Dubai

Dubai is one of those places that has a very distinct reputation; you’re not going for the culture, the history or the scenery, you’re going for the shopping, the money and the ritzy hotels. I mean, what is there to actually do apart from ogle at the money splashed around? At least, that’s what I thought before I went.

So I was pleasantly surprised to find pockets of history; the museum and the covered markets in the old part of town. Of course, there are a huge number of flashy hotels and massive skyscrapers as well! It’s definitely an unusual place; the people are a rough mix of expats, young Arabs working in hospitality and recent graduates working in the city. Just 11% of the population are native to the country. Can you imagine the UK with just 11% of the population being British? It is crazy.

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I really loved the old town, where we got around via water taxi (as shown in the pictures) and I especially enjoyed Dubai Museum which is housed in the old fort. It is astonishing to think the fort was at one point the capitals main building for defence: a huge fixture on an otherwise empty landscape. Today it is not even the most notable building on that street- we actually walked past it and had to double back as it is surrounded by skyscrapers.

Dubai has undergone MASSIVE growth in the last century, with the population increasing from 3000 at the turn of the century to 2 million in 2013. As anybody who has been will tell you, building seems to be constantly ongoing with a development site every which way you turn. It was really bizarre to think about what it must have been like to watch this huge modern city spring up around you in an otherwise very empty part of the desert. Have you been to Dubai, and if so, what did you think?

Tales from a “Blog Event”

Here’s some photos of a supercool blogging party Bel took me to a few weeks ago. Me being me I arrived too late to meet any actual bloggers (in my defence, apparently bloggers like early nights as it was only about 9.30). We eventually moved on to the pub: three rounds of free drinks and a couple of very drunk patrons later, it was suddenly 2am on a Monday morning. The only new contact I made that night is a barman who I’ve awkwardly bumped into round Camden since. Fun times! Have you guys been to any blog events?
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Old Town

This will be my last post on Rhodes and I’m sharing my pictures of the old city with you. My travel companion Philly and I were so enchanted by the old city that we spent our last evening there, getting lost amongst the cobbled street and staring wistfully at the beautiful displays in all the shops. Most of the roads are nameless and the city doesn’t follow any kind of grid structure so it’s very easy to lose your way. Philly and I soon gave up trying to use the maps dotted around the city and just followed our noses until we arrived at a gate.

The city was warm and welcoming in the daytime despite the imposing stone wall, but by nighttime the old town was magically lit up with strings of fairy lights. The maze-like quality of the streets was enhanced by the darkness and it almost gave the impression that the minute you turned a corner the rest of the town was shuffling itself around behind you! Most of the shop in the old town are open front, with huge archways leading directly into the display area. As we walked past we could gaze in to the colourful, meticulously laid out displays inside with shops selling all manner of items: lace, carpets, swords, honey, ceramics, gold chains, sandals, postcards, stationary, musical instruments, statues and traditional wood and leather crafts. The best way to spend our final evening in Rhodes!

Thank you to Philly for all the photos of me in this post (and my last two Rhodes posts here and here) and for being such an awesome travel companion! You can read her blog here, and follow mine on Facebook, bloglovin and twitter.

Dandy Lion

I took part in the 2 year anniversary fayre of the Dandy Lion market at The Oxford in Kentish Town. The stalls are all handpicked by Leslie who runs the market.

All of my display props are from charity shops (including the half size Chinese silk screen which was a complete find!) apart from my ruffled suitcase which came from an antique shop.