where the mind is in leisure
Once upon a time long-necked dinosaurs roamed the world. The original skeleton of one such long-necked, whip-tailed sauropod that is 150-155 million years old is on display at the Souk dome in Dubai Mall. The dinosaur, Diplodocus Longus, was named DubaiDino in a competition.
The Dubai Fountain is the world’s tallest performing fountain, in Downtown Dubai. At over 900 ft in length – equivalent to over two football pitches – The Dubai Fountain is situated on the 30-acre artificial Burj Khalifa Lake between the Dubai Mall, the Souk Al Bahar, and the Burj Khalifa.
Mercato Shopping Mall is located in the heart of Jumeirah, one of Dubai’s most prestigious residential areas. It’s on Jumeirah Beach Road. The mall epitomizes the Italian architecture and transports one back to the Renaissance period. The Renaissance era is highlighted in every aspect of Mercato’s colourful and detailed design. The architecture is a surreal blend of various styles and Mercato captures traditional Italian, French and Spanish art.
Inaugurated on May 1, 1998 to alleviate congestion at Terminal 1, Terminal 2 catered to scheduled, charter and special interest flights during special occasions. A few years ago, when Iraq was served by charter or unregistered flights of Jupiter Airlines, we used to travel to Baghdad from Terminal 2.
The Dubai Mall is the world’s largest shopping mall. As per Wikipedia, in 2012, Dubai Mall continued to hold title of world’s most-visited shopping and leisure destination, and attracted more than 65 million visitors, an increase of more than 20 percent compared to the 54 million recorded in 2011. It attracted more visitors than New York City with over 52 million tourists in 2012, and Los Angeles with 41 million.
Ibn Battuta Mall is the world’s largest themed shopping mall. This Dubai mall is uniquely designed to celebrate the travels of the famous 14th century Moroccan explorer Ibn Battuta.
On one afternoon, I went for desert safari. My brother-in-law arranged a ticket for me. The driver picked me up from the petrol pump near their house. It was 4X4 Toyota Land Cruiser. The desert safari is one of the best ways to experience Emirati culture.
