The Al Fahidi fort ...contd

Here are some more pictures as a continuation of the last post.

The Al Fahidi fort

I've been in Dubai for several years now but must concede that I had never been to the famous Al Fahidi fort since my arrival in Dubai. I had passed by the fort on a number of occasions and had always wanted to stop and visit the site.

This weekend was a good time to go down to Bur Dubai and visit the fort.


Built in 1799, the structure is probably one of the oldest in the city. Built with the primary objective of protecting the city from attacks via the sea, the structure lies on the banks of the Dubai creek, close to the abra stations. The fort now houses the Dubai museum which was opened in 1971 and provides a fascinating peek into Dubai's history and culture.

The fort has an underground gallery of artifacts depicting Dubai's history and traditions.

Check out some more pics here

The tradition of fishing

Over the years in Dubai, I had never ever come across a local Emarati fisherman so it was quite an exciting sight to see this young Emarati fixing his nets on the beach. Dubai is steeped in the tradition of fishing and it was interesting to see that a lot of this tradition is still evident. The young man spent almost 4 hours all by himself weaving a net while his toddler played alongside in the sand. As I started talking to him, it was evident to me that this young man was well educated and well traveled.

But he was so passionate about his family's traditional occupation - fishing. He told about the boats that he keeps and a few interesting stories from his experiences.

Read more about UAE and fishing here

Abras

I know I have discussed abras in one of the early posts on this blog. But I could not resist sharing some of my recent ones!! I enjoy every bit of the ride on the abras and usually end up taking a few once I get to the pier. I guess an abra ride is the real experience of Dubai. On both sides of the creek one sees and experiences the hustle and bustle of traditional traders peddling their wares.

Al Qasba

Had the opportunity to go down to Sharjah and visit the popular Al Qasba (formerly Qanat Al Qasba) area. Being the weekend, the place was buzzing with activity.

Al Qasba is a specially developed facility for families and tourists and brings together culture, art, restaurants and general entertainment for the family. It has a general feeling of fun with loads of games (including a giant ferris wheel), several restaurants, abra rides and entertainment shows.

more here

A Venetian Experience at Mercato Mall

Today's weekend trip to Mercato Mall was a truly Venetian experience. The mall has been specially dressed up in venetian style with a variety of programs including a DSF carnevale, a masquerade museum and a mask making workshop.




The renaissance style shopping mall is located along Beach Road in Jumeirah 1. The architecture brings out true Italian and Spanish flavours.

Designed by a famous Italian architect Daniele Moreli, the interiors of the mall are designed along the concept of several squares from a typical Mediterranean town.




Head out to Mercato mall for a Venetian costume parade and other Italian performers specially flown in for the occasion.

Al Qusais (al Ghusais)

Al Qusais (also spelt Al Ghusais) is a suburb located towards the North Eastern edge of Dubai city bordering the emirate of Sharjah.

Al Qusais is today a popular residential suburb of Dubai but it was in fact the site of an important settlement and cemetery. Based on excavations in the early 70s, it is believed that settlements existed in Al Qusais as early as the first millinium.

Historical research shows the existance of large number of copper and bronze vessels in the areas from ancient times.

Al Qusais is now a bustling area with a largely asian population.

Dubai Media City

Dubai Media City (DMC), a specially developed hub of media related business activities lies along the Sheikh Zayed Road (SZR) towards the southern end of Dubai. Some of the organisations location in DMC include Bang and Olufsen, BBC, Axiom Telecom, MBC, Saatchi and Saatchi, and Star TV,

Mushrif Park

The long Eid holidays provided a good opportunity to explore places I'd not been to before.

Mushrif Park is a huge facility spread across 5.25 square kilometres located on the eastern outskirts of the city. Go across the Emirates Road on the Khawaneej Road heading towards Mirdiff. Look for directions about 4 kilometres ahead and turn right to get into the park facility.

Mushrif Park was created in the late 70's and was later refurbished in 1989 into its present layout. This park is a bit different from other parks in Dubai as it combines neatly manicured lawns and flower beds with the natural desert feel and foliage.

The large size of the park gives you the feeling of space and quiet. Even though it attracts as many visitors as the other popular parks in Dubai, Mushrif Park always looks peaceful and without the clutter seen in other parks during holidays.

The other unique feature of this park is the vast areas left intact with their natural desert like feel.

Coordinates: 25°13′10″N 55°27′02″E