Category: Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

We arrived back in Abu Dhabi this morning and disembarked the ship. We headed back to Le Royal Meridien, the boys were sad to leave. They both met a few other boys their age onboard and had fun with them. After 10 days of comfort and being taken care of onboard, it’s hard to go back to normal life! After the brash, glamorous and cosmopolitan Dubai, it was nice to get back to the more traditional, conservative and gentler pace of life in Abu Dhabi. Not to say it’s without its own modern developments like the sumptuous Emirates Palace Hotel and Sheik Zayed Mosque. So we spent the day exploring these gems that we didn’t see in Abu Dhabi at the beginning of the trip. Emirates Palace was over the top and one of the most spectacular sights in Abu Dhabi. It lives up to every one of our Western cliches about the oil fueled opulent life in the Gulf! It’s possibly the most expensive hotel ever built at the cost of around $3 billion. It’s total Arabian excess and opulence. The sheer size is breathtaking, over a half mile long with 1000 Swarovski crystal chandeliers, 150,000 cubic yards of imported marble, 114 domes, and 102 elevators! We spent so much time walking around and exploring. The Emirate Palace Cappuccino is topped with gold flakes at the cost of about $20, but you have to do it! Next stop was the Sheik Zayed Grand Mosque. Is gargantuan and holds up to 40,000 worshippers! It has 57 domes and four huge minarets, and cost around $500 million and was completed in 2007 after 12 years of construction. I also has the worlds largest carpet. It’s 60,000 square feet and weighs 47 tons. There is also the worlds largest chandelier that is 33ft in diameter and 50ft high with a million Swarovski crystals. I had to cover up in one of their Abayas before I could enter the grounds. As you walk in they have a ladies entrance then a men’s entrance. But only the women had the required “uniforms”. I felt like a Jawa from Star Wars! We spent so much time exploring and taking pictures, around every corner was an amazing view. After we left, we went across the river to a Hotel and Souk to see the Mosque from a distance as the sun set, it was spectacular! We also passed by the Capital Building, also known as the Leaning Tower of Abu Dhabi. It is known as the worlds most tilted tower with an 18° slant, more than four times that of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. But this was built this way. It is also home to the Hyatt hotel. Dubai boasts some of the best Indian food due to the sheer number of them here. We ate at a highly recommended place called India Palace. It was amazing and we thoroughly enjoyed it. When we got back to the hotel, he went up to the top. They have a great cocktail lounge called Stratos because it’s a 360 degree area that slowly spins in about 1.5 hours. The boys loved watching it move while Jeff and I had cocktails and enjoyed the views from so high above.

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

The desert here is amazing, dark orange dunes that seem to go on forever. The undulating landscape is so soothing to gaze at, simply breathtaking. We all rode camels and were mermerized by the landscape. The boys were especially excited about riding on the camels, they couldn’t believe how tall they were. It was a little scary when we stood up on it and then sat down, I thought I would fall off and the boys just giggled. Climbing the sand dunes was a real challenge! Very good exercise but tiring! The boys spent a few hours dune surfing, just like snow boarding but on sand. They both got hurt a few times, face plants taught them real quickly! Every twenty minutes or so I would look down from the dune I was on and see one of them lying prone so I’d have to yell down and ask if they were okay, I’d get a feeble “yes, just tired”! As long as they were alive I just let them keep going. We watched sunset from a very high dune and the colors were amazing, the dark oranges, golds and tans against the milky blue sky was spectacular. We took so many pictures and the lighting was amazing. We went to fetch the boys and their faces were brown with white areas where they touched their sweaty faces, they looked soooo funny! They were a mess, coughing the sand out of their throats and asking for water. I gave Grant water and then he got down on all fours and just started throwing up! So needless to say I had to carry his stuff back….Rowan wasn’t much better, they had no energy left in their bodies! But they said it was awesome. We washed all the sand off them, it was everywhere-100 times worse than the beach! Then got cleaned up for dinner. We sat in the traditional Bedouin style with low tables surrounding a center stage outside. We ate delicious local food while listening to Arabic music by a man playing an oud. Then dinner ended with belly dancing, that was lots of fun to watch. Arabic coffee and dates were a nice finish to dinner as they turned out all the lights and everyone just sat back quietly and looked at the heavens. Of course I had to point out all the planets and constellations (quietly), they were so bright they jumped out at you. Venus and Mars were prominent on either side of the waxing crescent moon while the Pleiades, Cassiopeia, Orion and the usual circumpolar constellations were present as well. A very peaceful end to the evening.

Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

We slept so well last night, not a big surprise! We passed out at about 1am and while I woke up frequently during the night, I went right back to sleep and was very comfortable. We got up very excited around 7:30am and felt refreshed and excited to start the day. Abu Dhabi boasts emerald blue seas, white sand beaches, haunting sand dunes and a lot of culture plus the amenities of a modern city. Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates and is much quieter and authentic than than its flashy and cosmopolitan neighbor Dubai. Abu Dhabi is situated between two extremes-the beauty of the pristine Persian Gulf and miles of rolling desert sand dunes. The natural wonders offer a beautiful backdrop to a city that is home to both modern developments and a wealth of cultural treasures. Abu Dhabi offers a delicious fusion of global cuisines. The cities location by the sea makes fresh seafood a staple of many dishes. Dishes often highlight flavors of cinnamon, saffron and turmeric, complemented with nuts, limes and dried fruit. The capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi is the largest and wealthiest of the nation’s seven emirates and is a rapidly growing cosmopolitan metropolis. Glittering skyscrapers pierce the sky, and five-star resorts spread across islands both natural and manmade. There are golf courses, beaches, marinas, upscale malls, a Formula One race car track, amusement areas and cultural institutions-outposts of the Louvre and Guggenheim museums are opening soon. We had a sumptuous breakfast spread and really enjoyed it. Then explored the hotel before heading out to the desert for the afternoon and evening. We will be back to Abu Dhabi at the end of our trip to spend more time exploring.

San Clemente, CA

Surprisingly I’m feeling pretty good right now. I guess because I have everything done and slept well but not long enough. Usually I have so much anxiety until I get on the plane worrying about if I have everything, passports, is there anything I didn’t do that I needed to? Car should be here in about 45 minutes for the ride to LAX, hope it doesn’t take too long it’s foggy and dreary out. I shouldn’t have spoke so soon, about 15 minutes before pickup I was notified that our flight was delayed 45 minutes….we only have a 1 hour and 25 minute layover So now I’m an anxious mess! Can’t wait for my Bloody Mary at the airport! As usual, everything worked out well, The ride to the airport was a bit anxious because I kept thinking that I forgot everything! Once we were in the airport lounge, with Bloody Mary’s, everything was good. By the time I got on the plane I was so relaxed. I don’t think I noticed take off at all good sign, at least in my book! Once on board and in flight, it hit midnight in Amsterdam so everyone cheered, clapped and they passed out glasses of champagne, it was awesome! Happy New Year! Dinner was a semi-good chicken curry with rice, salad and an crusty roll with butter. I watched The Godfather to soothe me with another vodka soda with dinner, then a Courvoisier helped me into sleep. Six and a half hours left, I can get a good nap if I fall asleep now. Aaaaaah, somehow I slept about 2+ hours after dinner! That’s major for me on a plane. The canned music put me to sleep but certainly didn’t keep me asleep….woke up to something I hated, can’t remember now but it was terrible… old Springsteen I think. Mad that this plane doesn’t have any plugs for our computers or phones! Not even USB chargers We are all conserving our batteries and not listening to our music or watching our movies on our laptops. Feel like it’s the 90’s or something. The kids are trying to bargain with me for my chargers, they are willing to make a deal with the devil for just a few minutes of charge….too bad, they should have brought their own! They each have a 10,000 amp they got in Hong Kong, but didn’t bring it, sorry. I watched a good movie, reminded me of a French foreign film, which I love. Then they served breakfast, it was actually good! Fresh fruit, yogurt, a cheese omelette, a roll and coffee. The view out the window is beautiful with a sliver of orange along the curvature of the earth. We are landing at 12am pacific time, when everyone is saying cheers in California.