Getting to the Hotels at The Palm Jumeirah Requires Going Underwater

by Willy Volk on

While the glorious Palm Jumeirah — an island shaped like a huge palm tree — will house more than 20 hotels and other high-end facilities, getting people to the man-made island was a design challenge. Rather than build a road over the water — which would disrupt the look of the palm — engineers decided to build an underwater tunnel.

Connecting the tip of the island’s trunk to the crescent, the project is gargantuan in scope, involving 200,000 cubic meters of reinforced concrete, and requiring the construction of dykes and a dam to keep the water out. The entire project is expected to be completed in May 2007.

While I’m impressed by the engineering involved in this project — and I have no doubt getting to the island just got a lot more fun — I’m guessing pumping out the seawater and dredging the area devastated the local environment.

[Via Luxist]

Abu Dhabi to Get A Louvre, Two

by Willy Volk on

Everyone knows how beautiful the artwork inside Paris’ Louvre is. However, since not everyone can travel to Paris, wouldn’t it be cool if the Louvre could “franchise” itself so people the world over could enjoy the pieces? Guess what? Yesterday, France’s culture minister confirmed that he will approve the construction of a satellite museum in Abu Dhabi: a Louvre 2.

Experts have estimated the multi-faceted deal — which calls for the Louvre to lend its name, expertise, and some of its art to the branch in the United Arab Emirates — could be worth as much as $1 billion to France. While critics charge that France is trading its heritage for profit, the director of that country’s national museum service said France has an obligation to share its art treasures with the world.

Abu Dhabi is in the midst of creating a $27-billion “cultural district” on Saadiyat Island, hoping to attract prestigious art museums and turn the city into a tourist destination. So far, the only other group to sign on is the Guggenheim, which is in the midst of building a $400-million museum on Saadiyat.

[Photo: Bonita711]

Christmas in Dubai

by Adrienne Wilson on

When the Christmas holiday season rolls around I do my part to spread the holiday cheer by putting cards in the mail to all my loved ones and co-workers from past and present. Since I can’t supply the world with gifts I find cards usually suffice for most, but there was one Christmas I remember feeling crushed. A girlfriend of mine who I’d known from high school called me after receiving the card only to say, “Sorry, I don’t celebrate Christmas.” I was stunned. What did she mean she didn’t celebrate Christmas? She had when we were classmates, but times had changed and with her marriage she converted to Islam. Christmas no longer existed in her world. Fine, I thought! I’d never send her another Christmas card or anyone else again. Bah-humbug! Instead I would send Seasons Greetings cards and if anyone made so much as a yelp then they’d get a lump of coal! Simple enough, I think. Can’t we all live harmoniously during such a harmonious time?

The answer is ‘yes’ in Dubai. In this Go World Travel piece on Christmas in Dubai the author takes us through the Wafi City Mall where she finds a 50-foot tall Christmas tree in the lobby and Santa’s Village upstairs. Every kind of Christmas design and decoration you could find or imagine from the Western world was in Santa’s Village. Elves, gingerbread houses, penguins and polar bears all hung out. Dubai is said to be full of surprises, but this was one the writer and even I was blown away by reading. Dubai’s majority are Sunni Muslim, however it is the only emirate to accommodate foreign minorities. Go figure. I never would have thought something like this, but the story makes it real and is an awesome read should you find yourself wondering how Christmas is celebrated in other parts of the world.

Perhaps I should even forward it to my girlfriend.