First Skyscraper in Dubai: the World Trade Center

The World Trade Centre building was constructed out in the desert of Dubai in 1979. This is a newish city, so "Old Dubai" is around the creek area, because that's where trading happened, near the port. The trade center area now kind of bridges the old city and the new city. The Big Bus tour narration tells us that Queen Elizabeth commissioned the construction of this first skyscraper in Dubai as a gesture of goodwill and to encourage the business interests of the area. It's a cool old building, and even in the 1990s it still looked kind of lonely.

But the lonely times are over for the trade center building and this area is a bustling part of Dubai, which is today a city of over 2 million people. The building is 39 stories, standing at 489 feet. The Trade Center roundabout is the artery of the neighborhood, and can be a monstrous troll, whom at certain times of day will not let you pass for up to 30 minutes. I see the trade center building driving home everyday.

And I can see the trade center building from my apartment, below is the view from my bedroom window on the 37th floor of Latifa Tower.

There are several swanky hotels in the area, some that contain several unique lounges, my favorites are on the rooftops. There are no less than 3 Irish bars within walking distance of my apartment building. There is some sort of zoning allowance, probably grandfathered in because they've been operating for a while, which allows these standalone bars to operate outside of a hotel. Otherwise bars are usually connected to a hotel. There are tons of good restaurants, plenty of places to get schwarma or shisha, all open late, but there are also plenty of 24 hour fast food places, notably Tim Hortons and McDonalds at the foot of my building, which has excellent people-watching at 3am... I love this fun neighborhood, living in this area makes living in Dubai even more interesting. I rarely go to "ladies nights," but almost every night of the week there is a deal somewhere around here where a lady can get a free drink. Friday night at Stables there is free champagne, they say there is no limit, but I'd like to find out if they mean it... It's actually delicious!