Last Days in Dubai

Today is Sunday and is a normal workday as weekends are Friday & Saturday.

Spent time today sightseeing in Dubai – visiting the ‘Dubai Mall’ where they have an aquarium, an indoor skating rink and a Gold Souk! We had morning tea at a cafe that specialises in Middle Eastern food and spices – the smells were wonderful. We sat outside to have our coffee opposite a large lake. All of a sudden music started and the ‘water fountain show’ commenced. The fountains are choreographed to dance to music – what an incredible sight!

We then went to the Madinat Shopping Centre with is like a ‘middle eastern’ market. The architecture gives the whole place a really nice atmosphere and there were dozens of stalls and shops that sold an amazing range of products.

Next stop was ‘Atlantis” – I had seen this place on TV and it is more than I imagined. It is an incredible building with wonderful gardens and a fabulous aquarium. We had not had lunch but instead decided to have their traditional ‘English style’ afternoon tea.

Monday - my last day in Dubai and my friend was fortunate enough to get a reservation to go to a ‘Cultural Breakfast” at the ‘Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding’. This was a wonderful experience and one of the highlights of my visit to UAE. We all sat on cushions around a large square and all the food was in the centre. Coffee was served first followed by dates. The food was self-serve but was what has been eaten by locals for many, many years. There were chick-peas, a noodle dish with egg, a type of bread very much like a French croissant in texture and a smaller type of bread that had been fried (similar to a donut). The bread and donut were eaten with cream cheese and date syrup. During the morning you heard about many of the traditions and customs of the Arab people and there were plenty of opportunities to ask questions. I would recommend any one coming here to consider visiting this centre either for a Cultural Breakfast or Cultural Lunch.

After visiting the Cultural Centre we found our way to the Souks where I had been before but it had been too hot to walk about then. There have been many changes here as well, probably due to the GFC. The spice souk was much smaller and with fewer merchants. It was interesting to wander through both the spice and home-wares souks provided you could get away from the merchants wanting to sell you everything from hand-bags, shoes, tee-shirts and spices of all kinds.

In the evening we went out for dinner to a hotel that had an interesting mix of menu options – everything from local Arab dishes to African style food.

My friend introduced me to a very refreshing drink that I had several of during my time here; it is called ‘lemon-mint’. It is a mixture of lemon juice, chopped mint (lots of it) water and sugar syrup – delicious!

After dinner we walked back to where the ‘water-fountain’ show was. At night time the fountains are flood-lit and this time the music was different – a beautiful finale to my time in Dubai.

In part this has been an emotional time as I did keep thinking about my Mum who would have been amazed at the many new buildings and other changes and she would have loved the Cultural Breakfast – very happy memories of a remarkable lady who travelled here when she was 84.

Off now to Manchester after saying goodbye to my friends, they were amazingly hospitable hosts and great company.



The wonderful Water Fountain Display at Dubai Mall





Cultural Breakfast a wonderful experience.