The chilly fall weather has arrived in England. So this was the perfect time for David and me to escape to warmer climates! We asked ourselves, where could we go that we wouldn’t normally be able to travel to if we were living in the states? Our answer – Dubai!
Dubai is a 7-hour flight from London, so we took the overnight flight last Tuesday to arrive in the UAE Wednesday morning.
Driving through the city on the way to our hotel, we felt like we had just time travelled to the future. Dubai is unlike any other city in the world. It’s so new and so clean. I have never seen so many skyscrapers in my life… and I’ve been to NYC! Even the fancy, fully air-conditioned metro stations looked like something out of the Jetsons!
I have always wanted to stay at the Atlantis. David and I even researched trips to the Bahamas when we were living in the states. So once we chose Dubai as our warm-weather getaway location, our number one hotel pick was the Atlantis on the Palm Jumeirah.
There is a section of my Dubai guidebook entitled “Audacious Projects” and while we were in the UAE, David and I were continually amazed at the number of record-breaking projects we saw or heard of. For example, one of these project is Dubailand - a multi-billion dollar entertainment theme park scheduled to be completed in 2020. It is planned to be twice the size of Disneyworld in Florida. In other words, enormous! I can’t wait!
The first “audacious” project David and I saw was the Palm Jumeirah. It’s basically a massive palm-shaped island complex. It may qualify as the 8th Wonder of the World due to its size. It’s one of the only man-made structures visible from space. The craziest thing is there are two more, even bigger, palm projects in the works.
The Palm Jumeirah. Atlantis is situated in the top center of the ring.
#2 is Atlantis itself. Atlantis opened a couple of years ago to a fireworks show larger than that of the Beijing Olympics… so you know it had to be awesome! The hotel is absolutely amazing. The hotel has its own waterpark, aquarium, dolphin habitat, helicopter service, luxury shopping avenue, and 17 different restaurants, bars, and lounges. Everything you need is right there!
The view from our room. The hotel not only let us check in super early,
but also upgraded us to one of the top floor rooms.
Beautiful glass sculpture in the Atlantis lobby
We literally did not leave the hotel for days. On Wednesday after checking in, we changed into our swimsuits and headed to the waterpark, Aquaventure, which is free for all hotel guests. We grabbed a double tube and floated along the rapids river and then went on a couple of water roller coasters before heading to the hotel’s private beach for lunch and a dip in the Arabian Sea.
There are a few award-winning restaurants inside Atlantis, including upscale Japanese eatery Nobu. David and I went to Zuma in London for my birthday, which is very similar to Nobu. But I have to say, after enjoying dinner at both, I liked Zuma better. Both have really inventive, fun dishes but Zuma’s lobster miso soup, spicy beef, and “popcorn” with yuzu salt can’t be beat!
After dinner in the lobby in front of the aquarium.
On Thursday, we slept in and then headed down to The Burger Joint (TBJ) for lunch. We both tried the wagyu beef cheeseburgers. I don't really know what the big deal about wagyu beef is... it was good but we've had better burgers.
Hotel guests also get free admission to Atlantis’ aquarium, the Lost Chambers. So after lunch, David and I headed over for an exclusive hour-long tour of the chambers. The aquarium was pretty extensive, and the décor was all created around the theme of the lost city of Atlantis. The largest tank holds all different kinds of fish, sharks, and sting-rays and winds around the hotel so there are viewing areas in the Ground lobby, one of the restaurants, and the coveted Super Suites.
David admiring the aquarium. He could've stood there all day.
That's a big ray!
After our tour, we headed back to Aquaventure to feed the sting-rays. Since David and I have already been swimming with the dolphins, on this beach trip we decided to try something new. So after a quick security and information briefing, we stepped into the shark tank at the bottom of the Mayan-style pyramid to feed the rays. The sharks stayed away from the shallow area of the tank where we were, which made us feel safe and sound. The rays were not shy at all though! Once they smelled the food, they swarmed around us, even popping out of the water for a snack! Some of them were getting a bit frisky and started sucking on our legs and thighs, trying to get our attention. It was a lot of fun!
A kid being swarmed by the rays
David found a new friend!
After our session with the rays, we worked up the courage to go down the Leap of Faith thrill ride that drops you from the top of the pyramid down a tunnel through the shark tank.
Right before our "Leap of Faith"
Dinner Thursday night was at Ronda Locatelli, where we were joined by TV celebrity chef Giorgio Locatelli himself for the launch of his White Truffle menu. White truffles are so rich, so David and I opted out of this menu for our main courses but we did have the white truffle bacon bruschetta to start and I had the white truffle zabaglione for dessert.
On Friday we finally left Atlantis to explore the city. Friday was the clearest day of our trip thus far, so we lucked out that this was the same day we had reservations for the Burj Khalifa. The tallest building in the world was our #3 record-breaker.
To get to the outdoor observation deck on the 124th floor, we had to take a ride on the fastest elevator in the world – Record #4. We went 0-124 floors in 60 seconds. Our ears popped about three times on the way up. You don’t quite realize how fast you’re going until the elevator starts shaking. Scary!
When we came out of the elevator, we were immediately shuffled outside to the observation deck. The first thing I noticed was all of the other skyscrapers far below us. I had to keep reminding myself that the buildings we were looking at are some of the tallest buildings in the world, yet we were looking down at them. It was hard to wrap our heads around how high up we really were. Plus, when we looked up, there were still a ton of floors above us! The 124th floor isn’t even close to the actual top of the Burj Khalifa. Being up there made us truly appreciate how far mankind’s achievements have come in the past couple hundreds of years. It’s hard not to believe in the impossible when you’re standing on the top of the Burj Khalifa.
View below from the 124th floor outdoor observation deck
We saw our fifth record-breaker from the observation deck – the World island project. The World is coming together quickly. We could actually make out the shape of South America and Antarctica. The islands will all be privately owned and start at $10 million.
And again, I need to point out that David did so well on top of the Burj! I kept telling him that he didn’t need to go outside; that it was no big deal as long as he used his prepaid ticket to just go up in the elevators with me. But he actually really enjoyed the view and the overall experience.
David is soooo going to win the Volusion around-the-world T-shirt contest
And for continuing to conquer his fear of heights (he can’t really go much higher now), his reward was…
Middle Eastern Taco Bell (sorry for the Pepsi cup, Dad)
That’s right! The Burj is right next to the Dubai Mall, the largest mall in the world (Record #6). The food court literally has EVERY restaurant you could ever think of, including all of our favorite American chains – Macaroni Grill, Potbelly, CPK, Texas Roadhouse, etc.
80% of Dubai’s population is made up of Expats from different countries. People can’t help but be drawn there by the 0% income tax incentive. Because of this cultural diversity, the city contains different restaurants and shops from all over the world. And with all that extra money not going towards taxes, people have a lot more disposal income to spend on shopping. The malls are the main tourist attractions.
After wandering through the Dubai Mall, but avoiding Candylicious, the world’s largest candy store (Record #7), we grabbed tickets for the Dubai double decker, hop on/hop off, bus tour.
Riding on the top of the bus
After passing Wafi City, an Egyptian-style shopping center, David and I hopped off the bus at Dubai Creek for a cruise in a traditional wooden dhow.
That looks familiar...
In front of our dhow
While cruising along the waterfront, we heard all about the history of the creek, from a small fishing community to a thriving trading hub. As Dubai is one of the safest cities in the world today, it is common practice for traders to unload their goods on the docks and leave them there until they are moved into the souqs or loaded back onto the boats for their next port. I couldn’t believe all of the goods we saw just sitting around, completely unprotected. Everything from carpets to refrigerators… As most Dubai residents are foreign, the threat of deportation is enough to deter anyone from stealing!
Dubai Creek
After our cruise, we got back on the bus headed to the Dubai Museum, housed inside an 18th century fort. I think the fort is the oldest thing in the city, which further emphasizes how young Dubai is.
Here, we hopped off the bus for the second time to walk through the Bastakiya quarter. We joined an Arabian Treasure walk, where our guide first pointed out the ruler’s court across the street. Then we walked behind a mosque to discover a Hindu temple complex. This mixture of religions demonstrates how tolerant Dubai is compared to the rest of the Middle East. It was refreshing to see the practice of freedom of religion in an area surrounded by controversy.
Wind towers, early air conditioning systems, in the Bastakiya quarter
Then we walked through the textile souq before crossing the creek in a water taxi, or abra.
Crossing the creek on a crowded, open-sided abra
On the other side of the creek, we first walked through the spice souq, where David and I bargained for some vanilla tea and apricot/peach tea. We finished our Arabian Treasure tour at the gold souq, where we saw the world’s heaviest gold ring (Record #8).
Here we got back on the bus and drove past a couple more malls before getting to the beach. We caught a glimpse of the sheik’s beach-front home and the Jumeirah Mosque, the only mosque in Dubai open to non-Muslims. We also drove past the iconic Burj Al Arab.
The Burj Al Arab was the world’s tallest all-suite hotel at the time of construction (Record #9). It is also rumored to be one of the most expensive buildings ever built, although this cannot be confirmed because the cost has never been revealed. It’s a 7-star hotel that sits on its own artificial island, has gold columns inside, an underwater restaurant, a helicopter chauffeur service, and a restaurant suspended in mid-air over 1,000 feet off the ground. You’ve probably seen the ridiculous video of Tiger Woods hitting a golf ball off the roof or Andre Agassi and Roger Federer playing tennis. To even step inside the hotel, you must have reservations for tea, cocktails, or a meal and a strict dress code is enforced. Obviously, David and I only admired the Burj Al Arab from afar!
The Burj Al Arab from the Atlantis beach
Our final stop on the bus tour was our own hotel, Atlantis! After we hopped off for the last time, we had dinner at French bistro Rostang. I had the lobster bisque and goat cheese gratin. David opted for the crab claws and steak frites. For dessert, we walked around the corner for some Coldstone! Even though I’m a Marble Slab girl and worked there for years in college, I had to hand it to the Atlantis Coldstone crew. They actually flipped the ice cream in the air and batted it over to the mix-in station. Why haven’t they opened a Coldstone or Marble Slab in London yet?!
On our last day in Dubai, we headed to the Mall of the Emirates to see Ski Dubai. Only in Dubai would you find an entire ski village inside a mall. This was the tenth record-breaker we saw – the largest indoor snow park in the world and the world’s first indoor black diamond.
Keeping with the cold weather mountain theme, David and I had a traditional Swiss fondue lunch at Apres, a restaurant overlooking the slopes.
We then cabbed it back to the hotel to take one last walk through the complex to check out Dolphin Bay and Aquaventure beach. Then we grabbed a couple of tubes to go through the rapids and the Torrent wave river. We ended our time at the waterpark going on the Shark Attack ride one last time.
Dinner was at Atlantis’ Saffron restaurant for Asia, Asia night. This was a casual, buffet-style restaurant offering food from all over Asia. The best part was dessert! The dessert table offered sweets from Asia and the Middle East, including peanut butter soup (strangely delicious) and a giant chocolate fountain!
To end the trip, after dinner we grabbed a couple of cushions at Levantine Terrace for drinks and shisha. We ordered the fresh pineapple hookah and enjoyed the downtown view with all of the buildings lit up at night.
This was another once-in-a-lifetime trip for us and we had such a great time together savoring the food at the award-winning restaurants, acting like kids at the waterpark, and relaxing on the sandy beaches of the Arabian Sea. To see all of the pictures from our trip, click here.
