Dubai means shopping...

And shopping means the day has got to be GREAT! :) 

As you might have guessed, I decided to take an adventure to Dubai today. It started with about an hour drive to a place called Ibn Buttatta (just a "city" within Dubai). The view wasn't all that pretty...mostly sand. 

There was this neat building:

Once I arrived in Ibn Buttatta, I had to navigate to the train station. I decided to go to the Dubai Mall and see the Burj Kalifa - so off I went! It really helps that all signs are in both Arabic and English - otherwise I would have been totally lost! :p

I started out in zone 39 and had to go to 25 - about a 45 minute ride. 

This was the outside of the train station (or subway? Tram? I'm not entirely sure what to call it.)

The train ran on this bridge structure:

The view of downtown Dubai from Ibn Buttatta:

There are so many neat buildings in Dubai - the architecture is truly amazing! 

Luckily for me, the train station for zone 25 is actually connected to the Mall, so I avoided going outside all day! (It's still in the 90s here!) 

Now this mall is no ordinary mall...I though the malls in Abu Dhabi were big - this one was HUGE! I spent about six hours here and didn't see it all! 

One part of the mall is the Souk. This is traditionally where you go to do some "haggling". Unsurprisingly, I'm terrible at it. It's hard to get used to arguing over the price of things - especially when you have no idea how much it is actually worth. I suggest doing research if you have anything in particular that you want to buy. One thing that was definitely on my radar was a nice scarf, and after some practice I got a scarf originally at 150AED to 30AED! 

This mall has many neat feautures...like an aquarium, a dinosaur, and a waterfall!

I was disappointed to find out the Dino was actually from Wyoming...but it was still neat! 

As always, the mall provided some much needed humor. My favorite "interesting" things included a Pinnicio shop: 

I loved this little Mario - made me miss playing video games though!! (There is a Wii room at the Accomadation, I might have to play some Super Mario Brothers!)

There was a whole section devoted to shoes! It amazes me what some of the "high fashion" places consider to be good taste...

Yes, that is a fuzzy sneaker. Why would someone put fuzz on a sneaker? Well...it doesn't rain too much here, so I guess they don't have to worry about puddles...but gee. 

What you find in the gift stores can be considered true treasure! The most interesting things are here! Camels are a popular focus:

(It's a coffee mug!)

(A keychain family!)

I did some fancy perfume shopping! It is not for those with sensitive noses!! But it was fun getting to select my own scents and whatnot to put into my perfume! 

Of course, what kind of tourist would I be without a tacky "I heart Dubai" photo?!

After many hours of shopping and looking around, I failed to find a door leading to the outside. That mall was such a maze - it's amazing I made it back. I did manage to find a window looking out to the Burj Kalifa - the tallest building in the world! It was pretty tall,  it I think they cheated by putting that spike up there..

 Overall, it was a great day!

Word to the wise: wear sneakers. Flats may look cute, but blisters do not.