Jumeirah Beach Residence and Dubai Ferry

Thursday we spent the day down on the Persia Gulf. We took the metro down to the Dubai Marina, an artificial canal city built along a two mile stretch of the Persian Gulf Shoreline.  There is a 7 mile pedestrian walkway with cafes and restaurants, shops, and boats all along the way.  

We only walked a short distance of the way...we hadn't planned well and weren't sure where to go or how to get there...bummer.  We did enjoy what we did see...beautiful buildings, incredible yachts, a wonderful walkway.  Fortunately it wasn't terribly hot that day.

Naturally there was a mall involved...Dubai Marina Mall...

We wanted to take the ferry boat ride...a 90 minute ride down the canal, out onto the Gulf going from the Marina to The Creek.  Was a fun ride, seeing The Palm, the  Burj Al Arab, the downtown area, the Burj Khalifa, and The Creek from the water.  The inside of the cabin was air conditioned but I spent most of the time outside enjoying the sights and taking pictures.

Interesting building with a twist, located on the canal.  

Leaving the canal and heading out on the Gulf.

One of the most luxurious and expensive hotels in the world...Burj Al Arab.

The view from the water is spectacular!  See the cross?  They don't print postcards from this perspective...

The Jumeirah Mosque - we visited the mosque in 2014.  It's said to be a landmark mosque with guided tours offered to non-Muslims to promote cultural understanding.  It is one of the most attractive and biggest mosques in Dubai and the only one open to non-Muslims.  It is a couple of blocks back from the water, so the view from the water does not do it justice.

The sky was pretty hazy on Thursday and we were a ways out on the water, so the view was pretty but not real clear.  This is the downtown area with the Burj Khalifa towering the other buildings.

Up close, the colors were clear and bright on the Dubai flag.

This is the customs house on the mouth of The Creek.  This area has been a center for commerce and trade for hundreds, maybe thousands, of years.  Pearl diving was also a big industry for many years.

Heading up The Creek towards the old souqs...

The Heritage and Diving Villages along the Creek.  There are several museums along the Dubai Creek as well.  You will have to go back to my posts from last year to see more about them...

After a quick stop at the Souq, Andy headed back and I headed to the Dubai Mall to find a couple of things for friends.  It was a three day weekend (Thursday-Saturday) for the locals so the mall was teaming with people.  By the time I left at about 6:30 hundreds were arriving from the metro for a night on the town.

I discovered in looking at the Mall map there is a monster modern Souq right IN the mall.  This rotunda was in the Souq and features a dramatic dinosaur.  It's hard to get the perspective of how large this room is!

A couple of views of the Souq...

A couple of three floors high overlooks within the mall...each one beautiful.

Like I have indicated before, they love being the biggest and best in all they do!  Just read in the paper that Apple will be opening the world's largest Apple Store in Dubai October 29th.

I am still struggling with a cough...comes in fits when I get a tickle in my throat.  A friend who is a physician in India thinks it is an allergy related problem.  My nose only runs when I am coughing.  Yesterday I washed all the linens in our room to make sure it wasn't something in there that was causing it.  Maybe it's the dust that swirls unseen in the air from the air conditioning.  Taking some Benadryl and cough drops to help control/suppress the cough...  It does wear me out a bit.  

We went to church on Friday and they had a visiting retreat speaker who preached.  I had to leave the service because of the cough and didn't hear much of the sermon.  I did enjoy the wonderful music, however.  There is just something about worshipping with people of all tongues and nations around the world.  Really love it!