Breakfast at Eataly in the Dubai Mall
This morning we had breakfast in the Dubai mall at Eataly and there is a first time for everything. I had ordered a breakfast pizza with cherry tomatoes and tomato sauce but that was clearly not the best choice for my white jeans. Murphy was present and the red tomatoes and sauce landed on my pants. I tried to clean it up in the toilets, but it was hopeless… So back to the hotel to change my clothes. At first we thought to take the metro from the mall to the old part of the city, but thanks to my little accident we decided to take taxi to Bur Dubai to make up for the lost time.
Cultural visit of Bur Dubai
The Souks, Bur Dubai
Today we were going to soak up some culture in Bur Dubai. We took the abra (boat) and crossed the creek where we visited the “spice” and the “gold” souk.
There were quite some enthusiastic salesmen but they were no too pushy. Maxine got called Shakira, which was a bit funny. Rolexes, Louis Vuitton bags and other expensive goods (they all looked a bit fake :-)) were flying around our ears (as they say in Flemish:-)). It was an experience.
Musea in Bur Dubai
After the souks we took the abra back and we visited the Al Shindagha museum. A modern museum that depicted the birth of Dubai. The entire room was filled with a movie, it was like a 360 degrees experience. Really fantastic!
Also the rest of the museum was set up in an interactive way. You could hear stories of different persons who practiced a certain profession. Examples were a policeman, a pearl seller, a boat builder… In addition, there was also another room filled with mini screens, with around them, an iron framework. When we touched the iron, a video showing a building or part of the city began to play.
When buying the tickets for this museum, we also got a ticket for the Perfume House, one of the first houses in a row of 23 that would be opened over time. This House made us experience how perfume was made and how ingredients from the past were replaced by new ones because the animals that supplied the ingredients in the past were now amid those that were endangered. It was also important to know that the previous Sheika was very fond of fragrances and made her own perfume.
Culinary visit of Bur Dubai
The last part of our cultural tour was more culinary inspired. We passed by the Dubai museum but we had no time anymore for the visit.
We decided to have lunch at The Local House restaurant. In the meantime it was already 3pm so it was easy to find a table.
Maxine tried the Camel burger and she said it was really tasty. We took the camel kofta and the chicken kebab which were excellent as well.
Then we decided to have our desert in The Arabian Tea House next door. Arabian tea and luqaimat (sweet crunchy dumplings) with a syrup. It was a real delicacy.
The bread baker showed me how to bake an Arabian flat bread. We just had to take the dough throw it on the ceiling of the oven. Really!
Our stomachs were full again so it was time for a siesta.
The fountain show
In the evening, we went to see the fountain show. It was very beautiful and certainly worth the visit but we had seen even better performances in other places around the world (Vegas, Singapore). It only took about five minutes, but luckily it was repeated every half hour with different music.
Also our second day in Dubai had been a fantastic experience…
