Day 3 (2024) Dubai JBR Beach, Souks Deira, and The One and Only

October 13, 2024

Visited Highlights:

• Dubai Marina Beach / JBR
• Ain Dubai (Ferris Wheel)
• Bluewaters Plaza / Mall / Walk / Bridge
• Spice Souk & Gold Souk Deira
• The One & Only Mirage / The One & Only The Palm

On a cozy +36 degrees, we are heading to Dubai as a trio today! My cousin has taken a break for two days this week for a girls' trip. I’m grateful that I won’t have to drive to Dubai this time… the city traffic... a nightmare!

We drive to Dubai Marina, park in the garage, and walk along the beach promenade (Marina / JBR) over the pedestrian bridge to Bluewaters Plaza, Mall, and the Ain Dubai Ferris wheel (by the way, it is closed for maintenance - we have never seen it open).

In the mall, we cool off for a moment in the air conditioning, take a stroll (Madame Tussauds is here among others), and then head back to the promenade. We stop for lunch at Catch22, a trendy food chain that is currently very popular on social media like TikTok and INSTA (they say they have particularly crazy and amazing desserts).

We all have a salad for lunch and then want to indulge in one of the crazy desserts.

We decide to order the 'Special' dessert with the catchy name “The Kitchen Sink Sundae” to share among the three of us. It looks pretty big in the picture...

At some point, the music in the restaurant stops, ‘Ice Ice Baby’ plays, and the entire staff of the Catch22 restaurant comes to our table in line, waving flags and holding sparklers, singing along. 🥳

An employee brings our dessert, which is really a small 'kitchen' with a huge bowl of ice cream scoops (we count 12 scoops of vanilla & chocolate ice cream!!! 😱😱😱), in front of it are 4 containers with sprinkles, Smarties, marshmallows, chocolate balls, garnished with chocolate wafers, Oreo cookies, a syringe (filled with caramel sauce) and chocolate sauce is flowing from the 'kitchen faucet'!!! INCREDIBLE!!!!!

We are going to burst!!!! 😂🤣

Yes - we cannot finish it (maybe that’s for the best 😂)

The last 3-4 scoops of ice cream are left. We also don’t finish the sprinkles and marshmallows. But it was delicious! Such craziness...

Sated and cooled down, we head back out into the heat and continue by car to Deira. The souk is on the agenda. In the parking garage next door (for a few years now, you don't have to park on the dusty parking lot in glaring sun anymore) we find a parking spot and walk to the spice souk. It's always nice to look at, but the insistence of the sellers really annoys me. Conveniently, my two companions have blonde hair and are approached first - 'Shakira, Shakira' can be heard from all sides.... annoying!

But well, I'm used to it. Smile politely, decline, and keep walking.

We walk through the entire souk; I decline the purchase of a cashmere scarf multiple times (PEOPLE; it’s nearly 40 degrees!!!! I’m not buying a scarf!) and we reach the Gold Souk. It’s also fascinating to see. I’m not into the ‘kitsch,’ but really impressive what's available. It’s definitely worth seeing and always exciting.

Since we need to pass the time until dinner, we treat ourselves to a 'taxi boat' ride across Dubai Creek for 5 dirhams per person (just over €1).

In the late afternoon, we head back towards Dubai Marina, but this time aiming for 'The One & Only Mirage' hotel. It’s rush hour - it takes us a while to reach the entrance through the gated area.

In front of the hotel, we switch to a golf buggy that takes us to the bar 'Jetty Lounge' by the sea, from where the shuttle boat to 'The One & Only the Palm' leaves every 30 minutes, where we have reserved a table for dinner.

Due to rush hour, we miss the boat by 5 minutes, but we sit in the bar and have a drink. It’s nice here, but I don't want to know what a night in the hotel costs when I see how much a water bottle costs here 😱🙈

With the next shuttle boat, we pass the hotels on the 'palm trunk' and then head to the outer tip of the palm for the restaurant.

I eat delicious truffle pasta and treat myself to a cocktail. Cheers to our girls’ day in Dubai! Family gathering, but different 🤩🥳

Around 9 PM, we head back to Abu Dhabi..... and tomorrow again to Dubai 😂