Bloomingdales opened in the UAE yesterday at the Dubai Mall. I can't help but remember Galleries Lafayette's ill-fated venture in NYC a bunch of years ago...let's hope this ends better. What I do know is --- Emiratis love malls and they have some terrific malls (who would've thunk I'd be waxing poetic on malls...oh how far I've sunk). But hear me out...some of the features of the Dubai Mall:
The Burj Khalifa visitors center. Tallest building in the world. Been to a mall with one of those?
Aquarium and underwater zoo. Also cool.
Candylicious..blatant ripoff of Dylan's Candy Bar. This far from the true land of jelly bellies, we'll take it.
Kinokuniya. Largest bookstore in the Emirates
Dubai Fountain...like watching Niagara Falls set to music. From 6pm every 20 minutes this baby shoots off sprays of water to the tune of anything from Andrea Boccelli to local folk music. Pretty amazing.
Outdoor restaurants surrounding an artificial lake with said fountain. Very pleasant indeed.
And now, drumroll please, Magnolias Bakery (inside Bloomies). The real deal. They ship in their special flour and sprinkles from NYC. Life just got a whole lot sweeter.
Never been to Magnolias Bakery, but it must be good! Sigh....Your desert is civilized. Rome a bit less so. Here, they think their factory made, sugar coated, dry croissants are the best in the world. What's a boy to do?
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