I am sitting in an extravagantly beautiful cocktail lounge called Bahri on the edge of the Persian Gulf, staring at a strange hotel (7 stars ⭐️😮?!) shaped like a ship sail, drinking a ridiculously good cocktail at a happy hour price. The fact that this place is not overrun with tourists is an absolute mystery to me because I was paying this for a bad glass of wine on the roof of my hotel.
Dubai is full of secrets with great rewards if you take the time to step off the tourist track, make a few new friends, and open your mi s beyond the “safe and known”. Case in point, I could’ve gone out to the expo fairgrounds and stood in line and paid a bunch of money to get a Covid test so I can return to the US tomorrow, or I could have a service come directly to my hotel room this morning for the same price. There’s really no choice there, is there? LOL. Also, Uber‘s are here, but they are just really for people with extra money or afraid to explore the local alternatives like an app called Careem that will call a taxi for you, or a private car like an Uber, after a fraction of the price that Uber is operating at here. It’s what all the Expats use – you just have to ask.
I more or less gave up on Expo 2020 a couple of days ago. It was overrun with people, the lines to get into things were just incredibly massive, and I can do my research about countries online. I decided my time was better spent exploring Dubai, because this is a place that you’ll never understand until you spend a few days on the ground here, and even then, you probably still won’t really. 
Dubai reminds me of Las Vegas, except for the sheiks, I mean. Everything here is bigger than the next thing more interesting than the next thing, more expensive than the next thing – it’s very Las Vegas. And much like Las Vegas, money flows from every orifice of this city. The conspicuous display of wealth is mindnumbing, as Ferraris and Lamborghinis race passed each other on the expressways. Buildings take on strange forms here as one architect tries to out-architect the others. Shopping malls take on otherworldly proportions and I’m just shocked that one of them has not eclipsed Mall of America yet. I was in a mall that has a skiing hill in it, for real. Actually, it’s a whole little Winter Park. Thank you, I will pass.
But if you look hard enough for it, there is also an ancient heartbeat here in the old town. Yes, there’s a lot of money flowing down there too, like in the Gold Souk (market) where there are probably literally tons of gold on display and for sale in the shops.  But there are also old men on the sidewalk sitting and talking, and real stores for real Arabs that look ancient and are filled with curious wares that we in the United States didn’t know we needed. Like hookahs. LOL. And spices. And fabric covered with sequins and stones 🤩. There will be more to come, but I’m going to finish my happy hour drinks with my million dollar view and head back to my room to pack so I’ll just post a few photos for the moment.
I head to the airport at 2:30 a.m. with more questions than answers about Dubai, world fairs in general, and life as we know it.
But here is just a brief few from Cindiland. Enjoy.