Burj Khalifa -- Sunday 10/29/17

I wasn't sure if I wanted to ride an elevator to the 125th floor of the world's tallest skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa, but decided to go with the flow. Or as the British say, in for a penny, in for a pound. The Burj is most impressive from a distance ... a long way from it's base. In a sea of tall and architecturally superior structures, Burj Khalifa is heads and shoulders above the rest, so to speak. Up close, it's just a tall building.

We bought tickets and joined the queue, but the wait wasn't excessive.  Like waiting for a Disney ride on a slow day.  Only this elevator ride would whisk us up 125 feet in 60 seconds.  We were packed in, but not claustrophobic.  Our booking was for 4:30pm, so we could watch the sunset over Dubai.  We didn't know the air would be so smoggy that we'd see no sunset. 

From our aerie, it was quite amazing to look down on towering buildings.  Most of these pictures are shot from inside Floor 125, looking through glass.  We had to worm our way to the front at times to get close.

Yes, the water really was this color.  These two pics (above and below) were taken on the outside observation deck.  Nope, it wasn't scary to be out there ... although I'm always glad to feel the earth under my feet after descending from any building or plane!

Much of what we saw and what you see in these photos is new; i.e., built within the past few years.  Modern Dubai dates roughly ten years or less.  Come back in a few years, and Dubai will have reinvented itself again.

These skyscrapers are themselves quite tall.

I didn't lean on the glass!

We felt no building "sway."

Sometimes it's good to be small, as it made squeezing in to shoot the last of the sun's rays easier.  As I mentioned, we'd hoped for beauty, but the sunset was unimpressive.  Hey! now we can say, "been there, done that."

Seeing Dubai's nighttime lights wink on made our Burj Khalifa trip worthwhile.  The 360°  sight was beautiful.

At the bottom, looking up ...

the eyes can only see so far as the structure narrows as it rises.

As we walked away toward a taxi stand, Ibby took our photo.  At least I think he took OUR photo.  Who do you see? 😁

Lit like a giant candle, we left the Burj.  Can you see Jimmy waving?  A last note:  Saudi Arabia is fashioning their own "world's tallest structure."  Because everything in Dubai is tallest, biggest, longest, strongest, most modern, they did not take becoming second-best kindly.  They are now planning yet another skyscraper ... to be the tallest in the world.  Some of you are saying, "big whoop," but I tell you true, the architects have done wonders in this area and have created spectacles of beauty.  Come and see for yourself!