Just back from a week in Dubai - the land of the sun, surf, dazzling lights, shameless excess - just what the doctor prescribed as an antidote to the depression brought on by a prolonged bout of a dreary winter and an even duller Geneva.
I know that the media would make this city out to be currently in the throes of a cataclysmic crisis, where investors stand ruined and poor labourers toil it out in the sun, aka Egypt when the pyramids are built. The clamour has been exceptionally loud in the British media, which is ironic, considering Brit expats are the most spoilt in Dubai - they live in 4 bedroom villas, get manicures and salon treatments at the drop of a hat, have maids, gardeners and assorted staff and a general level of luxury which they would never be able to afford or have access to back home.
The truth lies somewhere in between - the guys facing financial ruin are likely to have been the very same speculators and developers who created a real estate bubble in the first place, workers face tough conditions, but often have no choice, as the wages they earn provide them with an opportunity to uplift the lives of families back home (as most Europeans would agree- they would rather they did this in the sweltering heat of the desert, than in their own backyards), and the average middle class citizens (most normal people in the city are middle class, they cannot hope to reach the level of wealth of the sheikhs and their extended families) work there and love living there and rejoice when others leave, as it means the roads have less traffic, and the malls are less crowded.
I leave you with my impressions as a tourist in Dubai Mall - the largest mall in the world, set in the district around the Burj Khalifa - currently the tallest building in the world. PS - they just got Bloomingdales.
The Burj at Sunset.....
Candylicious.. the kids have little shopping carts of their own....
Magnolia Cupcakes at Bloomingdales - a perfect snack post an afternoon of retail therapy...
The Flying Men fountain inside the Dubai Mall.....
The Downtown Marina before the dancing fountain starts......
The Dancing Fountain at Sunset.......
