Alright so I had half a day in Dubai, what to see. There are so many options. The Burj Al Dubai (the sail hotel), Burj Khalifa, Atlantis, Mosques, indoor ski center, a ridiculous amount of malls, the Arabian Sea and a ton more. What did I decide to visit the world’s tallest building The Burj Kahlifa standing 163 stories tall, a mall and a Hard Rock Café. I know so so sad but with three trips here, I wanted to get a general idea of the lay of the land and on the next trip do something even more touristy and visit the sail hotel and have high tea.

Sure I didn’t step foot onto the 124th story observation tower, that would be crazy, but I did check out the super cool building and the mall in its basement that puts any American Mall to shame. What’s crazy is that each mall here is just big and has every store and restraint chain known to mankind. It was rather odd. I mean where can you go and find a Starbucks, Tim Horton’s, Caribou Coffee, TWG Tea store, N’spresso store and at least five other coffee and tea shops I’ve never heard of. There was even an aquarium in the mall I visited. Just unreal.

This town is just so metropolitan and traditional all at the same time. Take for example the busses and metro have sections for women and children. I saw tons of men and women in traditional garb and then lots of locals, tourists and visitors in every other type of garb. It truly felt like Vegas, with all the tall glistening buildings, malls and water fountains just no casinos in sight.

Honestly I was just speechless, what an amazing place. I can tell you that everyone I met was friendly and super helpful and I felt incredibly safe everywhere I went. I’m looking forward to my next trip and a chance to really check out the city and spend a bit more time looking at some of the older part of town and Souks and Bazars.