Dubai, UAE

Here is a nighttime view of the Dubai Museum from our hotel room window at the Arabian Courtyard Hotel. In front of the museum is a traditional dhow and beyond the Museum are the minarets of the Grand Mosque. Dubai Museum is located in the Al Fahidi Fort, an imposing building that once guarded the city from landward approaches. The fort was built around 1787 and is thought to be Dubai's oldest building. Since that time it has served as a garrison, a palace and a prison. In 1970, the fort was renovated and turned into a museum, and in 1995 additional galleries were completed.

In front of the Dubai Museum is a traditional dhow, and beyond are the minarets of the Grand Mosque.

Dubai Creek, the historic focal point of life in the city, is a natural seawater inlet that cuts through the city's centre and separates Deira from Bur Dubai. The creek is alive with trade and tradition, the loading and unloading of trade ships that still travel ancient routes, and the beautiful promenades that line both sides of the water. In this view from near the mouth, the Grand Mosque dominates the Bur Dubai skyline, while the buildings of Deira are behind, including the Etisalat building with the golf ball on top, the Dubai Creek Tower, the curved National Bank of Dubai, and finally the triangular Dubai Chamber of Commerce building.

The Grand Mosque dominates the Bur Dubai skyline, seen from Dubai Creek.

The Jumeirah Mosque has a massive central dome where non-Muslims can visit as part of the ‘Open Doors, Open Minds’ cultural understanding program. It is an exact copy of a mosque in Cairo that is eight times its size. This stone structure is built in the medieval Fatimid tradition with two minarets that display the subtle details in the stonework. The minaret is the tower from which the call to prayer is broadcast five times a day.

The stone Jumeirah Mosque has a massive central dome, built in the medieval Fatimid tradition with two minarets.

The taller of the two Emirates Towers on the right (355m, 54 floors, 2000) houses offices. The second Emirates Tower on the left (309m, 56 floors, 2000) is the second-tallest completed all-hotel building in the world, surpassed only by the Burj Al Arab, also in Dubai. This is balanced by the curvilinear base structure.

The two Emirates Towers, housing offices and a hotel, are balanced by the curvilinear base structure.

After dark the translucent fiberglass wall serves as a projection screen for a nightly light show. Here is a dusk view from the beach of the Jumeirah Beach Hotel.

The translucent fiberglass wall of Burj Al Arab serves as a projection screen for a nightly light show.

The entrance of Burj Al Arab has large curved red leather seats, yellow carpet, with a blue floor.

After arriving in Dubai, we checked in to the comfortable and affordable Arabian Court Hotel in Bur Dubai. We started our first day by walking a few metres to the Dubai Museum. We spent over an hour looking at the displays outside in the courtyard and inside the museum (ahh, air conditioning). From there we walked in the 40C heat past the multi-domed Grand Mosque and visited the two-story Sheikh Saeed al-Maktoum museum. In the slightly cooler temperatures in the evening we walked along the promenade next to Dubai Creek, admiring the modern building architecture on the other side.

We started our second day by taking a taxi to the Emirates Towers, twin triangular gunmetal-grey towers on Sheikh Zayed Rd. We then walked along the road admiring the many other new buildings and others still under construction like the Burj Dubai. From there we took a taxi to Deira and visited the Gold Souq, and then hired an abra (water taxi) to take us down the creek. In the afternoon we visited the spectacular 7-star Burj Al Arab hotel, enjoying the internal and external architecture.

We started our third and last day in Dubai by taking the tour of the Jumeirah Mosque as part of the ‘Open Doors, Open Minds’ cultural understanding program. From there we took a step back in time, visiting the Bastakia Quarter where the traditional courtyard houses with wind towers are being renovated. In the evening we took a taxi to the airport and departed Dubai.