Visiting Dubai is like visiting the future... if the future was made of endless money.
Dubai International Airport (DXB) is like the Vegas of airports -- at 2am, the airport was still crowded with sleep-deprived and deal-hungry tourists looking to score some duty-free booze and assorted goods (guilty on both counts). The airport also boasted massive vaulted halls complete with sparkly Greek columns, numerous indoor palm trees, mirrors on the ceiling, and a three- or four-story wall waterfall. And we only saw Terminal 3. The amount of energy spent on the lighting display inside and out could probably power Newt's lunar space colony.
The city itself is very impressive, even at 11:30p at night as seen from a taxi. During our 5-hour layover, after Kellie and I got through customs (only 10 minutes!), we jumped in a cab and told the driver that we wanted to see "the hotel that looks like a sail" and "that tall building" and be back to the airport in an hour. Instead of (outwardly) cursing our ignorance and vague demands, our awesome driver proceeded to take us to the 7-star Burj al-Arab, which is built on a man-made island, and the Burj Khalifa while also pointing out various interesting landmarks like Ski Dubai and the Jumeirah beach. He also attempted to help Kellie and I with a photo shoot, but we were unsuccessful.
There are so many massive and crazy-looking skyscrapers that Kellie and I were constantly gasping and saying, "OMG did you see that one with (insert light display / random architectural design / 179 floors)?!" Even the metro stations are ornate, elaborate, and of a design style I can only describe as Futuristic*.
I would love to visit Dubai in depth at some point in the future and spend more than an hour squealing at all the pretty lights.
*I know nothing of architecture or design and have a poor vocabulary. Hence.
** This story is backdated to go in order of the actual events in the trip.
