating in the entire world. But management doesn't stop people from calling it this.
This beautiful building opened at the end of the last millennium at a cost of $1 billion. It's also the 7th tallest hotel in the world! Superlative, check! Although it is one of the tallest, almost 40% of the hotel is non usable space (i.e. above the helipad!)
Whoa. Mosaic tile is my favorite.
Close up of the beautiful floor tiles in the upper lobby of the Burj al Arab.
I'm loving that chandelier! And the floor! And the door frame! And the clock!
Our tea was served at Al Muntaha which is all the way up on the 27th floor. To get there, you go through the beautiful doors on the left and up a glass elevator. (Eeeeek!) I took a video of this, so I don't have any pictures of the glass elevator ride.
Up we went to the 27th floor of the Burj al Arab - to the Skybar to have the most incredible tea! It was a SEVEN COURSE MEAL. To say that we could barely finish 4 of them would not surprise a lot of people.
The food for the seven course tea. In case you can't read it (or can't read Arabic), it started with a "Delicate 'Baeri' Caviar with Balik Salmon and Cauliflower lightness on a freshly made Blini." Then we moved on to "Selection of Finger Sandwiches from our favourite British growers." Then, it was on to "Traditional John Stone Farms Beef Tourte." (Todd's former boss has his own farm?) Then it was my very favorite, the "Williams Pear Grantite, Rose Petal Jelly." This is the point at which I'm so full I can hardly stand it. But yes, there was more. Next it was the "Homemade Scones with Willie Rodda's Clotted Cream, a lucious lemon curd, and a homemade strawberry and rose jam." After that, we got a "Selection of Pastries, Grand Cru Chocolate and the inspirations of the moment." We didn't even stick around for the "Midnardises." We were pretty sure we were going to explode.
They had nine different types of teas. I had the Jasmine Pearls Green tea that was out of this world.
The view from where we had our tea at the Burj al Arab faces to the northeast. A lot of the shoreline is under construction as they carefully place fill along the coastline so they can add to their square footage. I still can't understand how they can just dump sand in a spot and build a 56 story building on it. I actually asked about this at one point because my Mom and I were wondering how the buildings didn't have severe settling but all of our guides assured us, "It's fine. They use a lot of rocks!" Ha! This floodplain manager is skeptical. Settling has to be a problem.
Well, wasn't this a nice surprise! A nice glass of champagne in the prettiest champagne glasses I've ever seen!
Fe sahatek, Mom! (Fee- sah-HA-teck)
It's a bit hard to see (as many things were on this slightly hazy day) but in the distance, you can see The World Islands. This man made archipelago consists of seven sets of islands that correspond to the seven continents. It was thought up by Sheik Mohammed (the ruler of the Emirate of Dubai) but fell on hard times during the financial crisis of the mid to late 2000s. So far, the only islands that have been developed are Lebanon and "Europe," which is a big island with a few different European country themes.
Meanwhile, in the other direction you could see the famous Palm Jumeirah. Built in the shape of a palm tree, over 10,000 people live here (or at least have homes here.) The outer rings (or the Crescent) consist of 18 hotels, but the palm fronds contain almost entirely residential developments.
Course 1: I wasn't sure how I'd feel about "Delicate 'Baeri' Caviar with Balik Salmon and Cauliflower lightness on a freshly made Blini" but I gobbled that right up! It was delicious!
Me: How can I get some of these beautiful plates? Bottom of plate: You can't.
Dude. This was one of the best things I've ever eaten. It was a "Williams Pear Granita with Rose Petal Jelly." A Granita is kind of like a sorbet, but it's grainier. It was outstanding. Natalie and I like anything rose flavored, so I had to send her these pictures and a video all about it!
Time for scones! Naturally, my mom and I differed on our choices here. I liked the strawberry rose jelly the best. My mom enjoyed the lemon curd. I didn't even finish one scone though. So. Full.
We literally did not make it through seven courses. I feel kind of bad, like I should have trained harder for this or something. But I didn't know what to expect - and you should come HUNGRY. Next time I will be more prepared! When we left, we exited through a ... motherboard?
I can be all smart about geography and motherboards... and then I can just be a girl who loves her high school colors set forth in a pretty mosaic tile pattern.
I'm super glad they brought my Rolls Royce to pick me up.
After tea at the Burj al Arab, we went back to our hotel. Honestly, it took me a while to figure out what was going on with the toilet. Can I shower here? What's with the spray hose on the left? Then, the German in me kicked in. There's no toilet brush. Instead, they clean their toilets with a high power spray.
I didn't bring enough clothes to wear in the UAE... maybe on purpose, so that I could go shopping at the Mall of the Emirates, which our hotel was connected to. Mom and I did a little shopping in this massive mall after our tea. It's not as big as it's cross-town counterpart, the Dubai Mall, but it is pretty huge!
After our very delightful day, we went up to the roof of the building to enjoy the evening. The roof of our hotel had two side-by-side infinity pools that were so pretty.
The evening views from the top of the Sheraton Mall of the Emirates were lovely, but very hazy. The Burj al Arab, where we were earlier today, clearly stands above the rest.
But here is the top of our hotel! Which we are very near! And at night, it is so pretty all lit up.
Am I in Los Angeles or Dubai? That highway is only 8 lanes across.
No need to worry about traffic up here with our Stella Artois from our favorite mixologist, Rikesh!
Every night we were there, the Burj al Arab lit up in various colors with twinkly lights moving up and down the famous building.
Man, this humidity is something else. It's like being out on Indian Rocks Beach on a hot August night at the Red Lion! It makes my hair go in all directions! But it was a beautiful and fitting end to a really terrific first day in Dubai!
Until next time, Burj al Arab!
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