With Nicky’s packed schedule the next days, I took the extraordinary opportunity and quickly hijacked all editor panes, crafting a little travel report of our recent trip to Dubai. A short, yet delightful adventure in the Arabic world, with all its idiosyncrasies and things that got lost in translation.
Dubai. Bigger. Better. Faster. A city full of superlatives, but also contrasts. Despite it’s financial situation a few years back, the city seems to be getting back on track, including new investments on various levels. Literally so. Just this month, At.Mosphere the highest-altitude restaurant, opened its doors on the 122nd floor of the Burj Khalifa. Directly vis-à-vis the Dubai Mall with its ridiculous amount of 1200 stores spread across 4 levels – huge damage potential guaranteed. Watch out!
Getting around in Dubai is sort of easy, finding your destination a bit more challenging. The transportation of choice clearly is the taxi, provided you know exactly where you’re going, preferably including your destination’s vicinity. And don’t be mislead to believe that Google maps will give you that information just like that, many of the POI’s we had pin point down were off the mark or even showed up in wrong parts of the city. Be sure to double, better yet, triple check directions and addresses, in particular for smaller, less touristy spots. And apply some common sense, where we didn’t.
Once you’re in a cab a couple of things can happen. The overly talkative, your-brother-from-another-mother type driver who assures you that he is YOUR man – an hour notice is all it takes and he’ll be there for you. He’s rambling non stop, the meter is off and by now we’ve made the second completely pointless U-turn and it’s not exactly a scenic route either. Oh well, it was our first ride, he got us, we paid 3 times the actual price, but arrived at last. The next day, believe it or not, we accidentally (odds??) got in the same cab yet again, needless to say we had a little chat with “our man”. Other cab experiences included a flat tire while going 70 inner city. I’m positive that the driver has experienced worse, he was in a Zen like mode when it happened. Inshallah.
The Basta Art Café is a wonderful place to start your day. Located in-midst the Bastakia on Al Fahidi St., near Dubai Museum, it offers a cozy garden courtyard and good mix of local and European breakfast/brunch dishes. A scent of incense reminds you where you are, should the environment capture your senses. Opposed to information found elsewhere, they do accept credit cards. Check out the artwork, too!
Connnecting Bur Dubai and Deira, the Abra station (Old Souk) is merely a stone throw away, a nice stroll alongside the Creek. The 5 minute Abra ride to the Deira side (Spice Souk station) is fun but way too short, I could have easily gone back and forth several times if we weren’t slightly pressed for time. Start in the morning, skip the spice souk for now and instead head straight to the fish souk (near Shindagha Tunnel/bus station) for the catch of the day (~15 min walk).
You’ll love the souks. Nicky and I could care less about the gold souk, but the fish, fruit & vegetable as well as spice souk are absolutely worth a visit. The abundance of fresh fish is amazing, the market dynamics fun to watch. The vendors are very friendly, yet much less intrusive than the ones at the spice market and will -once they spot your camera- launch an instant party. To the side of the fish area you’ll find a closed meat section with all kinds of interesting cuts and bigger, more intact pieces – if you know what I mean. Things you usually don’t get to see at your butcher next door. Not for the faint of heart, but quite impressive nevertheless.
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