Exploring Dubai

Today we explored Dubai, visiting a ton of sites like the Burj Khalifa and Dubai’s old town.

We started the day with coffees near our hotel. We’d found a local spot, but they didn’t have local Arabic coffee, so we decided we’d need a second round.

We headed to Dubai’s downtown core, and got our first daylight glimpse of the Burj Khalifa and surrounding mall area. Nearby we visited the food market TimeOut, which had an assortment of food vendors from all over the world. This was an indoor food market styled after others we’ve visited in New York and London, and it was the perfect spot for us to grab a bite!

We opted for Arabic food, and way over ordered as you can see from the pics 😂 we were stoked to try Arabic coffee, which is coffee mixed with spices like cardamom. We both liked the Arabic coffee a lot, and it was very different from what we were used to.

Following our meal we explored the Dubai Mall, which is right next to the food market. Frankly everything in this part of Dubai is close together, and mostly connected with indoor walking spaces that are air conditioned to escape the desert sun. The Dubai Mall was nuts, and was one of the most impressive malls either of us has ever seen.

The Burj Khalifa entrance is actually through the mall, so we made our way there next and went to the top of the tower for amazing views of the city. This is the tallest tower in the world, and we went to the 125th floor, so we had a Birds Eye view!

Following the Burj Khalifa we tried to go to the museum of the future, but they were booked solid. We purchased tickets for tomorrow, and pivoted our plans to head to Dubai Old town.

Dubai Old Town was so cool to experience. It was very well preserved, and we got to see a ton of older buildings. We tried camel milk ice cream here, and also took a ferry across the river to explore Dubai’s old souk, or market, area.

In the market area we explored Dubai’s gold and spice souks, and checked out a ton of different vendor stalls and stores. Once we’d had our fill of the sites we ferried back across the river for dinner in Dubai’s old town.

Dinner was fantastic! And we ate in a beautifully rebuilt home that had been fully restored and converted.

After dinner we headed back to the Burj Khalifa to see the nightly light show and check out the area after dark, before finally calling it a night.Read more