Dubai

Dubai lives in my memory as a city that refuses to let appetite be small. I went expecting gloss and grand gestures and found plenty of both, but the pleasure was in how quickly it slid from spectacle into hunger: another coffee, another spice-scented detour, another meal when I swore I was finished and another reminder that this restless, shiny city is built as much from people making a home there as from all that dazzle.