Dubai is the city that will more than any other leave you amazed and with a strong sense of wonder. If we had to describe it in a few words, we would say that Dubai is the city of wonders, with its luxurious skyscrapers filling its streets and an endless number of unique attractions that, as Marti would say, “would take months to visit them all!” It’s a place that has something for everyone, from lovers of lively and bustling life, to lovers of Arab culture that can be experienced in the souks of the old city, to those who seek a vacation of relaxation in the many exclusive clubs that can be found.
In short, we truly believe that Dubai can meet every need, whatever your inclinations and requirements may be. Today, however, we would like to tell you about the 5 crazy things we found in Dubai that truly surprised us, or rather – as we say in the title – that literally shocked us.
- The Robot Barman: You heard right! Do you want a special cappuccino? At the Museum of the Future, you can find a “unusual” barista: a friendly little robot that takes your order and immediately gets to work preparing your espresso cappuccino, showing off all its skills (although we found it a bit clumsy, to be honest). But it doesn’t end there because in the same environment, while you enjoy your cappuccino, you can observe another robot that left us with our jaws dropped: a flying penguin that roams around the room and leaves everyone looking up to watch it. We didn’t enter the actual museum, but even just from our cappuccino at the entrance, we felt like we were catapulted into the future.
- The Palm: You’ve often heard of artificial islands. What you may not know is that in Dubai, there is an immense artificial island, shaped like a palm tree, which has become one of the most exclusive areas for the presence of local clubs, exclusive clubs, and beautiful beaches where you can enjoy the sun and sea of Dubai.
- The Ski Slope in the Mall: At “The Mall of the Emirates,” you will find a real ski slope inside the mall (complete with a cable car!). At the entrance to the facility, you will be provided with all the “mountain” equipment and you’ll be ready to head to the ski lift for a nice ski run! Needless to say, we were also speechless in this case. But the surprises don’t end here: moving to the Dubai Mall – the largest shopping mall in the world (here’s the link to our article about it) – you can find an aquarium full of sharks and an ice skating rink complete with artificial snow falling from the ceiling.
- The Air-Conditioned Bus Shelters: You know our half-broken bus shelters where we wait for buses every day? In Dubai, instead, they are real air-conditioned “lounges” (and beware of the temperature changes haha), where you can wait for the bus in the cool with Wi-Fi (ps. Transportation in Dubai is super efficient, here’s our article about the Dubai Metro).
- The Global Village: Have you always wanted to have the world at your fingertips? This is the feeling you’ll have as soon as you set foot in the Global Village, a kind of Expo (although perhaps it’s reductive to call it that) in which you can find pavilions from all the countries in the world, where typical products and delicacies of every kind are displayed. What really fascinated us is that every area of the world has its specific architecture, complete with monuments and iconic symbols that represent it: from the Leaning Tower of Pisa, to the Thai markets, to the typical Eastern homes in the shape of a pagoda.
We visited it a bit hastily, but we recommend dedicating at least half a day to it.
And now tell us, have you ever found anything similar in other cities?
