Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi was the last stop on the cruise. Leave it to me to not read up a thing about the place before we arrived, so I was expecting a small town type of thing. Little did I know it’s the capital of the U.A.E! Although the sprawl isn’t quite as big as Dubai’s there is still a lot going on. Since it is made up of hundreds of islands there is a lot of water, which I love and a beautiful corniche. It is also much wealthier than Dubai so things are just a little bit nicer. Dubai will run out of oil in the next five years, Abu Dhabi won’t run out for another 100.
We waited for Roxy (our guide from Dubai who drove over to guide us here) for 30 minutes because a triathlon had shut down the whole city. It was a real palava but we managed. First stop was the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, which you all know by now after my obsessive posts about it. I don’t know if I will ever see something grander.
Next up was Shangri-La, a Jumeirah beach type resort with shops and restaurants. It was kind of sad and empty and too grand for its own good. But we did stop in Bateel, a famous date shop here and sampled dates with ginger slices, dates dipped in chocolate and dates with pistachios. Divine! I bought some to bring home.
Next we drove over to the Emirates Palace. This is Abu Dhabi’s Burj Al Arab. The two cities are friendly politically but culturally they are always at each other’s throats. When Dubai erected the world’s tallest flagpole, Abu Dhabi erected one three inches taller.
Like the Burj the Emirates is a seven star hotel and people aren’t allowed in just to gawk. But Roxy knows there is an exhibit going on inside and she drummed up this big speech to give to the security guards. We were in line with a bunch of taxis and they kept being turned away, but as soon as we got to the front of the line, the guard smiled and wove us in. I guess we looked like guests!
The interior is incredible, swathed in gold leaf, gold tiles and marble walls. Frankly I like the Burj better just for awe-inspiring size and shape but this hotel really is supposed to be like a Sheikh’s palace.
We found a gold ATM where you can put in $100-$10,000 and out pops a piece of gold in the appropriate weight.
We did actually go to the exhibit, which is all about the development of Saadiyat Island. By 2030 the island will be a major cultural center with an opera house designed by Zaha Hadid, a Guggenheim by Frank Gehry, a Louvre by Jean Nouvel, the list goes on. The models were incredible and I would love to come back when it is complete.
We found a gold ATM where you can put in $100-$10,000 and out pops a piece of gold in the appropriate weight.
We did actually go to the exhibit, which is all about the development of Saadiyat Island. By 2030 the island will be a major cultural center with an opera house designed by Zaha Hadid, a Guggenheim by Frank Gehry, a Louvre by Jean Nouvel, the list goes on. The models were incredible and I would love to come back when it is complete.
Next stop was the cultural center and heritage museum. Because of that irritating triathlon the main road to this museum was closed to cars so we had to get out and walk in 90-degree weather for 30 minutes back and fourth. It was pretty awful but once there it was a charming little place of thatch roofed huts and a little tourist souk where I bought Price the best Lady Bunny looking abaya around! It was also here where we could actually go on the beach and stick our feet in that gloriously blue/green water. Great moment alert!
After the walk back, dodging cyclists and joggers (one man was passed out from sun stroke and it took the ambulance 45 minutes to get there because of closed roads) we headed out to Yas Island. This is where that Formula One racetrack was built into a hotel and where Ferrari world is based.
Granted neither of those things have ever been in my vocabulary we went to check them out. The Yas hotel was pretty amazing with all white interiors with the racetrack running right next to the restaurant.
We poked around there for a bit but sadly no racing was happening that day. We just drove by Ferrari world, the building is amazing but clearly we had no interest in what is inside!
Granted neither of those things have ever been in my vocabulary we went to check them out. The Yas hotel was pretty amazing with all white interiors with the racetrack running right next to the restaurant.
We poked around there for a bit but sadly no racing was happening that day. We just drove by Ferrari world, the building is amazing but clearly we had no interest in what is inside!
After this it was time to head back to the ship. We had been zizzing around since 9am and were wo’ out. We bid Roxy adieu and tipped our terribly handsome Indian driver (I don’t now if it’s the dates or the water out here but every man is so good looking!) and headed back to the ship. In the entrance tent to the ship there was a local man with his falcon just hanging out for tourists sake. I wanted to talk to him but he didn’t speak English or so he feigned and I took a picture and moved on.
We sat on the pool deck for a bit to catch some last rays of sun before I started the massive task of packing! I managed to pack it all in, but who knows how much it weighs. We dressed and headed to the bar for the usual cocktails and then watched an impressive tango performance in the Centrum. We then headed to dinner where a waiter came out of know where and kindly asked if we could stay at least until 930 so we could watch the waiters big performance. He said, “Every night I come by your table to say hello and you are out of here by 9:45!” Sad but true this hasn’t been the party trip like ones before. We stayed and watched the waiter’s sing and dance (yikes) then called it a night.
Today is our last day in Dubai. We are hitting the spice and gold souk one last time and then having lunch with Goncalo again. We have dinner on the ship and then have a pick up at 11pm in the ship terminal to head to the airport for our 2am flight. It’s going to be a long day!
This trip has been an interesting one. It’s an area of the world I never thought I would visit but I am so glad I did since it is the buzziest place in the world right now with their construction, bankruptcy, riches and most recently, political strife. It will be interesting how all of this plays out and what this place will be like in 100 years. Maybe it will be even bigger and better, but I wouldn’t be surprised if its back to a fishing village and these incredible monuments are looked at like we look at the pyramids and the Taj Mahal, a culture lost, an end to an era.