IYLC Prague 2014 + Italian Interlude: Days 13 and 14: Dubai (SAND!)

Yeh, I know, I'm posting out of order. When I get home I will try and post up the rest of Italy and what I did in Prague (I had fun - but specifics will come later.) I just felt that I should do Dubai before I get home, seeing it is my last night. If I get this one done quickly, I will post some others tonight too.

But Dubai! I arrived last night at around midnight. Hilarious plane trip actually. When I arrived at the gate and was waiting to board I scrolled through my news feed and saw that Andreena, a fellow Lake Macquarie Youth Advisory Council Member was at Prague Airport ready to fly home. So I walked a quick lap of the departure area and sure enough - there she was!

Look who I found!

So we had a really quick catch up and then noticed our seats were only one seat apart (I hadn't been seated with the rest of the IYLC participants who were on the plane - all 12 of them). But when we actually got to our seats, we were actually in the same row - my row was the emergency exit and was lined up with her row.

Just when it couldn't get more hilariously awesome - the Asian couple behind us were flying with an infant and Andreena was asked to swap a row back so they could use the wall in front of her to hang the bassinet. But because they saw me talking to Andreena, they moved me next to her. We sat next to each other on the flight. It was so cool!

At Dubai Airport, Andreena continued you and I braved the heat and humidity to get to my hotel. Which is really nice! The bed is super comfy and the couch is like another bed.

The morning meant navigating the public transport (which is really confusing - the red smart card you buy works on buses and trains, but the website says it doesn't. I was baffled for hours) to make it to the wonderful Jumeirah Mosque for an educational tour. I didn't get a good photo of me in the abaya and hijab, just an awkward selfie - but the outfit is really cool. Both literally and metaphorically. It is made of a lightweight synthetic and it makes it really shady and breezy inside, so you're quite cool. Plus, you can wear whatever you want underneath - it's a convenience outfit really.

My awkward selfie - I should really practice

The inside of the Mosque - it was so beautiful

During the tour, we learnt about the five pillars of Islam, saw how a prayer is conducted and asked a bundle of questions about Ramadan and why they wore what they wore (mostly, unsurprisingly, they are cultural interpretations and are designed to deal with the weather.) It was a truly enlightening experience and I highly recommend it.

Next up was the Burj Khalifa. I finished at the Mosque at 11:10am and had about a 55 minute trip to the Metro Station. Surely, in 25 minutes it would be easy to get to the entry point right?

Wrong.

The Metro Station is about a 10 minute walk through corridors just to get to the Mall. Which is HUGE. It has four floors, poor signage and HEAPS of shops. They all started to look the same. When I first arrived, I had no idea what floor I was on. Then when I found out I was Level 2, I took the escalators down. The first two floors were easy, down, turn around and down again (like in every multilevel department store in Australia I've ever been to) but the last floor didn't have a direct connection. I had to go through the maze again to find an escalator, then was given directions until I finally made it, with 10 minutes to spare.

The Burj was a little disappointing. It is 829m tall, but as you can see from the photo I took, we only went up about halfway. The view was impressive - but the building (based on a termite mound) was much more impressive from the outside. Still, I took a few photos then decided I needed to find some food - a proposition much harder than it sounds.

Cool glass sculpture in the lobby. It's so pretty.

The view - the haze is sand

See? 452m of the 829 total.

So lunch. You see, in the UAE during Ramadan, it is illegal to eat or drink in public. Which I totally understand - the moment I see food I get hungry. I don't have an issue with it. Although I am baffled as to why Hungry Jack's can have massive photos of their burgers everywhere in this time, but never mind. It does mean that everywhere that serves food is shut until sundown. Even my beloved Nandos - which devastated me. As I meandered the Mall plotting my next food move I found the Aquarium - which looked awesome and a Dinosaur! I didn't look too long though, I decided I had to buy a few things at the Supermarket and catch the metro home. It was really really good to eat though.

The tank was HUGE!

Dinosaurs have really small skulls

The last part of my day was an evening desert safari. It was really cool! We had old school open top 4wds, saw falconry in action, rode camels and had a traditional dinner which was DELICIOUS. I ate so much. The best way to explain the safari is pictures : so have a squiz.