Like last year (click here), here is another round-up of some of the most memorable images taken over the past year. Click the photos to navigate to the associated full blog post. Happy viewing!
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Today was a day devoted to observing and appreciating the Dubai skyline - including not only the tallest building in the world, but more skyscrapers over 200m and 300m than anywhere else in the world. Most unusual for a city set in a desert but also for which there are no geographic restrictions (like peninsulas and islands). The first two photos are taken at the marina in Jumeirah Lake Towers. The last three photos are taken from "At The Top", the viewing platform on the Burj Khalifa - the tallest building and man-made structure on earth. Just for comparison, at 828m (2717ft) high, it is almost 3x taller than the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and almost twice as tall at the Petronas Towers in Kuala Lampur. In fact, the next highest skyscraper in the world would not even come up to 3/4 of the height of the Burj Khalifa!
Technical details: Sony a850 with Minolta 70-210mm (first photo only) and Tokina 19-35mm lenses. The first photo was taken at Dubai museum – strongly recommended and very deceptive in size – perhaps 90% of the museum is underground (and air conditioned, like everything else in Dubai) below the facade of some artefacts, old trading boats etc on the ground level. Most astonishing is how quickly the city has developed; the skyscraper era started in the late 90s (with the notable exception on the Dubai World Trade Centre built in 1979. More on the skyline tomorrow, but the tallest skyscraper in the world, mentioned earlier, the Burj Khalifa is the subject of the final photo, under which a stunning water display is held every half an hour. Details from Wikipedia: “The Dubai Fountain is the world’s largest choreographed fountain system... Illuminated by 6,600 lights and 25 coloured projectors, it is 275m (902ft) long and shoots water up to 500ft (152m) into the air accompanied by a range of classical to contemporary Arabic and world music. It was built at a cost of USD 218 million.” It truly is magical, grander than the Bellagio fountains in Vegas – another big is beautiful place.
Middle photos are taken at the aquarium set within the enormous Dubai Mall. Opening in 2008, the mall has several accolades to its name including the world’s largest shopping mall (1200+ shops and 5.9m sq ft) as well as attracting more visitors in 2012 that New York City had tourists! Technical details: Sony a850 with Tamron 28-75mm and Tokina 19-35mm lenses. Set within prime Dubai real estate, Zabeel Park is an oasis in the surrounding organised urban jungle. In typical Dubai fashion, the gardens (yes, gardens in the desert) are immaculately landscaped and it was nice to enjoy some fresh air.
The late night Abra ride to the textile souk (one of the few bargains we came across in Dubai, priced AED1 (about 20p)) was well worth it, a chance to sit with the locals and enjoy the creek breeze and views. Technical details: Sony a850 with Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 lens. We spent our first afternoon in Dubai wondering around the old town on Dubai. A long-standing centre for trade for many centuries, the traditional spice shop was a feast for the senses. The Emirati also had an innovative old air conditioning system being used to help live comfortably in a city where the summer temperatures regularly exceed 50C, involving cool air to be channelled into the home through the wind towers shown below.
In the evening, we were lucky to have a dip in the infinity pool at Oceana (set on The Palm) and enjoy the stunning views of the “second” Dubai skyline (Jumeirah Lake towers and Southern Dubai). Technical details: Sony a850 with Tamron 28-75mm f2.8 lens. |
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