Dubai, what a place! Really, the pictures don't do it justice. I can't even begin to explain all the crazy buildings. As in Abu Dhabi, Dubai has new construction everywhere. I can't believe that it was busier before they got into their finacial trouble. Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world, stands at a whopping 2,717 ft.
1. Burj Khalifa is located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
2. It’s 828 metres tall (2,717 feet).
3. The exact height was not revealed until final stages of the construction.
4. It was officially opened on Jan 4, 2010.
5. It was previously known as Burj Dubai.
6. Burj means Tower in Arabic language.
7. It’s renamed after Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi.
When Abu Dhabi bailed out Dubai, they changed the name of the building.
We also visited the Dubai Mall, which is the largest in the world. It houses a large aguarium, which the kids were excited to see. In the three hours we were there, we didn't cover a very large portion of the mall. Our next stop was the indoor souq. A souq is a shopping quarter in an Arab city. They were typically outdoor markets. This one, however is indoors, made to look outdoors. I bought some black tomatoes. They were the color of a dark plum, but were bright green inside and tasted delicious! I should have taken a picture! We made a little detour to the beach and let the kids run a bit. Jonathan frequently lets us know that the thing he doesn't like about living in the city is he has no place to run! From the beach we could see the Burj Al Arabi, which looks like a large sail. Our final stop of the day was to Palm Jumeirah Island. It was incredible. The Atlantis Hotel is in the center and has a huge water park. We'll visit that once it warms up a bit...that won't be long. For pics of Palm Jumeirah check out this link http://www.palmjumeirah.ae/ It's pretty amazing! All in all, it was a fun day with lots of new sights. We'll look forward to going back.
The kids are doing well for the most part. Everett still complains about school each morning and had a bit of a meltdown on the way in this morning. His teacher, however, says he does just fine during the day and says he seems perfectly happy. I think he's playing me! Lila is keeping me busy during the day and is always a great "helper" at the grocery store! One of Everett's classmates told his mom that Everett is really good at Arabic and Jonathan is one of the math helpers in his class. They are both enjoying their after school programs. Everett has Arabic games, songs and conversation and Jonathan has field games and floor hockey. I think Lila will be more than ready to join the boys in the school fun next year!
More observations and useless information:
After driving for a couple of weeks, I still say, drivers here are crazy.
Forget thinking you have the "right of way"...you don't!
Lila and I were almost run over by a cab...slight overstatement.
Kitchens and bathrooms have covered drains in the middle for easy cleaning.
The grocery store no longer stresses me...it's like shopping at a world market every day and it's actually quite nice!
You can buy quail eggs by the dozen. Who knew?
I've never seen or heard of some of the produce here.
Off brand plastic sandwich bags smell like petroleum here...won't buy those again!
Well, that's about it for today...
Oh, Joe is doing fine at work. He's super busy, but that's great after being laid off! He heads to Singapore for a few days next week...poor thing! I wish I could go. Maybe next time. In the meantime, the kids and I are deciding where we will visit over spring break!
Love to all! Bloom where you're planted!
1. Burj Khalifa is located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
2. It’s 828 metres tall (2,717 feet).
3. The exact height was not revealed until final stages of the construction.
4. It was officially opened on Jan 4, 2010.
5. It was previously known as Burj Dubai.
6. Burj means Tower in Arabic language.
7. It’s renamed after Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the President of UAE and ruler of Abu Dhabi.
When Abu Dhabi bailed out Dubai, they changed the name of the building.
We also visited the Dubai Mall, which is the largest in the world. It houses a large aguarium, which the kids were excited to see. In the three hours we were there, we didn't cover a very large portion of the mall. Our next stop was the indoor souq. A souq is a shopping quarter in an Arab city. They were typically outdoor markets. This one, however is indoors, made to look outdoors. I bought some black tomatoes. They were the color of a dark plum, but were bright green inside and tasted delicious! I should have taken a picture! We made a little detour to the beach and let the kids run a bit. Jonathan frequently lets us know that the thing he doesn't like about living in the city is he has no place to run! From the beach we could see the Burj Al Arabi, which looks like a large sail. Our final stop of the day was to Palm Jumeirah Island. It was incredible. The Atlantis Hotel is in the center and has a huge water park. We'll visit that once it warms up a bit...that won't be long. For pics of Palm Jumeirah check out this link http://www.palmjumeirah.ae/ It's pretty amazing! All in all, it was a fun day with lots of new sights. We'll look forward to going back.
The kids are doing well for the most part. Everett still complains about school each morning and had a bit of a meltdown on the way in this morning. His teacher, however, says he does just fine during the day and says he seems perfectly happy. I think he's playing me! Lila is keeping me busy during the day and is always a great "helper" at the grocery store! One of Everett's classmates told his mom that Everett is really good at Arabic and Jonathan is one of the math helpers in his class. They are both enjoying their after school programs. Everett has Arabic games, songs and conversation and Jonathan has field games and floor hockey. I think Lila will be more than ready to join the boys in the school fun next year!
More observations and useless information:
After driving for a couple of weeks, I still say, drivers here are crazy.
Forget thinking you have the "right of way"...you don't!
Lila and I were almost run over by a cab...slight overstatement.
Kitchens and bathrooms have covered drains in the middle for easy cleaning.
The grocery store no longer stresses me...it's like shopping at a world market every day and it's actually quite nice!
You can buy quail eggs by the dozen. Who knew?
I've never seen or heard of some of the produce here.
Off brand plastic sandwich bags smell like petroleum here...won't buy those again!
Well, that's about it for today...
Oh, Joe is doing fine at work. He's super busy, but that's great after being laid off! He heads to Singapore for a few days next week...poor thing! I wish I could go. Maybe next time. In the meantime, the kids and I are deciding where we will visit over spring break!
Love to all! Bloom where you're planted!
