With no obligations yet in Al Ain and a short-term rental car to get us going, Jordan and I were itching to explore.
Still jet lagged, we accidentally slept 12 hours and woke up at 1 PM. We didn’t let a late start stop us and jumped into the car for the hour-long drive to Dubai.
Our first stop was the Dubai Frame. This new attraction is a massive picture frame dividing the old half of the city from the new. For only 50 dirham (about $13) you can visit. Upon entrance there is a very well done museum about Dubai’s past. From there you take an elevator to the top of the frame where you are treated to an incredible view to the city, both old and new.
Not only were the views spectacular, but there was a strip of the floor that became clear glass when you walked on it. Staff at the Dubai Frame instructed visitors not to sit or lay on the floor, but still had to admonish multiple people who ignored them and did so anyway.
As we got ready to go back down, a big group of children dressed as toy soldiers came out of the elevator and began an acrobatic act. I have no idea if that is something that happens there regularly, but it was really weird.
Once we did finally go downstairs, there was a second half of the museum predicting the future of Dubai and where technology will take us. We highly recommend a visit here, especially with how cheap it was!
After our trip to the frame we made our way to the Dubai Mall, one of the biggest malls in the world. While there we got our phones set up at the Virgin Megastore, ate German Doner Kebab in the food court, watched people skate on the ice rink, and window shopped upscale designer stores.
We walked outside of the mall to watch the Dubai Fountain and see the Burj Khalifa (the world’s tallest building). In the evenings, the fountain does a show every 30 minutes. Jordan had never seen the fountain before, despite having been to the mall and the Burj. We ended up being way more impressed by the show than we expected to be. The
show started off as pretty cool, about as I expected. However, the music changed and the show became incredible! We weren’t the only ones impressed because the crowd began whistling and cheering and clapping.
After the show we had dinner there in the same plaza with Jordan’s friend Stephen and his girlfriend, Laura. We went back to the mall with them and walked around for a while before we headed back to Al Ain.
