Completed Event: Men's Basketball versus #7 UConn on March 29, 2026 , Loss , 72, to, 73
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Final
Men's Basketball
72
vs #7 UConn
73
Duke Visits World's Tallest Building, Returns Home
8/27/2011 11:40:00 AM | Men's Basketball
DURHAM, NC -- The Duke men's basketball team concluded its time in Dubai on Friday morning with a visit to the tallest building in world and a quick lunch at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse before boarding the plane for a 20+ hour return flight back to the states.
At the tour of the Burj Kalifa, the Blue Devils first walked through the largest mall in the world, which included an impressive aquarium complete with sharks, sting rays and a wide variety of colorful fish. The Duke tour group then boarded the elevators to the observation deck and took the single elevator, 124-story jaunt up.
The elevator ride took just over one minute and opened to a large observation area where you could look for miles over Dubai. The view was amazing as you could see a large patch of green that was Dubai's only golf course as well as the crystal blue waters of a series of waterways around the facility.
"You really can't imagine how tall the building is until you get the opportunity to get up here," said junior Ryan Kelly. "When you look out for miles in each direction and see the whole city building in front of you it is impressive. It really is a modern marvel to be up there."
Kelly went on to point out that the observation deck was a little over halfway up the building with the 40 floors directly above it being private residences. He and a couple of others also discussed a YouTube video of people base jumping off the building during its construction and expressing his own fears about going to the top of the Burj Kalifa.
"I would probably want to go to the top of the building but I don't think I would be able to look over the edge," Kelly said.
Another minute back down the elevator and the Blue Devils funneled back to the buses with several players, staffers and travel party members after stopping at Candylicious to stockpile for the impending flight home. Skittles prices leveled off at the massive candy store giving the average consumer an opportunity to taste the rainbow for significantly less than the $9 bags at the Bangkok airpoirt.
The entire travel party lunched at Ruth's Chris as the departure time from Dubai was moved up in hopes of getting everyone back to the states before Hurricane Irene reached North Carolina.
The Blue Devils took flight around 5pm from Dubai for an eight-hour flight to Shannon, Ireland. Heavy winds forced a brief stop in Germany for refueling.
The weary travelers arrived in Ireland and spent about two hours taking in the airport terminal before reboarding the 757 for the skip across the pond to Bangor, Maine.
A couple of airplane meals, movies, games and hours later the Blue Devils landed in the United States at 2:40 am Saturday morning to go through customs and refuel for the final leg of the trip.
"I am really excited to be back on U.S. soil and see some familiar things," said Seth Curry. "It feels like we have been gone for at least a month so I can't wait to get home and sleep in my own bed."
Duke departed Maine at 5am and headed West over Albany and Western Pennsylvania in order to circle into the back side of RDU and avoid some of the weather caused by Hurricane Irene. The charter 757 touched down in Raleigh at 7:16 am with approximately 20,000 frequent flyer miles logged on the trip.
The Blue Devils boarded one last set of buses for the 25 minute ride back to Duke where they were greeted by family, friends and fans. A general overview of the trip was a tremendous cultural education, valuable team bonding and important game experience gained for the Blue Devils in China and Dubai.
At the tour of the Burj Kalifa, the Blue Devils first walked through the largest mall in the world, which included an impressive aquarium complete with sharks, sting rays and a wide variety of colorful fish. The Duke tour group then boarded the elevators to the observation deck and took the single elevator, 124-story jaunt up.
The elevator ride took just over one minute and opened to a large observation area where you could look for miles over Dubai. The view was amazing as you could see a large patch of green that was Dubai's only golf course as well as the crystal blue waters of a series of waterways around the facility.
"You really can't imagine how tall the building is until you get the opportunity to get up here," said junior Ryan Kelly. "When you look out for miles in each direction and see the whole city building in front of you it is impressive. It really is a modern marvel to be up there."
Kelly went on to point out that the observation deck was a little over halfway up the building with the 40 floors directly above it being private residences. He and a couple of others also discussed a YouTube video of people base jumping off the building during its construction and expressing his own fears about going to the top of the Burj Kalifa.
"I would probably want to go to the top of the building but I don't think I would be able to look over the edge," Kelly said.
Another minute back down the elevator and the Blue Devils funneled back to the buses with several players, staffers and travel party members after stopping at Candylicious to stockpile for the impending flight home. Skittles prices leveled off at the massive candy store giving the average consumer an opportunity to taste the rainbow for significantly less than the $9 bags at the Bangkok airpoirt.
The entire travel party lunched at Ruth's Chris as the departure time from Dubai was moved up in hopes of getting everyone back to the states before Hurricane Irene reached North Carolina.
The Blue Devils took flight around 5pm from Dubai for an eight-hour flight to Shannon, Ireland. Heavy winds forced a brief stop in Germany for refueling.
The weary travelers arrived in Ireland and spent about two hours taking in the airport terminal before reboarding the 757 for the skip across the pond to Bangor, Maine.
A couple of airplane meals, movies, games and hours later the Blue Devils landed in the United States at 2:40 am Saturday morning to go through customs and refuel for the final leg of the trip.
"I am really excited to be back on U.S. soil and see some familiar things," said Seth Curry. "It feels like we have been gone for at least a month so I can't wait to get home and sleep in my own bed."
Duke departed Maine at 5am and headed West over Albany and Western Pennsylvania in order to circle into the back side of RDU and avoid some of the weather caused by Hurricane Irene. The charter 757 touched down in Raleigh at 7:16 am with approximately 20,000 frequent flyer miles logged on the trip.
The Blue Devils boarded one last set of buses for the 25 minute ride back to Duke where they were greeted by family, friends and fans. A general overview of the trip was a tremendous cultural education, valuable team bonding and important game experience gained for the Blue Devils in China and Dubai.
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