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For all its opulence, I ve never cared much for Dubai. But with the slate wiped clean by Covid and fresh perspectives demanded by rapidly diminishing travel options, there s an impetus to find out what s on offer. Which is how I ve ended up in the UAE, one of the last remaining countries granted an air corridor with the UK - although with new lockdowns in place, many of us will now have to wait.
I m not alone. More than 200,000 overseas visitors descended during the Christmas period, according to Gulf News, including a host of reality TV stars and football player Cristiano Ronaldo - who came to collect an award, soak up sunshine and hit the gym with his pal, the Crown Prince.
Bright, shiny and pulsing with energy, Dubai has become the very definition of an urban metropolis. A metallic oasis in the desert, it s a tidy mass of gleaming skyscrapers, glitzy marinas and a spiralling highway network with more boy racer twists and turns than a Scalextric toy set. It s also sparked a row, after Celtic travelled to the UAE for a winter training camp, much to the chagrin of First Minister Nicola Sturgeon and many football fans. So what s the appeal? Constructed with an open mind and an equally limitless wallet, anything is possible at any time of year: air-conditioning bites like an Arctic breeze through malls heaving with thousands of designer stores; caretakers skirt sun loungers to comb sand on the beaches of manmade islands; and even refreshing rain can be produced on cue through the process of cloud seeding.