If you guys have any suggestions for the cities I'm visiting, please share...
02-18-2009, 06:13 AM
#13
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This probably goes without saying but if you miss the smorgasbord at the Grand Hotel
in Stockholm your trip will have been wasted.
I would also strongly suggest you try and make Vienna happen. Even a day is amazing.
The trip looks amazing. Enjoy.<ul><li><a href="http://www.grandhotel.se/in_english/restaurant_bar/grands_veranda/smorgasbord.asp">http://www.grandhotel.se/in_english/restaurant_bar/grands_veranda/smorgasbord.asp</a</li></ul>
I would also strongly suggest you try and make Vienna happen. Even a day is amazing.
The trip looks amazing. Enjoy.<ul><li><a href="http://www.grandhotel.se/in_english/restaurant_bar/grands_veranda/smorgasbord.asp">http://www.grandhotel.se/in_english/restaurant_bar/grands_veranda/smorgasbord.asp</a</li></ul>
02-18-2009, 08:05 AM
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Estonia was pretty sweet. You can take a helicopter over there and get in about 30 mins
When I was there, it started to rain something fierce, thankfully after a half day of walking around and checking things out.
Buddies and I found a bar, hunkered down, and started migling with the local ladies doing the same thing.
Then a bunch of crazed Scots came in the bar, kilts and all. Turns out they had just landed and came straight to the bar. Said they'd been drinking the whole flight, and didnt wanna stop. Crazy people, those Scots.
Buddies and I found a bar, hunkered down, and started migling with the local ladies doing the same thing.
Then a bunch of crazed Scots came in the bar, kilts and all. Turns out they had just landed and came straight to the bar. Said they'd been drinking the whole flight, and didnt wanna stop. Crazy people, those Scots.
02-18-2009, 08:16 AM
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Some Dubai stuff...
...it's a constant work in progress, and will feel more like a sandy version of Singapore than a tourist destination, although tourism gets just as much promotion as trade. It's the world's biggest trade show, disguised as a city. I go there on a regular basis (twice since December and again in March). But you can say you were there when they only had 1.5 million people, versus the 10 million population they expect in less than 10 years. At some point, try to get a view from a taller building (try the bar at the Emirates Towers Hotel) so you can appreciate the immensity of this place.
Getting around is easy (not for pedestrians), and cabs are relatively cheap. Rush hour traffic on the Sheikh Zayed Road will slow you down, though, so hang out somewhere and stay off this highway between 4 and 6:30 p.m.
Weather will probably be a disappointment this time of year--Feb and early March can be overcast or just weirdly hazy, on top of the brown smog.
If you have the means to stay at the Madinat Jumeirah, or just visit there, go for it. It's essentially at the foot of the Burj Al Arab, the iconic hotel on the water, so phenomenal views. Think Ritz, but with Arabian charm and a bit of Disney scale, water taxis and an enormous souk attached. Many restaurants with helpful amounts of alcohol are on site. BTW, alcohol can be found at hotels and some clubs, but be prepared to pay a premium for it. Wine, especially; beer, less so. Remember that virtually everything served in restaurants or hotels is shipped in--one guy told me that 97 percent of his restaurant's food comes from out of the country. Go figure.
Skip the Burj Al Arab itself--unless you have an in, you won't get past the gate. And the restaurant at the top is mediocre and stuffy, considering the prices and ambience. You're much better off at the restaurant (still $$$) at the end of the pier in front of the Madinat Jumeirah, next door.
Be aware that the authorities have been closing beaches lately because e. coli counts have been so high they're uncountable. Despite regulations, there's plenty of unauthorized dumping of sewage into the Gulf by local sewer services. Be advised. And no sex on the beach. (BBC: Oct 16, 2008 ... A British man and woman are found guilty of having sex on a beach in Dubai and sentenced to three months in prison.)
Speaking of sand activities, think about an off-road vehicle excursion. I haven't done it yet, but it looks like you can go inland and rip up some dunes in various 4WD vehicles.
If you want to see some more conventional Dubai cars, Lambos, Ferraris, etc., they come out at night and drive up and down the Jumeirah Road, parallel to the beach, and up to the new Marina area, where the old Ritz and the new Jumeirah Beach Residence towers sit. Lots of shops and restaurants to sit and ogle from.
Other random stuff:
- the new Atlantis hotel is open on the Palm Jumeirah.
- lots of developments (residential and commercial) have visitor centers with scale models the size of aircraft carriers (Business Bay, for instance). The most outrageous of these is the Dubailand visitor center, which is out of town, but would blow your mind if you got there.
- In that same neck of the nape, the Tiger Woods course is nearly done, but the residential development around it is not.
- the ski hill in the Mall of the Emirates is kind of meh from the inside, really more of a bunny hill. They're building a bigger one, of course. And the bigger mall (Dubai Mall) is now open--allegedly the biggest in the world.
- oh, and no visas to get in, just your passport--it's like flying into Cancun. You probably already knew this.
That's all I can think of. I'll attach some pics.
Madinat Jumeirah water taxis:
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/88822/dscf0056.jpg">
Toward "downtown" and the Burj Dubai from the Burj Al Arab helipad (don't ask how I got up there):
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/88822/dscf0074.jpg">
And the other direction, toward the Marina.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/88822/dscf0076.jpg">
Getting around is easy (not for pedestrians), and cabs are relatively cheap. Rush hour traffic on the Sheikh Zayed Road will slow you down, though, so hang out somewhere and stay off this highway between 4 and 6:30 p.m.
Weather will probably be a disappointment this time of year--Feb and early March can be overcast or just weirdly hazy, on top of the brown smog.
If you have the means to stay at the Madinat Jumeirah, or just visit there, go for it. It's essentially at the foot of the Burj Al Arab, the iconic hotel on the water, so phenomenal views. Think Ritz, but with Arabian charm and a bit of Disney scale, water taxis and an enormous souk attached. Many restaurants with helpful amounts of alcohol are on site. BTW, alcohol can be found at hotels and some clubs, but be prepared to pay a premium for it. Wine, especially; beer, less so. Remember that virtually everything served in restaurants or hotels is shipped in--one guy told me that 97 percent of his restaurant's food comes from out of the country. Go figure.
Skip the Burj Al Arab itself--unless you have an in, you won't get past the gate. And the restaurant at the top is mediocre and stuffy, considering the prices and ambience. You're much better off at the restaurant (still $$$) at the end of the pier in front of the Madinat Jumeirah, next door.
Be aware that the authorities have been closing beaches lately because e. coli counts have been so high they're uncountable. Despite regulations, there's plenty of unauthorized dumping of sewage into the Gulf by local sewer services. Be advised. And no sex on the beach. (BBC: Oct 16, 2008 ... A British man and woman are found guilty of having sex on a beach in Dubai and sentenced to three months in prison.)
Speaking of sand activities, think about an off-road vehicle excursion. I haven't done it yet, but it looks like you can go inland and rip up some dunes in various 4WD vehicles.
If you want to see some more conventional Dubai cars, Lambos, Ferraris, etc., they come out at night and drive up and down the Jumeirah Road, parallel to the beach, and up to the new Marina area, where the old Ritz and the new Jumeirah Beach Residence towers sit. Lots of shops and restaurants to sit and ogle from.
Other random stuff:
- the new Atlantis hotel is open on the Palm Jumeirah.
- lots of developments (residential and commercial) have visitor centers with scale models the size of aircraft carriers (Business Bay, for instance). The most outrageous of these is the Dubailand visitor center, which is out of town, but would blow your mind if you got there.
- In that same neck of the nape, the Tiger Woods course is nearly done, but the residential development around it is not.
- the ski hill in the Mall of the Emirates is kind of meh from the inside, really more of a bunny hill. They're building a bigger one, of course. And the bigger mall (Dubai Mall) is now open--allegedly the biggest in the world.
- oh, and no visas to get in, just your passport--it's like flying into Cancun. You probably already knew this.
That's all I can think of. I'll attach some pics.
Madinat Jumeirah water taxis:
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/88822/dscf0056.jpg">
Toward "downtown" and the Burj Dubai from the Burj Al Arab helipad (don't ask how I got up there):
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/88822/dscf0074.jpg">
And the other direction, toward the Marina.
<img src="http://pictureposter.audiworld.com/88822/dscf0076.jpg">