Sunday, December 28, 2008

Tall, Mall or Palm...

Tall buildings, and lots of them. That's what Dubai has. Jen and I took a bus tour around the city (it took all day and we still didn't see everything) and the end result was "no matter where you look there is a tall building being built." But if you look out (instead of up) you'll likely see a mall. This is the only city bus tour I have taken (and I've taken a few around the world - I like them) that stopped at 5 different malls (as attractions in the city). We only got off the bus for one of the malls (thanks).

So, tall buildings and malls - eh? That... and man made islands in the shape of palm trees (the national symbol). Seriously, this may rank as "number one sign you have too much money" (building a plethora of different custom-shaped island leisure complexes). I'm just sayin'.

But hey - for a guy traveling the world in search of leisure - good for them (and good for me). It was really amazing to see
1) what the wealth has afforded them the opportunity to do,
2) how they hope to thereafter maintain that wealth based on today's imagination

The city is really hard to explain in words. It's kinda like "Vegas without the gambling and with a little more class." And it's kinda like someone decided to build another Disneyland (except much larger) and let people in before it was finished.

Since things are changing here so fast, and since they have so much planned (or in progress), I'm hoping to return in 10 years to see what's left of today and what tomorrow brings.

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