Our day started a little later than we expected, because when we first looked at the clock it was already 8:50 a.m. So we quickly got out of bed and headed for a delicious and plentiful breakfast. Our destination for the day was the Dubai Mall, which, with a retail space of 350,000 square meters, is the largest shopping mall in the world.
Dubai Souks
Our first stop today was the souks. Dubai has a traditional spice market and a gold market. We were a bit disappointed by both. The spice market was just a short stretch of street where there wasn't much to see. While there was plenty of gold, we were constantly approached by vendors trying to sell us sunglasses or t-shirts. After visiting the markets, we walked along Dubai Creek. Small water taxis operate there, taking you across for a few dirhams. However, since we had parked our car in the souk parking garage, we had to turn back.
Emirates Towers
We then drove to the Emirates Towers. Our original plan was simply to quickly pick up a geocache we'd already solved at home. The small park south of the two towers, with their triangular layout, turned out to be incredibly idyllic. We even encountered a group of peacocks there, but they were mostly hiding from the midday heat among the bushes. We parked our car in the underground garage of the Dubai International Finance Centre. Here, as in almost all parking garages in the city, parking is free for at least one hour.
Dubai Mall
After all that walking in the heat, we were longing for an air-conditioned mall. The new Dubai Mall was not far from our current location near the Emirates Towers. So we jumped in the car and drove off.
After what felt like an eternity, we finally found a parking spot in the enormous parking garage. The mall is simply incredible and, with a retail space of 350,000 square meters, the largest shopping mall in the world. Besides the countless different shops, there's a 24-meter-high waterfall, an artificial ice rink with Olympic and ice hockey dimensions, and an aquarium containing 10,000 cubic meters of seawater. To describe the mall as gigantic is a massive understatement. It's more than just gigantic.
Burj Khalifa and Dubai Fountain
Other highlights of Downtown Dubai include a water basin landscape with the world's largest fountain system and, as its centerpiece, the Burj Khalifa, which, at a height of 828 meters, is the tallest building in the world.
We sat by the artificial lake near the Dubai Mall and waited for the water show to begin. Every 30 minutes, fountains up to 150 meters high, illuminated by 6,600 lights and 50 color projectors and accompanied by music, shoot into the sky. The shows only last about two minutes each, but they're well worth watching.
After dinner at one of the mall's countless restaurants, we watched the water show again after dark. The light show was simply so much more impressive now. The Burj Khalifa glittered in the background. Brilliant!
Are you still looking for a suitable hotel in Dubai?
You can find a hotel to suit your budget via various online travel agencies such as Agoda, Booking.com, ebookers.com, Expedia, Hotels.com, lastminute.com, opodo, otel.com or Venere.com.
