Out and About Today

Today we had some time to head down to Jumeirah, on the shores of the Persian Gulf.  It's a very pretty area with lots of new housing, shops, and entertainment.  It took about 50 minutes to drive down there and we managed to navigate the busy roads pretty well.

We started out at the Jumeirah Mosque - one of very few mosques open to non-Muslims.  Arriving at 11:00 we discovered the one and only tour of the day started at 10:00....big disappointment for me.  I had checked on line and it said the mosque was open today and I didn't find anything that indicated a special time.  We talked with a nice young man in the coffee shop.  He felt sorry for us and said he would see what he could do.

As soon as the tour was over we followed the young man to the mosque.  He asked the man in charge if we could have 10 minutes to just look around.  He immediately invited us in.  We took our shoes off and I covered my head.  It was simple but very pretty inside.  We had a nice conversation with the gentleman who had lead the tour.  He told us that prayer times are staggered around the world and every second of every day there is a mosque calling it's followers to prayer somewhere in the world.

                               

                                

From there we went down Jumeirah Beach Road to Jumeirah Beach Park.  Not many people out in the hot sun, but I can imagine it is packed in the winter.  Cameras were not allowed on the beach so I didn't get a picture up close as I walked in the warm but refreshing pretty blue waters along the beach on the Persian Gulf.  

                                

     For lunch we went to an Italian themed mall called Mercato.  Very chic and beautiful as you enter.

     We didn't shop but we did enjoy setting as we ate our Hardee's hamburgers in the cool 

     (Almost chilly) food court.

    

        Lots of pretty homes and mosques along this boulevard and in the neighborhoods around.

        The Bougainvillea is in full bloom right now and really wonderful.

                           Just a few nice boats at the Dubai Offshore Sailing Club....

                        

                         

                   

                          This is about as close as we could come to the Burj Al Arab, 

                          a luxury hotel on an artificial island.

Our last stop was the The Palm Jumeirah...a man made tree trunk, a crown with 16 fronds, and a surrounding crescent island that forms an 11 km long breakwater.  You may drive into the Palm on the tree trunk and you can drive on the crescent, but not out on the fronds where there are private homes.

                             

                           

       The tree trunk was lined with this type of buildings - Condos? Apartments? Time shares?

        Managed to get a picture of one private home on a frond....

       

        The well known Atlantis on the crescent.  From what we could tell, there are several other 

        Condos? Hotels? Time shares? going up on the other side of the crescent.

                                

                              I made Andy get out of the air conditioned car to get his picture...

                              He wasn't overjoyed! 

        

                   Here are a couple of the new places going up...not too shabby!

      Last but not least, part of the Dubai skyline....it was fun exploring and we made it back

      in time for supper with friends.  A good day in Dubai!