DAY LIKE EVERYDAY
It seems to be a day like every day, without much momentum. While anything in Dubai can be accused of no momentum. People lazily wander the streets, you can not see shopping in New Year's stores. In Poland, on New Year's eve, around noon, the store shelves are swept away and every outgoing customer has vodka and Russian igristoje champagne in the basket. Of course, chips. Girls' networks are undergoing a recent siege, as latecomers are still looking for shiny creations. There is peace in Dubai. There are no crowds in the shopping center, and at most people swirl around the ski slope using a free Saturday.
We spent New Year's Eve riding to the phenomenal Palm Jumeirah and walking around Atlantis. There were no preparations for New Year's Eve there. When we went to the sunset at Burj al Arab, we finally noticed something else. It was about 18 and families with children began to gather, bringing food, blankets, even tents to the beaches. There were picnics on the beach. We sat down calmly enjoying the setting sun and planning the rest of the night. The biggest New Year's Eve, of course, took place at Burj Khalifa, but we let go of this thought, because our dream was not standing from 15:00 in Dubai Mall and guarding the place until midnight to see a fireworks show lasting several minutes. On the other hand, the thought of spending New Year's Eve on a warm beach was extremely tempting. We headed towards the hotel,
The route from the hotel back to the beaches seemed endless. Dubai is getting stuck and the bus gets stuck in a giant traffic jam. It crossed my mind that we wouldn't get to midnight, even though it was only 21:00. Another surprise - on a bus full of people, there were only two women - me and other tourism. It is sad that the Emirates spend such a day separately, without their other halves. After an hour and a half we finally arrived at the beach. Along the way, we caught up with a grocery store, where I was thinking that it would be possible to buy champagne. Of course, it ended up with non-alcoholic beer. On the beach near Burj Al Arab it was crowded, people sang, danced and enjoyed.
Just before midnight, the atmosphere felt hot. People looked expectantly at the sail, turning every now and then towards Burj Khalifa seen in the distance. It struck midnight, everyone began to enjoy and shout Happy New Year. Fireworks from Burj Al Arab fired to create beautiful colorful illumination. An amazing spectacle of lights and you have to admit that Sylwster in Dubai looks really impressive!
The show lasted about 15 minutes, in the meantime, despite the distance, you could look at Burj Khalifa, from which fireworks fired from all sides. Atlantis also showed what he can do to create a firework spectacle.
New Year's greeting around Burj Khalifa:
I don't know if you know, but in 2014 Dubai was included in the Guinness Book of Records thanks to the largest fireworks show of all time. The entire show was designed by the American pyrotechnic artist Phil Grucci, who took 10 months to plan a six-minute show that lit up the showy 160-story skyscraper Burj Khalifa, and also 58 kilometers of pearl beach.
Can you imagine a non-alcoholic New Year's Eve? In Dubai, due to the fact that Sharia law does not allow the sale of alcohol in public places, this day was also non-alcoholic. People had fun on the beach without interest and looked satisfied. It's such a nice reverse to what we see in Poland. No broken bottles, drunk and staggering people, no sprays of champagne. We were really surprised that it was so ordinary and ... culturally.
The problem arose when we wanted to go back to the hotel. The streets were so jammed that they became quite impassable and we spent the charming 4 hours waiting first for the bus that was supposed to go, then we gave up knowing that there was no chance of return and we would probably have to wait until morning. Taxis are everywhere in Dubai, and you couldn't catch any on that night! Finally, after a few hours of waiting, I managed to catch Uber and drove us calmly to the hotel passing the main streets and showing us the stunning night view.
Have you ever spent New Year's Eve in some amazing place? Have you thought about spending New Year's Eve in Dubai?
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