It was my first international trip in the year 2001. I was extremely excited to step on-board the Emirates flight out of Hyderabad headed for Dubai and thereafter a connecting flight to Milan. Travel was not so common those days and hardly any international flights out of Hyderabad. Emirates had some great offers which attracted people like me. Of-course, the most attractive was the price. However apart from that they also offered a night's stay free of cost at a four star hotel for transit passengers.
As this particular blog is about Dubai I am skipping the European leg of my journey, which I can come back to on another day. I took my transit stay offer on the way back from Europe to Hyderabad. After the little more than 5 hour flight I reached Dubai and was scared at the sight of the Arab security guards. They do look menacing. Well after all the formalities at the airport I was escorted in a chauffeur driven car to the 4 star 'Airport Hotel' which was a wonderful hotel near the airport. It was luxurious from within and for a first timer, I felt like royalty. The next day I headed to a mall nearby called the City Center, Deira. I was amazed at the sheer size of the mall and needless to say ended up buying some necessary and a lot of unnecessary things. I didn't have much time and therefore couldn't see much of the city.
I would do injustice to Dubai had I not mentioned the airport. They literally had several palm trees all through the terminal with an array of glittering shops on either sides. It was a spectacular sight to see them make a shopping mall right inside the airport. This "mall" too was packed with visitors buying any and everything to take back to their homeland.
I came back with fond memories and thought how developed they were until I returned back to Dubai for my longest stay (over a week) in the city in November, 2008. I could never have imagined the kind of transformation that this city has gone through in the last 7 years. If I thought they were very developed in the year 2001, then words cannot describe what they are today.....................
(to be continued)
As this particular blog is about Dubai I am skipping the European leg of my journey, which I can come back to on another day. I took my transit stay offer on the way back from Europe to Hyderabad. After the little more than 5 hour flight I reached Dubai and was scared at the sight of the Arab security guards. They do look menacing. Well after all the formalities at the airport I was escorted in a chauffeur driven car to the 4 star 'Airport Hotel' which was a wonderful hotel near the airport. It was luxurious from within and for a first timer, I felt like royalty. The next day I headed to a mall nearby called the City Center, Deira. I was amazed at the sheer size of the mall and needless to say ended up buying some necessary and a lot of unnecessary things. I didn't have much time and therefore couldn't see much of the city.
I would do injustice to Dubai had I not mentioned the airport. They literally had several palm trees all through the terminal with an array of glittering shops on either sides. It was a spectacular sight to see them make a shopping mall right inside the airport. This "mall" too was packed with visitors buying any and everything to take back to their homeland.
I came back with fond memories and thought how developed they were until I returned back to Dubai for my longest stay (over a week) in the city in November, 2008. I could never have imagined the kind of transformation that this city has gone through in the last 7 years. If I thought they were very developed in the year 2001, then words cannot describe what they are today.....................
(to be continued)
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