“Pic of the Week”, December 28, 2018: The Coffee Museum, Dubai

05 Al Fahidi Historic District (85)

The Al Fahidi Historic District is one of the few surviving older neighborhoods within Dubai.  It’s quite a charming area which has been refurbished and modernized, and contains a variety of shops, cafes and some small museums.

One of the museums is dedicated to coffee.  It’s a small privately owned museum that displays the owner’s private collection, including historic items related to coffee making and drinking, such as old coffee grinders, pots, roasters and other coffee-related memorabilia.   Some of the items reflect the history of coffee consumption around the world.  There’s a small library with books based on coffee dating back as far as the 18th century.  And there are some Emirati-style majlis (sitting rooms) also on display.

Coffee is an integral …

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“Pic of the Week”, November 9, 2018: Street Art in Dubai

01 Al Fahidi Historic District (10)

As one might expect in a Kingdom with fairly tight control of its society, Dubai does not have much in the way of street art.  The one exception to this, at least that I encountered during my visit, was in the Al Fahidi Historical District.

The district is one of the older surviving neighborhoods in Dubai and was home to merchants and traders, many from Iran.  Their homes have been restored and have converted into offices, cafés, art galleries and small shops.  Interspersed was some art, mostly murals quite nicely done. But there were other interesting sights like some sculpture, a small garden growing in recycled soda bottles — even some antiques outside a café.

A pleasant and safe neighborhood in which to …

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