For me, visiting Dubai was an impulse decision. I didn’t particularly want to see Dubai, but the opportunity arose and I said why not? I got a good offer, made a small plan “on my knees” and left. Without expectations, without a detailed plan, without a lot of thoughts. Totally atypical to me.
When I landed, the first thing I did after retrieving my luggage was look for a rental car. I recommend everyone who arrives in Dubai to rent a car. The distances between the points of interest are quite large and with a car you can have a little more freedom. In addition, gasoline is very cheap, so why not take advantage? Anyways, we find a decent car, an automatic Chevrolet Cruise, at a very good price and we leave for the city.
After a fairly long journey from the airport through the desert, we arrive in Dubai Marina area and the skyscrapers and roads with 6 lanes per way starts to appear. This was the first shock, the first contact with the architecture and infrastructure of Dubai, much praised. And she is praised on merit. I was very impressed with how these people managed to transform a lifeless dessert in perhaps the most technological and advanced city in the Middle East.
In the first 3 days we checked the main attractions in Dubai: Marina, Burj Khalifa, Burj Al Arab, Jumeira with its palm trees, the 3 malls: Dubai Mall, Emirates and Marina and last but not least Deira, the old part of Dubai.
I was amazed about the difference between Deira, where at night around 23:00 you can see a lot of people in black and white clothes, dirt, agitation and chaos and The Walk, in Dubai Marina where every 15 minutes a super-car pops out. Maserati, Lamborghini, Ferrari from which jumps out a Sheikh with an iPhone 5S Gold in his hand, a gold pen in his chest pocket and a golden Rolex on his hand.
As for the food, here I think I ate the coolest Kebap on a plate, a mix between sheep and beef. And no, it was not a fancy restaurant where you leave hundreds of euros, but one secluded somewhere, on a slightly deserted beach. Another interesting thing is: The Counter, a restaurant where you can make your burger the way you want. You choose the type of bun, meat, toppings and sauces. You can only find it in Dubai and a few cities in the States.
Not far from Dubai is Abu Dhabi. It is a smaller Dubai, more focused on culture & religion. But I was in Abu Dhabi for Ferrari World. Here is the fastest roller coaster in the world: Formula Rosa. In a few seconds you reach 240 km/h. The feeling is so strong that I’ve tried it one more time, and one more time, and one more time 🙂
I liked Dubai Marina the most, especially the buildings, which had 2 facades. On the ocean side, they were beige-sand, and toward the bay they were completely glass. In conclusion, I do not regret the somewhat impulse decision. Dubai is a city worth visiting once every 10 years, during which time you can see the differences and how a city can evolve. And there will definitely be differences.
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