After the terrible start we had had to 2015 on a number of fronts we felt we needed, and deserved, a treat, so took ourselves down to Knowle Travel and walked out with a booking for a week's total luxury!
The Palm
In 2001 construction began on this artificial island in the shape of a palm tree, built to increase Dubai's beachfront. Made from 1 billion cubic metres of dredged sand and stone, it consists of a 2 km. trunk and 16-frond crown, which are kept in place by an 11km-long crescent-shaped breakwater (our hotel was on the West Crescent).
The original intention was for this to be the first of 3 such artificial islands but all has not gone to plan, and the others will now not be built. The environmental impact of construction on local marine life and tidal movement took the developers by surprise, and successfully solving the ensuing problems has proved costly. Development plans were also hit badly by the 2008 financial crisis, but when we visited there was plenty of evidence of renewed building, albeit not on the lavish scale originally envisaged.
HOTEL JUMEIRAH ZABEEL SARAY
Surely Boris hadn't got here before us!
Inside, 'opulent' doesn't begin to describe it. Perhaps 'mega-bling'??
We were fascinated by these 'Jack and the Beanstalk' chairs:
We had no complaints about our room.........
......and the sunken marble bath was a pleasant and unexpected surprise.
The view from our balcony summed-up Dubai for us: modern high-risers (impressively lit at night)
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| Steve taking some night-time shots |
cheek-by-jowl with the oil that brought the original wealth to the desert.
Welcome visit by friends:
By a lucky quirk of fate, John and Carolyn (friends from France) were able to visit us on the Saturday we were in Dubai. John was currently working on contract in Abu Dhabi and so they drove up to spend the day with us.
They took us that evening for a drive through Dubai City to an Indian restaurant that did a very impressive buffet! We'll never look at the buffet in the Ellora in Knowle in the same way again.
There were literally dozens of dishes to choose from.
Bur Dubai:
We'd come to Dubai for sun and relaxation, and we only had 7 days, so it was never our intention to stray far from the hotel but we did have one day when we did a little exploring.
Bur Dubai was the first part of the city to be settled and it is in many ways the antithesis of the sophisticated hotels and glitzy sights.
We took a taxi from the hotel to the Red Line Metro station at Internet City, and from there, changing at Union station, made our way to Al Gubaiba station in the Shindagha district.
The Shindagha Waterfront, on the northern side of the Creek, is one of the most historic areas in Dubai, with origins in the 1860s, significantly gaining in importance in the late 19th century when the ruling family relocated there. This old district has been under restoration since 1996 and, on leaving the station, we set off along the paved walkway that parallels the waterfront.
Traditional Architecture Museum:
First stop was this courtyard house which has seen stints as a residence, jail and police station. Today it houses exhibits on traditional Arab architecture.
Sheikh Saeed al-Maktoum House:
This grand courtyard house was built in 1896 and was home to the ruling family until Sheikh Saeed's death in 1958. The building is now a museum of pre-oil days.
Many of the exhibits are eerily life-like.
Heritage and Diving Villages:
Intended to acquaint tourists with Emirati traditional arts and customs, they were exceptionally quiet the day we visited: a sign perhaps of most Dubai tourists' lack of interest in things historical?
After looking around, we followed the guide book's advice and nabbed a water-front table at Kan Zaman for a fresh fruit juice.
Then it was time for a very brief visit to the souks, and the much more interesting trip in a traditional abra (water taxi) to get there.
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