Apologies if some of what follows is duplicative. I just found my notes from this trip and am pretty sure I didn’t finish posting about the activities. This installment should round out the TR.
Shabbat in Dubai.
As mentioned upthread, there is a Minyan in Dubai that apparently meets for Shabbat morning. Unfortunately, they don’t meet anywhere near the PH. (Dubai is a very spread out city. “Nobody walks in LA/Dubai.”). So, daughter and I had a private Shabbos. It was lovely.
The room was pretty easily prepared for Shabbat. It was my first time trying the “taped room key blocking the latch bolt” trick. It works perfectly and is so easy. We had brought two plug-in timers with us to plug the lamps in. However, as I’m finding more often now the lamps do not plug into the outlets but are actually wired into the wall. We ended up leaving two lights in the bathroom and Gerry-rigging a sheet as a shade for the window between the bathroom and the sleeping area.
We chilled for Shabbos, davening in the room overlooking the creek, walking the grounds of the PH and the marina residential area in which it is situated. Motsei Shabbos, we went to the Dubai Mall, which was enormous. We enjoyed the fountain/light show, saw what they claim to be the largest LED screen in the world, on the wall outside of aquarium, and gawked up at the Burj Khalifa.
Sunday:
This was our last day in Dubai.
We did the tour of the Jumeira Mosque, which is run by the government’s cultural awareness department. We enjoyed it quite a bit. Mostly westerners on the tour. Unlike the tour of the Sheik Zayed Mosque in AUH, which is really all about the mosque and only a little about Islam, the Jumeira tour is educational about Islam. Some would label it more as propaganda than educational (I wish I had a nickel for every time the tour guide emphasized that Islam is a peaceful religion) but we learned about Muslim prayer rituals and the pillars of Islam. I would recommend the tour.
Photos will follow.
Afterwards, we drove to the old city area and wanted to walk around but could not find parking so we bailed. We returned to PH for the last meal, then cruised over to the Burj Al Arab, where we had reservations in their first floor cafe for tea. I would have reserved the bar on the top but my daughter is under 21, and I didn’t want to start lying about her age for a chance to snag a view. So, like others have said and done, we pulled into the hotel, valet parked the car (free IIRC), gawked at the fountains and other gaudy decor, and then left.
Our next destination was the Burj Khalifa, timed for sunset. The height of the building is incredibly impressive. I didn’t feel it swaying as some people have noted. We bought tickets to the second-highest level which was fine. The view is amazing but the sky was very hazy.
After sunset, we made our way to the airport. We were more than four hours before our flight, so we couldn’t check in right away. It gave me a chance to sit in Starbucks and help my daughter with her physics HW. Eventually, we made it to the PP lounge which was very good but not much kosher. Flight home was uneventful, save for missing our connection in YYZ, which I think is not too uncommon.
Hope some of the content here is useful to my DDF Associates. Thanks to everyone who preceded me with advice and I information.
