GETTING HIGH IN DUBAI
Well, that got your attention, huh? Like how stupid can he be? Ok, don’t answer that one, please. Not that stupid. It is the middle east.
To “get high,” I went to the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. And, surprisingly, quite a beautiful building, even for its immense size. The observation deck on the 145th floor is over 1,800’ high. Like two Columbia towers high. And the building goes far higher, beyond where tourists can go. I think the spire tops out at about 2,500’ high. (1/2 mile up!)
And, fearless Dan even went outside at that 1,800′ height. (Love that thick glass……. ) They say that the temperature can be about 6 degrees cooler there than at ground level, but I think it was offset by being so much closer to the sun. Wow, was it hot!
After that, Dan the retailer had to visit the attached Dubai mall, the world’s largest mall. And it is huge. Indescribably huge, maybe 20 times the size of what we would call a large shopping mall? I would think that every retailer of any scale in the world has a shop here. Not sure how much they all sell, but there sure were lots of people wandering around.
The Burj Khalifa. Sun gleaming off it’s spire.
closer shot of the tower. Really quite a beautiful building.
Downtown Dubai as they call it. Most of these are 40-60 floor buildings, but far below from this vantage point.
looking the other direction towards Business Bay and my hotel, the Marriott which are the twin towers in the upper right hand corner. 76 floors each, 16 restaurants, and packed all of the time.
looking mostly straight down.
A very different view of a freeway cloverleaf. Using the new telephoto that I lugged up here.
tiny towers, really they do not even look real, do they?
Next stop, the Mall. This is the roof structure, giving some idea of the immensity of it. The shots I took of the tower were right by the breast cancer pink ribbon, far, far below this vantage point.
The cloverleaf shot is exhibition-worthy!