22 November - Dubai, UAE

Tuesday, 22 November. Dubai.

There was a free breakfast buffet in the Celebrities Restaurant, a very chic spot that we were the first ones in this morning around 8:15am. The coffee (Arabic, of course) was served in a French press pot, and it was quite tasty. There was a delicious assortment of meats, cheeses, and fruits. The fresh juice was also nice, and we truly enjoyed the quiet  atmosphere.

We took a taxi to Souk Madinat Jumeirah; you’ll recall that “souk” means a marketplace in the Arabic countries. We thought about walking there because it looked “close” on the map; that would have been a mistake. It was about five miles away, and there wasn’t really a walking path to get there. The good news is that taxi fares are relatively cheap in Dubai; one way to the souk was around 15 Dirhams (3.6 UAE Dirhams = 1 US Dollar).

As we walked around the souk, we realized that this was one of the best locations for a picture of the Burj Al Arab Hotel, the “Sailboat” hotel built on a man-made island. We walked through the meandering mazes of pathways and corridors until we found just the right vantage point. In this picture, you can see the restaurant “hanging” off to the left of the building, and the helipad on the right side. I’ve heard that Tiger Woods has driven a golf ball from the helipad, and that Andre Agassi has played a tennis match on it. I guess you can do just about anything with enough money.

After all the walking around in the souk, we were hungry. As we scouted out some of the restaurants, The Noodle House looked like a good choice for a couple reasons. We like Oriental food, and they were just opening for lunch. We started with a shared edamame, plus I had a non-shared pint of Tiger beer. The afternoon was officially off to a good start. We did a little shopping after lunch, and then we hailed a taxi back to the hotel. For dinner, we came back to the souk and ate at Brewsters.