Despite the impersonal look of those iconic buildings, Dubai is an accessible and surprisingly friendly city. December was a good month to go with temperatures similar to a really hot summer’s day in UK and a holiday mood among local ex-pats. Despite glitzy trees tucked neatly into lots of corners, Christmassy it was not, but I loved the dose of sun in the depths of our soggy winter, so it’s great to have been there, but not the end of the world to be home.
A few impressions:
Sun sets before 6pm, but then all that concrete is so much prettier after dark.
‘Good things come in small packages’ does not apply when breakfasting at the Lime Street Cafe.
As for those fountains – it’s hard to convey the effect of sound and water, but try this Youtube clip. Notice how the voices go quiet as the show goes on.
So there you have it. Big, shiny, and lots of fun. Dubai Mall strapline is ‘welcome to everything’.
They have a point!
Ali Bacon, Author 