Bucket List: Dubai, Burj Khalifa, Tallest Sky Scrapers in
the World
Most of my younger generation followers most likely do not
have a bucket list, and certainly don’t think much about such things as go
about their busy lives. But let me
assure you as you grow older, a bucket list is an important aspect of your life
as you grow old.
Several dictionaries define a “Bucket List” as follows:
“a list of things that a person wishes to
do or hasn’t done before but wants to do before he/she dies or grows too old to
do.”
“a number of life experiences or accomplishments that an
individual hopes to have achieved, accomplished or simply experienced during
their lifetime, but has not has the opportunity to do so in the past.”
Well, when it comes to my bucket list, the list grows
shorter every year as I continue scratch off one or two items at a time. For more than a decade, visiting the modern
Dubai of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been number one on my Bucket
List…..But, NOT any more. This will be
one of several blogs regarding my UAE visit and what I saw and experienced!
I have always been fascinated by skyscrapers since I was a
small boy growing up in Ohio. At the
time it was built, the Terminal Tower (771 ft. tall) was the largest building
in the world outside of New York City. I
had a chance to go to the top when I was in college, and that was just the
beginning. Since then, I have gone to
the Empire State building in New York City; the Sears Tower in Chicago; the
Eiffel Tower in Paris; Taipei 101 in Taiwan; the Twin Petronas Towers in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia; and skyscrapers in Yokohama, Japan; Shanghai and Beijing,
China, and Many more. For decades, the
tallest buildings struggled to approach or achieve a height of 1500 to 1900 ft.
or more. Only in the last decade has
architects achieved modern skyscraper marvels over 2000 ft. tall. While I can’t visit everyone, I just had to
visit the Burj Khalifa (over 2717 feet tall and 160 stories, originally known
as the Burj Dubai).
Courtesy of various Web Images
There are other taller buildings under
plan and at least one under construction.
The Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia started construction in 2013
and is said to be at least 3281 ft. tall or taller when completed.
Courtesy of various Web Images
There are other huge skyscrapers that started construction but stopped for various reasons. The following are some of those stopped projects:
Courtesy of various Web Images
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The BURJ KHALIFA
The Burj Khalifa is located in a new area of
Dubai. It is part of a mega complex
including the Dubai Mall, one of the largest shopping malls in the world and a
number of other exiting tourist attractions.
To visit the 124th floor or 160th floor of this
majestic structure, you can buy tickets at the Burj Khalifa, or on line. The web site ticket price for one adult is
125 AED (approx. $35 USD) for the 124th floor, and 350 AED (approx.
$95 USD) for the 160th floor.
From the Bonnington Hotel, we took their free shuttle
service to the Dubai Mall, and walked for what seems like 1 mile or more
underground in the mall until we reached the entrance of the Burj Khalifa. We picked up our ticket and started our
journey towards the top.
The underground
path to the elevators is also a long journey to "AT THE TOP and along the way there was
immense information, graphics, videos and much more to see describing the
plans, construction design/construction team, etc.
Images on our Journey showing the construction progress timeline:
Just some of the Team that helped plan and build this incredible building
Pictures from the 124th floor:
OMG !! Workers window cleaning about 1/3 of the way up to the top of Burj Khalifa !!!!
The Beautiful Dancing Fountain at the Base of the Burj Khalifa and just outside of the Dubai Mall is a must see. The sound system all around the fountains is amazing, and the images below show just a small part of this huge fountain. The fountain spouts move the water and seemingly dance to the music!
The Dancing Water Show runs at various times of every day
There is so much more to see and do in Dubai so please my next posts for more of this amazing place to visit.
