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lifestyle WEDNESDAY, JUNE 17, 2015 Features People enjoy their weekend on the sea opposite of Dubai Marina Waterfront in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. — AP photos A couple enjoys taking their selfie on a cruise dhow opposite of Dubai Marina Waterfront in Dubai. Neighborhoods: Tourists enjoy their dinner at a traditional dhow cruise while passing the Skyscrapers and shorelines marina waterfront in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. in Dubai Marina irst-time visitors are often surprised to discover that beyond Dubai’s atmospheric creekside bazaars and Frows of skyscrapers leading up to tallest-of-them-all Burj Khalifa lies yet another dense cluster of ultra-high architecture shimmering like a mirage in the distance. That waterfront city within a city, known as Dubai Marina, is finally coming into its own after years of seemingly endless construction work. There is still building going on ‚?? this is a never-stop boomtown after all ‚?? but now is the best time yet to romp through this multicultural urban play- ground, even if you’ve never set foot on a yacht. Like so much of Dubai, famous for its palm tree-shaped islands and indoor ski slope, the Marina is a manmade cre- People dine at the Reem Al-Bawadi restaurant at the Marina Waterfront in ation that challenges preconceptions of what the Middle Dubai. East looks like. Hewn out of the desert and connected to the Persian Gulf by channels at each end, the 3.5 kilometer ground, then dry off while spinning on an old-fashioned (2.2 mile) U-shaped canal would be an engineering marvel merry-go-round nearby. There is also Splash Pad, a toddler even without its skyline. water park by the beach that runs 60 dirhams (about $16) Six of the world’s 10 tallest residential buildings are clus- an hour, and a floating playground that includes inflatable tered in one Manhattan-like corner. They include the 101- slides and trampolines for 50-70 dirhams ($14-19), depend- story Princess Tower, Dubai’s second-tallest skyscraper after ing on age. The Marina is unusually well-served by public the Burj Khalifa, and the arresting Cayan Tower, which ele- transport, especially by car-crazed Dubai standards. gantly twists 90 degrees from bottom to top. An eatery- The driverless, mostly elevated metro system makes lined walkway winding along the canal provides plenty of two stops along the edge of the Marina. From there, visi- chances to gawk at the high-end yachts on display. The Tourists and visitors enjoy their dhow cruise trips at the Marina water canal as a tram crosses on a tors can connect via air-conditioned platforms to a tram Marina’s design as an inland harbor cleverly leaves room bridge. line that opened in November. It loops around the Marina for a full sandy beach along the Gulf shore itself. and snakes past hotels along a coastal road, with stops that New shops, cafes, food carts and beach lounges have include one connecting to a monorail that runs up the cen- transformed the palm-lined beach. Get there early to take ter of the famous Palm Jumeirah island. City-operated fer- advantage of the public running track and workout equip- ries link the Marina with the charming creek area at the ment before the midday heat makes exercise unbearable. heart of old Dubai (50 dirhams one way). Those with a lot The Marina is a treat for culinary explorers. more cash to spend can charter a water taxi, party barge or even one of those polished white yachts bobbing among Taste of home the skyscrapers. — AP Reem Al-Bawadi, arguably Dubai’s best-known Arabic restaurant name, draws mezze and mixed grill fans to a branch with a commanding waterfront view at the north- ern end of the Marina. The humbler Geddy specializes in Egyptian comfort foods like fava beans spiced with cumin, and the filling hodgepodge of macaroni, lentils and rice People walk at the Yachts harbor at the Marina Waterfront known as kushari. Middle Eastern food isn’t your thing? in Dubai. There are plenty of Indian, Italian, Japanese and Mexican options, and even Romanian, Russian, Thai and Turkish ones. Americans missing a taste of home will find a surprising number of US outposts, from Krispy Kreme to PF Chang’s. A balcony-ringed turret rising from the water known as Pier 7 offers, as the name suggests, seven different restaurants stacked one atop the other. One worth trying is The Scene by British celebrity chef Simon Rimmer, which serves pret- tied-up pub grub and a surprisingly good range of lagers and ales in a funky and airy jumble shop-style space. There’s plenty to keep little ones busy outside, like the quayside playgrounds tucked neatly underneath bridges People pass by the water canal and the world’s tallest A traditional dhow cruise crosses the spanning the Marina. block which contains some of the world’s tallest residen- water canal as the people dine out at the tial towers, including Marina 101, a 432-meter (1,417 ft) Pier 7 building, left, at the Marina Charming creek tall building currently under construction and Princess Waterfront in Dubai. Overheated kids can douse themselves in sidewalk Tourists and visitors cross a bridge to get on their dhow cruise at the Tower at 414 meters, (1,358 ft) at the Marina Waterfront. fountains that send spurts of water jumping out of the Marina water canal as a tram crosses on a bridge. Egyptian shroud in first-of-kind auction in Paris rare ancient Egyptian burial cloth more than from the New Empire, between 1,400-1,300 B.C., a Sachs financial dynasty. He initially bought the shroud 3,000 years old is to go under the hammer on period experts consider a high point of Egyptian civi- in 1927 as a gift for his wife and she kept it in their AThursday in Paris, an exceptional sale of an arte- lization. bathroom, but she grew tired of it and returned it to fact usually found only in museum collections. The “Ta-nedjem” is shown in profile, sitting on a black her husband. He in turn gave it to his mistress, Loviton, small square of vividly painted fabric is among roughly chair with curved back and animal legs. His clothes who still had it in her home when she died. 20 known to exist in the world, the majority of which and ornaments, like the richness of the furniture, show The chain ownership prior to Sachs includes an are on display at museums like the Louvre and the he was a man of status. In the background are two antique dealer named Lucien Lepine who bought the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art. According to columns of hieroglyphics reading: “Offering of all cloth in Egypt and later sold it to a Parisian antique Piasa, the auction house hosting the sale, it is difficult things good and pure for the Ka (vitality) of Ta-nedjem dealer. How the ancient work of art came to be on the to set a price estimate, given the unique nature of the of just voice.” This cloth “carries numerous similarities market is a mystery lost to the passage of time. Still, item. The 29-by-21 centimeter (11-by-8 inch) shroud, with the one on display at the Louvre, same painter experts believe there is little doubt as to the shroud’s which would have been placed on the deceased’s sar- but a different scribe,” said art expert Christophe authenticity. “This would have to be the work of an cophagus, bears the likeness of a man named “Ta-ned- Kunicki. extremely talented forger and great Egyptologist, who jem” or “Gentle Land”, who died some 3,400 years ago would have had to use special pigments. That seems and who is unknown to researchers. Gift to his mistress impossible,” said Annie Gasse, an expert with France’s Its path to the auction block is remarkable, passing While the shroud itself has experts excited, the fact National Centre for Scientific Research. — AFP through the hands of an American billionaire, his it was discovered at the home of Loviton has raised a unhappy wife and finally his mistress. The final step few eyebrows in France as well. She was the mistress toward auction came when Piasa’s director Henri- to some famous men, including poet and philosopher A handout picture shows the inside of a new Pierre Teissedre found the cloth while doing an inven- Paul Valery as well as American billionaire Arthur tomb belonging to Amenhotep, the door- tory of the home of respected French writer and pub- Sachs. Loviton was also renowned for work in French keeper of Amun, that was discovered by the lisher Jeanne Loviton, who died in 1996 after leading a literature, including being the publisher of the writing American Research Center’s Mission with an life that could have been torn from a novel. The of Louis-Ferdinand Celine who is best known for his Egyptian team of inspectors in the famed shroud is made from the same type of cloth used to novel “Journey to the End of the Night.” The shroud temple city of Luxor.—AFP produce the bandages that wrap mummies and dates was a gift to Loviton from Sachs, part of the Goldman.

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