As long as we were in Dubai on a long layover between volunteer gigs, we thought we might as well check out one of its most iconic tourist attractions: Palm Jumeirah, an artificial palm-shaped island that looks really cool and enticing on a map. It’s a hub of upscale shopping, lodging and aquatic activity, so we figured it would be worth getting a look at up close. But the effort to do so turned out to be… well, not so cool. No worries, we had the phenomenal consolation prize of getting a closer look at more of the city’s architecture, which as far as we are concerned, is why this city really exists.

We begin the day’s outing after having had our sleep interrupted the night before by a new arrival at the apartment, a man from France who rang the doorbell at 3:30 a.m. because he somehow failed to obtain the door code from the host. So not only does he rouse us from slumber to let him in, but he asks rather loudly what the code is, while still standing in the hall. Dennis tells him quietly, and he repeats it at full volume, apparently not considering that it might be a good idea to keep it a secret, even from other tenants in the apartments down the hall. Later in the morning (after the roosters had had time to catch up with the French), our host messages us to remind us not to give the code to anyone. Point taken, but what exactly should we have done in that situation?

The first order of business, after taking a short metro ride, is to drop in at the bus depot to inquire about getting tickets to go to Abu Dhabi. Yes, Abu Dhabi. That’s where we have to fly out of when we’re ready to take off for Athens. Oddly enough, while it’s very easy to book an affordable flight into Dubai, it’s very difficult to find one out of Dubai. Evidently, they really want you to stay here. So we had to book our flight out of Abu Dhabi, which is about a 3-hour bus ride.

At the station, we talk to two very helpful agents, a man originally from Syria and a woman from Egypt. They help us straighten out the rather confusing arrangements for the bus trip, and also tell us a little about life in Dubai. They caution us not to jaywalk, because the police enforce it strictly, slapping you with a 100 dollar fine. They are also strict about littering, which is why the streets are so clean. But the police themselves are also policed. They each wear a hat with a camera on it, so headquarters can keep tabs on their activity. If they remove the hat for more than 5 minutes, they get a call from headquarters asking what’s up.

From there, it’s a relatively short walk to the Dubai Frame, which we’d already glimpsed from the metro, but now we have a chance to put ourselves in the picture. And of course, having an aversion to boring poses, we have to ham it up a bit. The Frame, which stands about 500 feet tall, has an elevator in which you can go to the top of it. But there’s a hefty ticket price, so we forego it, as we are intent on doing free today.

So then we jump back on the metro and make our way (on another extremely packed train) toward Palm Jumeirah. Along the way, we pass some of the other uniquely Dubai-shaped buildings we’ve already seen, such as the “H tower” (officially called the One Za-abeel), and the Emirates Towers, which seem to have notches missing from their sides, giving them the appearance of giant Lego blocks.

One structure on our must-see list, which we are able to transfer to our did-see list, is the Cayan Tower, formerly called the Infinity Tower. It’s a residential tower 75 stories tall. But it’s a tower with a twist. Literally. The length of it rotates 90 degrees from base to summit. It’s not the only building in the world that indulges in that kind of architectural yoga, but it’s the tallest. Its spiraling configuration gives more residents a glimpse of the marina, and also reduces exposure to sunlight, making for greater energy efficiency.

After taking two metros and a trolley, we arrive at land’s end, the embarkation point to get out onto this audacious island. After walking through a parking garage, we come to a big lobby where people are buying tram tickets to take them the rest of the way. There are lines of people at ticket windows, and at promotional booths where flashy videos of the Promised Land are being shown on a big screen, and hustlers are hawking various tour packages to impressionable tourists.

We’re rather bewildered about what to do next, but we can see that the fare is 30 dirhams (a little over 8 bucks) each, which strikes us a rather steep, having been paying only a dollar or so for metro fares. But we figure that maybe it’s worth it to stroll along, and maybe dip into, the water at this unique beachfront. (We’ve even brought along our swimming attire just to be prepared should we encounter a tsunami or something.) So we ask one of the hustlers if we can go out and access the beach, and he replies that there are no public beaches on the island..

And upon hearing that, we’re pretty much sold. Not on taking a tour, but on leaving. It appears that we’re expected to shell out our hard-earned dirhams just to go to a posh resort establishment where we can shop for outrageously overpriced unneedful things. Our hesitancy is validated when the hustler, sensing that we are not going to bite, quickly turns to other potential marks.

So it’s back on the trolley for us. But the excursion was certainly not a waste; because when returning, as when going out, we are able to admire the only-in-Dubai architecture. This includes a splendiferous mosque that looks quite old-fashioned and out of place nestled among the sleek modern skyscrapers.

And this time we get a good look at the Burj Al Arab, better known as the sailboat hotel, because that’s what it was designed to look like. It is perhaps the most recognizable building in Dubai, maybe even more so than the Burj Khalifa. Sitting on an artificial island nearly 1000 feet offshore, the Burj Al Arab is the world’s tallest all-suites hotel, and the world’s fifth-tallest hotel overall — and three of the other four tallest are also in the city.

There’s a lot of “est” in Dubai. And we’re having the grand-est time taking it in.

Events occurred: 2/5/2025