Given the fact that I was not able to get out of the hotel very much and explore all the amazing things that Dubai had to offer, I only got a limited view of this city. It is one of the most talked about destinations in the world, and people claim that they would love to see this city for all of the things that they can bring to this little corner of the desert. The following ramblings are just casual observations that I was able to make at the short time I was there, so I could have a different perspective on the place if I ever get the chance to go back and visit someday.
To start off, it is a beautiful city. The architecture is truly something to marvel at, and the people who are designing the rest of the city are really thinking about how to make this place a unique one with its own character that would make want many people put it on their bucket lists of places they have to go and see someday. I don’t know how much history is related to these new creations, but if you look closely, you can see the tour groups being led to the next exciting place. The strange thing about this is that the next exciting place happens to be another mall where the tourists are expected to spend their money.
This has attracted many business people to try their hands at trying to grab some of that currency by setting up shops in the various places where they know the tourists will travel. Some of them are very creative, such as a place where you can get served a bowl of cereal while sitting on a bed and watching old Saturday morning cartoons, but for the most part these are far and few between. Most of the shops and restaurants that I encountered were the same kinds of place that you can find littering the malls of America. It was just one big chain after another that never offered anything new or exciting to the experience of being in Dubai. It gave me the impression that money ruled this city, and everything in it was there to make the ex-pats who came over more comfortable as they worked hard to make and spend more money.
But it is this circulation of cash that has turned this country into one of the most wealthiest in the world. It allows the people that live here to dream about doing things that are bigger and better than anywhere else. It is the reason that you can find skiing in a place where the coldest temperature it might ever see is in the high 60s. It is the reason that there is constant construction all over the place because people want to capitalize on this influx while it is still going on. It is the reason that you can come out here and see the tallest building in the world right now, and even though there are others being built that will eventually surpass it, one of them happens to be in Dubai, so this city can keep the record for just a little bit longer.
I really don’t know how I feel about this city, but being able to grabs small snatches of what it has to offer, it has made me want to come back so I can learn more. Hopefully someday that will be able to happen.
John Collings 