My Middle Eastern Adventure - Part II

This is my third time writing this post, because Blogger doesn't seem to want to save anything!  Anyway...

Abu Dhabi is gorgeous...

Their main visitors' center is on Saadiyat Island, home of a new St. Regis Hotel and Monte Carlo Beach Club, and future site of a new Louve and Guggenheim Museums!

It was warm, so I laid out for a minute...

There were some schoolgirls visiting....can you see the designer bags?

They had some fairly random exhibits...

A "melted" Ferrari.

A collection of chairs from the palace...yes, the Palace. Yes, those chairs were in a palace.

We walked along the Corniche (beach), but it wasn't warm enough to go in.

This is near Heritage Village

A perfect sand castle...

We did some sightseeing at one of the souks (traditional bazaars). It was connected to a mall.

Saw that kids everywhere hang out by their cars at the Mall...

Marina Mall just happens to be right by the water....

We had high tea and checked out the Gold ATM at Emirates Palace...

We made it to the largest indoor amusement park in the world...Ferrari World. 

We had a wonderful dinner and private marina tour on our last night in town.

It was amazing!

And I finally found my photo of a Sheik billboard....

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Unknown Abu Dhabi, random, travel

My Middle Eastern Adventure...Part I

So about two weeks ago I left Atlanta to go on a birthday trip with one of my good friends. It was a milestone birthday for her, and I was really honored to be invited. Now mind you I was also a LITTLE worried because it was going to be ten days of togetherness, and I have heard and seen friendship fatigue set in on long and shoot sometimes even short trips...and there were only two of us, and it was the UAE and Oman, so it seemed unlikely that either of us would just take a quick walk if we needed some space...you get what I'm saying....

Yes we went to Abu Dhabi, Oman and Dubai, and had an AMAZING time! I'll start with photos from Abu Dhabi, then Oman, then Dubai....If you get the chance to go, go but stay at LEAST two weeks. 

Quick overview on hair and wardrobe: I retwisted my twists right before I went, and I carried my usual supply of travel stuff - this time using the Oyen line as my products of choice. I also brought coconut and olive oils. I did a lot of braids and buns, a roller set, Bantus, a turban, and a hat...). I kept my wardrobe very simple. I bought five jumpsuits - yes, 5, because sometimes I'm a little excessive, and I built my outfits around those along with a convertible maxi dress/skirt, a pair of slacks, travel slouchy pants, a few long-sleeve t's, a shawl, sweater, and a few jackets. I wish I had added a little more color variety, but for the most part I was seasonally appropriate (it was mid to low 70's our entire trip), and tried to be respectful of their culture by keeping covered.

And on to the actual trip! We went to the Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque several times and were able to see it in both the morning and evening light....it is the prime attraction for the Emirate, and features the largest hand woven rug in the world and some truly spectacular chandeliers and glassworks...(Sidenote: Almost everything built in the last 42 years of independent rule has a Sheik Zayed attached to it, since there have been three generations of Sheik Zayed's representing Abu Dhabi in that time...I'll try to find my picture and add it to the post)...

Very pretty...women could not get beyond this point unless we were appropriately dressed. Fortunately they had a handy chart and lent abayas to those that they deemed improper. Like me.

Yes I know I look like E.T....

In the courtyard before you enter the mosque. Everyone is taking off their shoes. 

Sunset....

Interior....my photos didn't do the mosque justice. It's big it's beautiful and it dominates the architecture of that part of the Emirate. Every time I saw it from the road, I was struck by its beauty, and kicking myself because I forgot to take a picture, and stared instead....

Moving on....

Construction near Etihad Towers - Abu Dhabi is trying to attract some of Dubai's tourist dollars so they are building like crazy....

But the city is a mix of the old and the new, with a lot of modern architecture, and nods to their history.

Homage to their history of hospitality...a sculpture of a tea pot for when company arrives.

There's a lot more to Abu Dhabi and my time there. I'll put it in another post...and I still have to talk about Oman and Dubai. There is a a little summary of my time in Oman on Instagram if you'd like to see it before Wednesday or so...

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Unknown Abu Dhabi, random, travel