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Tall things.

January 5th, 2010

I like tall things. When I travel I like going to the top of tall buildings (maybe it’s because I’m short?). I’ve been to the top of the Empire State Building, the World Trade Centre, Petronas Towers, Eiffel Tower, CNN Tower (Toronto), Sydney Tower, Sears Tower (now called Willis Tower – or ‘what are you talking about Willis Tower’), John Hancock Centre, Montparnasse Tower, Commerzbank Tower (Frankfurt), Tokyo Tower, and Lincoln Cathedral (which is only 159 meters tall, but it was the tallest building in the world from 1311 to 1549!). I’d always planned to get to the top of Taipei 101 in Taiwan – the tallest building in the world – but that is now rather piddling after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai officially opened today. The Burj Khalifa rises 828 metres out of the desert sands (Taipei 101 is 508 metres) and easily becomes the tallest structure in the world (and just to confuse us – up until yesterday it was called Burj Dubai, but the UAE president renamed it Burj Khalifa). The building cost $US1.5 billion ($A1.67 billion) to erect and has 160 floors (this amounts to 1,044 apartments and 49 floors of office space). It also has a Georgio Armani hotel. So, I’ll be sure to stop of in Dubai on my next trip to Europe. Then I’ll make myself feel REALLY tall.

3 Responses to “Tall things.”

On January 5th, 2010 Jack Vella said:

hey brian

Where’s Eureka tower (at 91 stories its the world’s tallest appartment block) on your list? I know you are a Melbourne boy, so have you been up there?

keep up the good work
Jack
On January 5th, 2010 Brian Thacker said:

Hi jack

Um… a bit sad, I live a fifteen minute drive from Eureka and haven’t been up there yet (I’d like to do that “edge’ thing but the $30 ‘entrance’ does scare me a lot more than the glass floor!).

cheers
Brian
On January 5th, 2010 Epiphanie said:

That’s the beauty of going to Europe from Australia – you have to stop somewhere else!

I heard about this building being built a few years ago, and I thought the concept of it was intriguing, with it representing Dubai itself (rising high from the desert). I’d love to see it from both the inside and the outside.

Unfortunately it will have to wait a bit, as my parents currently fund my travels, and they consider the Middle East to be crawling with terrorists. No amount of nudging them towards the right kind of information seems to result in them taking it seriously on the topic of how most people in the Middle East are warm and hospitable.

Btw, I just finished Rule No. 5… I loved the story about the traveller who didn’t realise Rome was in Italy – OMG! Scary, but very funny.

I got invited to a group interview for Contiki tours last year but I didn’t think it was professional to treat the potential employees like excrement (I need a harmonious and friendly environment to feel good) so I decided I wouldn’t mesh with their work culture. A pity, because it sounds like an incredible way to see places all over Europe!