View from the 134th Floor

Note: If you're afraid of heights, don't read this entry.

As I have mentioned before, the tallest building in the world, The Burj Dubai, is being built here. Just down the road from me in fact. I can poke my head around my desk to look out the window and see it. A friend of mine had some visitors last week and somehow they were able to get a tour to the 134th floor (it is currently somewhere around 150 floors I think). Here's what they saw.

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.Our building is along this stretch of road (Sheikh Zayed Road) in the far distance on the opposite side of the road.

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.The green area to the left is the personal golf course of His Royal Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai (This is how he is always referred to on the television and in the press the first time he is mentioned in a story or article. After that he is just plain ol' Sheikh Mohammad.) On the right is Ras al Khor, a salt marsh and bird sanctuary where you can go to see flamingos.

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This green area is Safa Park - open to the pubic. A very nice park with tennis courts, a little train that runs through the park, BBQ and picnic areas, and (thankfully) Ladies private areas. Actually, it's nice that Safa Park is open to men all the time. Some parks, in order to solve the problem of Ladies needing their private place will actually close the gates to men for certain hours of the day. Hmmm, what are dads supposed to do when the kids want to swing?

.Here's a good picture looking toward the old center of Dubai. You can see the Palm Deira being built in the background. This is one of 5 islands being built off the coast of Dubai (they call it land reclamation). When finished, this island will add the equivalent of Paris, France to Dubai. What you see is "trunk" of the palm. It is about 1/3 of the total length that the island will extend out to the sea. The first palm island, the Palm Jumeirah, now has homes and buildings being built on it.

Looking straight down from the tower toward Sheikh Zayed Road, a 12 lane highway going through town. The little yellow thing is actuall a huge crane that is assembling the overpass of the light rail train being built here. See the little cars (smaller than ants) zooming up and down the freeway. Wow, makes me catch my breath even though it's just a photo.