Days were ending and I was looking to exploring the city of Dubai more. There are just so many places which have become famous that you would like to visit them in your tour. Some of the places are truly iconic in their appearance.
This day was marked to the urban architecture and the might of Dubai’s infrastructure. We started at around 10 am and the first destination was the Jumeirah mosque on the posh Jumeirah road. It is a beautifully crafted mosque which symbolizes the art and culture of the Arabic society. The mosque is liberal in outlook and people from different religions can also visit it during the tour hours. The mosque is located in one of the most luxurious places in Dubai on the Jumeirah road with bungalows around it.the skyscrapers are distant from this landmark and is heavily dominated by the whites.
The Jumeirah road is a parallel road which runs for miles along the sea-line with iconic places like Burj Al Arab, , The Palm , Palm Jebel Ali on it.
After visiting the mosque and capturing it on our memory cards, we headed to the public beach of Burj Al Arab. The 7 star hotel has a private beach which is not visible to outside world. The public beach also gives a good view of the hotel from a distance. A telephoto lens can do wonders to capture it!
It was a sunny day and people were enjoying sun bathing, surfing, swimming and other water sports. Gradually the sun was right over our head but the breeze blowing was cooling down the temperature quite a bit. It had been cloudy the day before and had rained for sometimes for past 2 days. I managed to get some decent shots of the hotel from a far off distance. We spent a while there walking on white sand and looking at the coastline full of tourists. The outlook of Dubai is quite liberal than other Arab nations where bikinis can be a common sight.
Last 2 destinations of the day were adjacent to each other, Dubai Mall and Burj Dubai. The mall is world’s third largest mall and houses an ice skating rink and an aquarium. The skating rink is a marvel in itself and stands even during the hot weather of desert. The aquarium is another art of craftsmanship and showcase of power of money housing sharks along with many other fish species. The aquarium is a big attraction for visitors for all age groups specially children. The whole concept of having an aquarium inside a mall is just amazing.
The mall is lavishly created with the top luxurious brands under its roof. The actual shoppers were in low numbers as most of them were seen in the galleries and passages rather than inside the shops buying stuff. This could also be related to the Dubai Shopping Festival which was starting from the next day and the offers would be much more lucrative than.
The structure is magnificently crafted with marble, granite and other stones of high-class. The parking lot has a peak capacity of 6500 cars which also gets full at weekends. We spent nearly around 3 hours in the mall and still could only see it partly. To see the entire mall would take probably take days when not entering any of the shops. It was a nice experience seeing the retail boom in full swing but the slow economic condition has marred it and was pretty evident.
The last for the day was the view of Burj Dubai which is adjacent to the mall premises. It is the worlds tallest building and is being built expecting to be completed in another year. The tower is also visible from our house balcony which is miles away. The place around it is being landscaped for additional beauty. The specifications of the building are just breathtaking and a visit to the top will surely become a tourist hot spot. I hope to come back to Dubai when the tower is complete and operational.
This was the end of a day where we saw many architectural marvels in Dubai which was once a desert region.A hot tourist destination for shopping and relaxing, it attracts everyone.
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