City of Dubai

I was in Dubai 8 years ago and my-oh-my how this city has changed. Dubai was my first international trip, ever! When I was first told I was going to Dubai I had to look on a map and see where it was located...I had never heard of it.

Now, 8 years later, Dubai is extremely well known....and mostly known for the incredible wealth and all of the incredible buildings that are going up!

I was in Dubai for a few days and only had 1 weekend day to get out and see some things. A friend from high school lives in Dubai with her husband and 2 adorable kids! I got to meet up with them and have dinner to catch up! It was so great to see Susannah and their awesome villa! Thanks for an awesome night!!

On Saturday, a guy from our office was kind enough to take us around the city. We went to the Dubai Museum to see the history of this amazing city. Check out my pictures on Shutterfly to see what this city use to be like! It is an amazing transformation.

We also went to the gold souks (markets) and looked around. Dubai is famous for their gold; however, with the price of gold right now, I did not purchase anything!


We also drove around to see some of the many construction sites. We drove along the newest "Palm". This is the property shaped like a palm tree with incredible homes, apartments, and hotels being built on the many islands. I read that over 75% of the world's cranes are located in Dubai...I can confirm this!
Dubai does things big...and I mean HUGE! They love to have the 'largest, tallest, most luxurious in the world. Here are some examples:

Tallest: Burj Dubai - Tallest man-made structure on Earth and set to open in September 2009. Largest: Mall of the Emirates where you can actually snow ski in the desert!

Most Luxurious: Burj Al Arab - The only 7-star hotel in the world which was designed to symbolize Dubai's urban transformation and to mimic the sail of a boat.
I loved this fountain inside the Burj Al Arab!
Largest: Atrium in the Burj Al Arab
Most impressive (in my opinion): Jumeirah Beach Hotel - This structure is shaped like a wave, which, from a distance, looks like a wave hitting the sail boat (Burj Al Arab hotel is shaped like a sail boat).
The FedEx offices are located in the World Trade Center in Dubai. I want to compare these pictures to the ones I will take when I go back in a few months and see how much more they build! Please note: There was a sand storm going on while we were there...so it is hard to see in the distance.
If you ever get the opportunity to go to Dubai, I highly recommend it. I felt an American influence there with all of the American restaurants and everything is in English! We even had lunch at Chili's! I cannot wait to go back and see more!