1001 events – The Interiors Addict

I’ve left one of the best things until last and I’m bringing you a real treat today. Dubai’s Pearl Museum knocked my socks off and I still feel very lucky to have had the chance to look around. Not having done my research, I imagined something quite cute and touristy and that I might get the chance to make a few holiday purchases for myself! I’m English and have always loved the classic look of pearl jewellery. Birthday presents from my dad and sister over the years have allowed me to build quite a collection. But when we got to this museum, housed in the National Bank of Dubai no less, I soon realised there was no gift shop and, if there had been, it would be seriously out of my price range!

While the museum is technically open to anyone, you have to be in a group and to make an appointment some time in advance, so we have our wonderful host Xavier from 1001 Events to thank for that. It was also his first visit to the place and I’m quite sure we won’t be the last group he takes there! The museum houses the private collection of the late Sultan Ali Al Owais and is worth some serious cash. A bank is a fitting home for it! If you put all the pearls together, they’d weigh more than 50 kilos. Wow.

Before oil, many people forget, or are unaware, that the Emirates were all about pearls. This passionate collector wanted his collection to be available to all to serve as a reminder of this history. Our tour of the museum started by watching a fascinating documentary about pearl diving in a mini theatre. The diving techniques were so primitive it is a wonder more people didn’t die. The collection is also a great look at natural marine pearls which are very rare and expensive, compared to the more often seen cultured pearls, introduced by the Japanese in the 1920s. They form, of course, when an irritant, like a grain of sand, becomes trapped inside the shell of an oyster, whose lining is filled with nacre (mother of pearl). To try and get rid of this pesky irritant, the mollusc secretes nacre to coat it. Layer upon layer build up over years to form the pearl. Isn’t nature wonderful?

We were lucky enough to see handfuls upon handfuls of beautiful pearls of all shapes and sizes and some stunning jewellery, all housed behind glass. Our guide was extremely well informed and taught us a lot about the history of the pearl trade, and pearl diving, in Dubai. Also on display are some of the tools the divers used and others the merchants used for weighing and measuring.

If you’re visiting, I highly recommend you try and pre-arrange a tour of this very special collection.

I hope you’ve enjoyed all my posts about Dubai. This is the last one but if you missed any, simply search ‘Dubai’ on the site. It was a real honour to be involved in Australia’s largest ever social tourism campaign!

All photos in this post by me.

This Bloggerati Getaway was proudly sponsored by Dubai Tourism

Wow, jet lag. No fun, and especially hard to beat when you’re pregnant! However, totally worth it for the amazing experience I was just lucky to take part in in Dubai. I hope you enjoyed following my travels on Instagram. I often worry you’ll get annoyed with me ‘spamming’ you and feel like a bit of a show-off, but it seems you all loved coming along for the virtual ride, which is great! I hope I’ve inspired some of you to visit the place by sharing the sheer variety of things it has to offer.

While I couldn’t do everything I wanted to (including hot a air balloon ride!) due to being pregnant (and probably particularly risk-averse) I still had a wonderful time. I left with a more positive and rounded opinion of Dubai than before we left. Sure, I expected flashiness and luxury and the odd token camel, but I had no idea how much there was to do and see there.

Image by Sonia Stackhouse, Life, Love & Hiccups blog

It felt like we had a different lunch at a different fancy hotel each day. Oh yeah, that’s because we pretty much did! The hotels were, without exception, just amazing. Some of the best interiors, food and service I’ve ever experienced. No cookie cutter approach here. There must be serious opportunities for interior designers here because there so many wonderful hotels and they’ve all made the effort to be something different. Stunning!

A suite at the Kempinski Hotel Dubai Mall of the Emirates which looks out onto the slopes of Ski Dubai. So surreal!

If you’re a thrill seeker (I am certainly not, pregnant or otherwise), well, you’re in for a treat. Hot air balloons, sea planes, indoor ski slopes, mega water parks, go-karting… these are all things our group experienced. My favourite part of travel though, is always learning more about the local culture and of course, sampling the food (hello, eating for two!). Dubai is an extremely interesting place as far as culture goes, being that around 90 percent of the population are immigrants, from a huge variety of places. True Emiratis are few and far between.

Covering our hair before we went inside the mosque, with Ann-Maree Russell from The House that AM Built — Covering our hair before we went inside the mosque, with Anne-Maree Russell from The House that AM Built

It remains though, a Muslim country, but a very progressive and relaxed one for the most part. Tolerance of radical or extremist views is pretty much zero. There is a real effort to help visitors understand Islam in a religious and cultural context, which, in the current terrorist climate, is probably more important then ever. We had the opportunity to ask any questions we wanted while enjoying a traditional meal at The Sheikh Mohammed Centre for Cultural Understanding and I really enjoyed our tour of the Jumeirah Mosque, where we were talked through what Muslims believe in, how they pray and more. Super interesting. The interior of the mosque, although nothing ornate, was beautiful in its geometric patterns. Depictions of people and animals are not allowed in Islamic buildings; instead you will find wonderful geometric patterns and beautiful calligraphy of verses from the Quran. The decoration is so distinctive and and I loved its symmetry and colours.

Another favourite for me was the Frying Pan Adventures food tour, which took in the bustling fish market, the spice souk, a coffee museum and a wonderful breakfast by the water of rosewater iced tea and yoghurt with granola. Delicious! And then there was of course the desert safari, which I’ve already written about.

For the majority of our stay, we were ferried around in comfort and taught more about Dubai by the fabulous 1001 Events and, in particular, tour guide Xavier, whose smiling face and enthusiasm I now miss seeing every day!

Fresh prawns at the bustling fish market

frying pan food adventures — Our group on the food tour

Forget every date you've ever tasted before: these were something else! — Forget every date you’ve ever tasted before: these were something else!

Don't mind if I do, sir! — Don’t mind if I do, sir!

Me sitting up front. Photo thanks to Melbourne Girl. Click for details

You may well have heard that the legal system is harsh, and it is, but it is this respect for the law that means Dubai is stupidly safe. Leave your bags wherever you like, things do not get stolen. It’s not worth someone’s while. You’ve probably also heard that as a woman, you need to cover yourself head to toe in order not to attract unwanted attention. It’s not strictly true and Dubai is much more relaxed than I’d anticipated. That said, I still advise dressing appropriately and respectfully. And I still managed to get offered the opportunity to model saris within minutes of arriving, despite having just stepped off a 14-hour flight, looking worse for wear and being completely covered up! It’s that blonde hair and lipstick, isn’t it?!

I have so much more to tell you about but I’ll save it for next week!