Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Bucket List

For the past 9 months my kids have been constructing their Dubai Bucket List.  The obvious have included missions like "Ride a camel."  Just as they scratch off one item, they quickly add another in its place.  The camel list alone has evolved from... 

  • ride a camel (check)
  • taste camel milk (check) to....
  • visit camel farm 2 hours away to taste the fresh milk 
  • invite other daddies over for a "Daddy BBQ Camel Cook off" (after discovering camel meat for sale in the butchery)



However at the very tip top of the list, slotted at #1 has always been 
 "Going to the top of the 
Burj Khalifa."


(In case you haven't seen the latest Mission Impossible 4 movie, like myself, and have NO idea what i'm talking about click here to get a visual of the Khalifa.

  
While Riley researched Emirate clothing before our arrival, this guy read everything he could about the World's Tallest Building.  He is our resident expert.  (Scroll to the bottom to see his report.)  In January both kids were elated when their sleepy eyes spotted the landmark upon landing after 16 hours of travel. 


The Burj is visible from pretty much everywhere in Dubai so there is a constant beckoning to my Littles.   "Come to the top... Come to the top..." it seems to whisper.  Our plan was to take a trip up during Spring Break but we discovered one week advanced notice isn't early enough time to get tickets.  Tickets are constantly sold out and we refused to pay the four times pay hike to purchase last minute will call tickets.


Three weeks ago we reserved our time slot to the top and decided to make the night big and festive.




  We started with one of our favorite cuisines, Lebanese.  
(Not sure where the funny red coloring is coming from but i promise no one has been sunburned... yet.)


With outside seats and almost perfect views of the Burj Khalifa overlooking the Dubai fountains we had music and entertainment every 30 minutes.  (Think Bellagio fountains in Vegas only MUCH bigger!)  



This is only about a third of the fountain 





   
Our tickets were for 8:30PM so promptly at 8:15 we entered the World's Largest Mall in order to get in line for the World's Tallest Building.  You'd never know from the outside that they are connected but supposedly they are.  (i am guessing this is NOT the same entrance Tom Cruise used for his movie scene.)




After waiting in line,
Several photo ops

  and some shameless Lego advertising, we finally reached the elevator!


(Again, with the lighting!  Chris really hasn't turned that gray overnight.)  
This trip was all about the kids but i'll confess i really couldn't wait for the elevator ride.  It is supposedly the fastest ear popping elevator trek in the world and i couldn't wait to try it out.


Only problem it is SO fast and smooth by the time i was done snapping this picture and wondering when the lift was going to begin its haul up, i look and see we are already on the 72 floor!  No kidding!  i missed half of the ride up and didn't even know it!!  
(Chris theorizes it really is just a Truman Show conspiracy stunt.  One quick ride inside an elevator to a movie set where mirrors and video screens deceive you into believing you are 124 stories in the air.  Anything is possible in Dubai.) 


Less than a minute ride in a disco ball of an elevator we arrive!  Although there were no dare devil stunts or dramatic music it was still  


the moment he had been waiting for!
The view from the top really is amazing and Kyle had fun searching for familiar buildings from a different vantage point.  Instead of peering up at them, he was looking down.




Bird's eye view of the fountain show.  We realized how huge the water show was from up here.  Those 3 circles are only part of the show.


We took it all in, the city lights, the breeze and the slight sway of the building.   


Standing on the 124th floor and looking up at the remaining floors of the 160 story building you realize again how crazy big this thing is!




There are so many fascinating facts on the building go HERE to read more.  


And because Dubai just isn't Dubai without something quirky and unexpected, i thought i would show you this as i am pretty sure you won't find this fun fact on the above web site...




No, your eyes aren't deceive you that is in fact 
DUCT TAPE. ON. THE. BURJ.  HUH?!?




If little legs are skinny enough, which they just so happen to be around our house, you can slip them through a thin space in the Plexiglas and hang your feet over the side of the 124th story. 


Pretty bucket worthy if you ask me.





We couldn't resist finishing the evening with a classic cheesy tourist picture. 








End result two happy kids and one more box checked off the Bucket List.  






"I want to tell you about the world's tallest building called the Burj-Khalifa.  It is world famous.  The Burj Khalifa started growing on Jan 2004 and was completed on January 2010.  Two men died building the Burj-Khalifa.

The tower was built to sway gently in the wind 10.6 feet.  The biggest problem in building it was keeping the wet concrete from hardening because when the concrete was shot up to only 50ft it can harden almost right away since the temperature can reach 130 degrees in Dubai. 

There are 57 elevators that can go up and down 160 stories at 40 mph!  It's height is 829.84 meters, more than half a mile!  The concrete tower is coated in glass from top to bottom.

A man named Alan Robert tried to climb it.  It took him 6 whole hours to climb the tower!  The day after the grand opening lightning struck the top of the tower.  Fortunately nothing was broken.  Sometimes you cannot see the top of it because of the clouds.  When I go to Dubai I will send you some pictures of the inside."


                           Kyle Burnett
                                        December 2011





3 comments:

Betty said...

Wow - very cool! What a cool thing to have on one's bucket list! Thanks for sharing your experience!

Anonymous said...

Love reading your blog Tammi, My Mom does too. What a sweet family you have!

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