Metro Fever!

It's official! The metro has opened! I make NO APOLOGY WHATSOEVER about the excited, nay, hysterical nature of this blog post. It's a monumental event, people!

So, as you'll probably know unless you've been living under a rock for the last 24 hours, last night was the launch of the Dubai metro. It set off on its inaugural journey at 9.09 pm on 09.09.09 - see what they did there?!

I was actually at an iftar with friends, and in between stuffing my face, chatting, drinking tea and playing cards (which for the record, I am terrible at - was I always that bad at card games? I digress...) we watched the live tv feed. Terrible in terms of professionalism, but a fascinating spectacle. Sheikh Mo was, of course, the star guest, and the pandemonium which follows him wherever he goes is so bizarre to watch.

The worst bits: terrible camera angles, translators, hour long speeches, a video which appeared to have been shot in the sixties...no lighting on the track so that you couldn't actually see the train leaving the station...

The best bits: Sheikh Mo having to buy a ticket to get on (no fare dodging mate!) and getting his glasses out of his dish dash, his lovely navy blue dish dash, his ticket being presented to him on a silver platter, views of the Dubai skyline from an overhead chopper, the stations - which look a-mazing.

Generally just the huge hoop-la and fuss was great to watch. Can't imagine HRH rocking up to Manchester and causing the same fuss when a new bitof Metrolink opens....

Today it's open to the public and we're now hotly debating when when when we can get on it. Full report to follow, natch.