Off to Dubai today, but not before another fabulous breakfast, courtesy of Dan! We also decided that we would make a quick stop at the F1 track to pick up my tickets on the way out. Although, Dan tells me that you quickly learn in Abu Dhabi, things here are either really easy or unreasonably difficult, no in between. The track is located on an island and the area is well laid out and easy to navigate. However, once there, we found that there was not a ticket office at the tack, we had to go to Etihad Airways headquarters. The island was roughly 30 mins from Abu Dhabi and we had passed the headquarters on the way there. Dan and Lisa were super awesome about figuring out a quick way to get back and we found the tickets pretty quickly. With tickets in hand, we were back on the road and headed out of town.
Dubai is around an hour drive Abu Dhabi and the scenery between them is stale. Reminds me of Kansas, although the brown dirt you see here is sand. A small rain storm greeted us along the way, it had been 220 days since the last rain in the UAE. The roadways aren't build with any drainage system, so flooding could be an issue, causing drivers to turn on their hazards, slow down and annoy everyone who knows how to drive in the rain. Luckily it was a small storm and there wasn't an issue.
The skyscrapers of Dubai pop up quickly on the horizon and the names of the highways change to the name of the current Sheikh of the Emirate. So many beautiful skyscrapers and many more in the process of becoming something magnificent. The options of what to do and see in Dubai are overwhelming and we resign to the fact that we won't get to everything.
The first stop is the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. We missed our chance to make reservations 48 hours ahead, to take the 2 minute ride up to the 140th floor, for a view of the city. Lisa tells me that you most of what you see is construction and only on a clear day would you get to see Palm Island. Today was not a clear day, overcast from the rain and the cost for this attraction on last minute, is 400 dirhams, that's roughly $111; absurd! So I snapped some shots of it and we headed into the mall at the base of the building for some lunch. Dan and Lisa took the opportunity to have some food from home, Taco Bell and I chose Indian cuisine. Smoked Buttered Chicken with some Nan, yummy! On the way into the city we drove by the mall that houses Ski Dubai, but with time restraints, we didn't go back to see it. The second stop was along the beach of the Persian Sea, or the Arabian Sea as they call it here. This stop was for the benefit of getting pictures of the Burj Al Arab. It's shaped as a ship's sail, it's beautiful, of course, what isn't here? It was a brief stop and we walked on the sand and got our feet wet a little.
Afterwards, we drove onto Palm Island, no picture of the island itself, since we didn't go to any other building, but it was still interesting. The 2nd Atlantis resort is here in Dubai, driving onto the island gave us a chance to drive past it. I loved the Atlantis in the Bahamas and can only imagine this one would be just as spectacular.
This was the conclusion on the trip, but it was fascinating to here about what other buildings and facilities that are going to be built here and in 10 years, this city will be even more amazing.
I was dropped off at the track whilst heading back to Abu Dhabi and I got to see F1 practice and get my track swag. The track is gorgeous and my seats are amazing, I can see nearly 1/2 the track and about 7 turns, I'm very excited for Sunday. The facilities at the track are great, every seat is covered, but the only way to get from one area to the other is to leave and reenter. This means going through security screenings and if you brought a beverage out with you, it must be consumed before you reenter. I guess security may not have been fantastic last year, so they overcompensated.
It's also disorganized when asking directions, at one point I was directed to walk over a bridge to the Yas Marina Hotel that was the restricted area for the rich and famous at the track. I then had to walk back. All in all, I ended up walking about 3 miles in flip flops to get to the Kanye West concert, one of the evening events provided to the fans. At this point was I was hot, tired, sticky and grumpy, not really interested in the concert, but I was meeting my cousins there and I couldn't stop now. I was also annoyed that I had to check my bag into a holding area because I had my big camera with me, grr. So once I found my cousins, we found their friends and hit the beer line. You were allowed to buy as many as you want and they gave a special price for 4 packs, sweet! After slamming 2 beers, the day behind me slipped away and I relaxed into a good time. The concert was great, actually, and Dan & Lisa's friends are great. The after party was a little crazy. We ended up, after a LONG drawn out process of getting to the Marina club and somehow getting into a very uptight, exclusive bar, wearing our flip flops and shorts; not meeting the dress code there at all. It wasn't comfortable for many of us, so the group of about 8 to 10 people, decided to leave quickly and go to a hotel bar across the street from the track. Beer number 5 (4 1/2 really) and I was done; everyone was done after the last drink there. So after an expensive taxi ride with a bitterly angry driver, we were back home 2:30 AM and ready to pass out.
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