20 Hours in Dubai

After a 15 hour flight on the largest airplane we’ve ever seen, a double-decker A380, we made it to Dubai, where we were lucky enough to have a 20 hour layover.

Sidenote: flying Emirates was most enjoyable – we highly recommend. Despite being in the “cheap seats” on the bottom deck of the plane, the amenities were quite nice (though we didn’t receive bathrobes!).

In Dubai, we covered a lot of ground and made the most of our time so as to see as many sights as possible! After dropping our bags off at the hotel, we grabbed a taxi and headed to the Dubai Marina. We had drinks (and french fries, compliments of the chef!) at The Scene at Pier 7, which was recently voted the best British Pub in Dubai. The view of the water and city lights was beautiful.

We got back to the hotel around 1 a.m. and fit in a few hours of sleep before heading on a guided Sun Tour at 6 a.m. Our tour guide, Jason, took us to see the Al Farooq Omar Bin Al Khattab mosque, which mimics the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. We pulled up before sunrise to the sound of roosters crowing! Next, we drove past the palace of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum – as to be expected, it was very gold and glam! The Sheikh lives right down the road from Jumeirah Beach, where we dipped our toes in the Persian Gulf right as the sun was rising. The building in the backdrop of our beach shot is the Burj Al Arab, said to be the most luxurious hotel in the world. If there was such a thing as a 7-star hotel, this would be it (according to Jason). From there, we drove by the Atlantis for a quick picture and continued sightseeing in Jumeirah Beach. The tour ended at the Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building at 828 meters and 162 stories. After our trip to the Burj, we strolled through the Dubai Mall where you see many of the same stores that we have at home – Pottery Barn, Sephora, Bloomingdales, etc. Finally, it was back to the hotel to grab our bags and head to the airport for our 3 hour flight to Delhi.

Dubai is what we expected it to be – a very modern, clean city with no shortage of glitz and glamour. Of the approximately 3 million residents in Dubai, 80% are foreigners. At times, it was easy to forget that we were on the other side of the world. 20 hours was the perfect amount of time to hit the high points.

More to come on our arrival in Delhi!

In Collaboration with Jennifer Carman