Burj Khalifa
January 10, 2010So, the Burj Khalifa opened this last week. Did we witness it? No. I was down with the flu and Daddybird was at Bu Qtair eating fish with friends and neither of us knew exactly what time the fireworks would be set off, so we missed it.
Those of you in America may have gotten sick of hearing about it due to the extravagance of the whole thing, however, it was a very important event for residents of Dubai and hopefully, all of the U.A.E. It is an unifying icon, not unlike the Statue of Liberty or Eiffel Tower, a symbol for a citizenry that is a minority in their own country and for the non-citizens who love this country and call it home.
You have to remember this is a very young country by world standards. We just celebrated 38 years in December. It is also a very small country. The U.A.E. is 1/3 the size of our home state of Oregon. Oregon is just under 3% of the U.S.A. geographically, (if my math is correct.) And, one could complain about all the wealth and the flaunting of it, but I think there is some justice in the fact that the people who lived in one of the most inhospitable places on the earth (pre-air conditioning) should be sitting on top of a “gold mine” of oil. Secondly, stop complaining about oil rich Arabs while you drive around burning up fossil fuels, but I digress.
Anyway, it was not just a spectacular spectacle, but a nationally important event and very moving to the people who live here.
CNN has a good video of the event – Click here
Pictures – click here and here
And for pictures showing how they will keep all those (23,000) windows clean – click here
For more on the importance of the Burj to people, read our friend Lara Dunston’s blog – Cool Travel Guide.
The crowds are lining up for hours to go up to the observation deck on the 124th floor (out of 160 floors). It will probably be some time before we go up there ourselves, but I am sure we will take a photo or two to share when we do.
Living the Travel Channel 
I can not agree more with the Burj being a unifying icon in the country. It does not only unify Emaraties but it is a symbol of pride and unity for all who consider the UAE as home away from home
Thanks for the pictures of the window washing equipment. I am sure that, should I ever get to Dubai, I won’t be on the observation deck 124 stories up! The pictures give me nightmares! I hope they pay those roped washers a LOT of money!