My last day

My last day in Abu Dhabi was spent talking, eating, drinking and walking.  Not all at the same time but spread out evenly throughout the day.
We started off with a wonderful English breakfast in the nearest mall.  The one with the massive Marks and Spencers in it. Yes, I have to say it was a damn fine.
We then ended up walking for miles and miles and miles down the corniche, which is the water front.  It was really lovely.  Fridays are the weekends so lots of families were out and guys were playing football and cricket. There were lots of Pakistani guys and Afghan guys walking in groups up the paved area of the sea front and lounging about, relaxing on the grass. Michael told me that guys are not allowed onto the actual beach unless they are wearing proper western style beach shorts.  This is a dress code which is used to keep males, who are wearing their local  Shalwar Kameez, off the beaches. These guys, (supposedly) just stare and take photos of women on the beach and it has become a bit of a nuisance for some of the women. They probably haven't got used to the social etiquette of  being on a beach, having come straight down from an Afghan mountain.
 At least the beach shorts rule can keep it under control, maybe! ( I didn't ask if Emirati guys also had to wear shorts to go on the beach. I doubt it.)

Anyway this walk was a great way to spend my last day and I think we walked up and then back down the beach front for over 3 hours.

Tickling a camel in the underpass which went under the road towards the beach side. M said it's like a furnace down in this tunnel in the summer months.

check out  the rather tiny coffee pot feature in the background!

 It sure is a lovely beach in Abu Dhabi.  Perfect for  hanging out on.

Football.  What lovely sand!

love the spelling of Byky and the pictures in case you don't understand.

We then went for one more Ethiopian meal.  I had my fill of Tibs and Injera , the flat crumpet like sourdough. I've found out that Orthodox Christian Ethiopians fast on Wednesdays and Fridays, so if I ever manage to get myself to Ethiopia I will find lots of vegan and veggie tibs too for meatless variety, which they  eat on these two days.  Yum, yum yum. But the meat was delicious too. 

Then we got a taxi back to the Emirate's Palace to meet some of Michael's friends for drinks.  It was a fun evening and a great way to end my holiday.

I had a great time and it was lovely catching up with my old friend Michael and if he stays in the UAE i will definitely visit again,  but the place is not on my agenda for independent travel.  It's not a traveller's destination. Plus I just felt that every single person I met was from another country. Nearly every conversation and transaction for the week was made with a non-local.  This was a bit strange. But hey, I think that is what living in the UAE is like.  It's a country made up of workers from all over the world trying to make some cash and wiring money back home to support their families.

If only the foreign workers could send some of this back to their families. I managed to get a tourist snap of this gold dispensing ATM in the Emirate's Palace. 

I looked in the dispensing compartment just to make sure some mad fool hadn't left a bit of bullion behind.

Guess what....?!!!!

Al Ain and Dubai

Up late. But hey, I was on holiday.  Looked out of the window to this view.  I  felt like I had been transported to another world. A bit surreal for me but beautiful.

totally empty golf course and I think that's a housing estate below.

 

My camera decided to go onto a weird setting here.  So sorry about the blue haze. 

Breakfast in the hotel was a rather crap chocolate eclair.  We were going to wait for more Indian delights at the take away near to the bus station. So down we went saying goodbye  to Jebeel Hafeet, the mountain.

We went straight to Sheikh Zayed's palace. A beautifully designed, almost modern artish place. Again I loved it and we enjoyed mooching around taking more photos.

I fit in quite well on Zayed's sofa.  This was a big tent outside in the courtyard of the palace.

Palace gardens

\one of the kids' beds. Looked so cosy

Zayed and his wife slept here. A cute unassuming bed. I liked it and it's definitely not what you would expect a leader to sleep on.  I particularly liked the fragments of mirrors on the front and back wooden bed panels. Kinky or narcissistic... probably both!

We then wandered through a market back to the Indian store.  

Omani guys wear different hats.  Reminded me of Zanzibar, which used to be a colony of Oman.

What the hell is this?  Will have to ask my students.

Lot of limes and a moustached woman in the background.

Then it was a 2 hour journey again on a small bus up to Dubai. We had seen the main tourist highlights of Al Ain (apart from the zoo.)   The air conditioning on the bus was just too strong and I thought my feet were going to freeze.  It took me a while to move my ankles properly once we got off.

Anyway, we walked up to the metro.  the Dubai metro is one huge sky train with about 4 long lines.  Each station looks like a massive bicycle helmet suspended by walk ways over the airborne transport. We were heading for Burj Khalifa/Dubai Mall.

 My first view of the tallest building in the world from the bus.(Sky train is visible in the front.)

metro was clean, easy to use, well signposted and packed full of people. 

It was Thursday though (the equivalent of our busy end of week Friday.)

We then had to walk for ages along travellators to the mall.  Honestly on  about ten different travellators.   It was like walking between terminals at  Heathrow but with windows and sun. This was the view out over Dubai.  These builders are the unseen creators of the beating heart of this wealthy city.  It was strange seeing them work through the glass. A dream was being built right in front of my eyes.

Love these!

The soulless travellators took us to the Dubai Mall, the biggest in the world.  But as Michael says not the swishest.  That accolade goes to the Mall of the Emirates in another part of the city. We went to see the sharks in the aquarium and then outside to see the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. 

From above.  There is also a resident crocodile now but you have to pay to see him/her.

I like Oasis.  I got a good pair of jeans there in the sale in Oxford. I decided not to go in this one.

Down on the level. Up close with the fishes.

You can go scuba diving after you've been shopping if you want. (Bottom of the picture.)

Maybe next time.

We then went outside to see the tower.  It was a lovely atmosphere outside around the Burj Khalifa.  Lots of  local families, people who had finished work and tourists.  I liked the vibe and we watched the 6pm light show with  Arabic music and then the 6.30pm light show in English (the music was a bit like the Weakest Link and we both expected Anne Robinson to suddenly appear.  Oh no!!) and then for good luck the light show again with Arabic tunes at 7pm.

 the buildings below are also sky scrapers!

getting darker.

Me getting over excited by the joy of the music and the water show. 

We then went off for dinner nearby in a packed wonderful looking restaurant.  the menu was too vast though and I think they had everything possible from every country on the planet.  This was obviously not a good idea because I chose something from Malaysia and I was highly disappointed. Oh well, you can't be lucky all the time (but I was jealous of Michael's Chinese duck pizza...honestly!) 

We then had to travellate back to the sky train, standing all the way on the metro with all the commuters, and then queue for ages for a bus back to Abu Dhabi. (Thank god, walking and standing don't bother me much!)  It was Thursday so everyone was going home for their weekend.  (Friday and Saturday in the majority of Arabic Countries.)  Michael said he was lucky, because he was with me he could stand with me in the female  queue. This queue was considerably shorter than the male queue but we still had to wait for the third bus before we could get a seat. Women and families from the ladies queue were only allowed on 10 at a time and then the guys piled in. I've never had segregated boarding of any vehicle before.  I wasn't really a fan. I don't think it made it any quicker for us.In fact I think Michael would have got on quicker if he had been alone or with another guy.

It was rather a crazy journey home.  The driver picked up a friend from the side of the motorway and they  were both shouting at each other but no one complained.  The other guy also had a go at driving, just for a laugh.  Michael even said that the driver even started filling in his work hours sheet whilst driving. Pretty awful really and I hope Michael does complain to the office.  We surreptitiously took a photo of him and wrote down the number plate of the bus so that he can lodge a complaint. 

So yes, after a taxi back we were both pretty damn exhausted but we still managed to stay up and for a few more hours chatting and drinking tea.  (Yes, tea not wine or beer!)  before collapsing.

Al Ain

Got up late, packed a smaller bag again and went off to the bus station. We firstly had a coffee in Costa in the associated Mall.  It was a bit horrific because Costa was full of ex-pat wives having a Wednesday coffee morning and the background noise was amplified by the acoustics of the mall. (We knew for sure that it was an ex-pat coffee morning because we asked the waitress.) We then headed off for the architecturally rather retro bus station.  It reminded me of something more likely to be found in ex-communist countries.  I suppose in the UAE, being forced to take a bus is reminiscent of a 'third world' culture. 

 The packed bus station. 

After 2 hours in a tiny mini-bus packed with Indian guys and a few Asian women we arrived in Al Ain.  It was all very peaceful and I noticed the lovely temperature.  Inland temperatures seem far better than the coast because the humidity drops considerably.

We ate pakoras at a great South Indian/Sri Lankan food shack and then wandered off to walk through the Oasis and find the fort.  We walked for ages and to be honest by the time we reached the fort I did feel a bit weary.

The oasis was fabulous, a true slice of natural beauty.   

 A gardener chasing a peacock

beautiful weather on the Yellow Brick Road through the Oasis. (Nice door too.)

 Emerald green grass here.

The irrigation channels.

   Loved it! 

Finally we ended up at the Fort.  This place is culturally very important to the country.  It was built over 100 years ago and was the family home of the great leader Zayad's grandfather.  The British used it to help the local tribes keep the Saudi clans at bay and the border of Oman is literally just a few miles up the road. I loved the texture of the building and the simplicity of the design.  It was incredibly calming and a lovely place to hang out in.  

 near to the entrance

 These extra defences were built by the British in the 40s.

 Wonderful shape and design.

Michael in the doorway.

 Hello!

 I loved the ceiling and the simplicity.  It all just worked so well. 

 Romeo, where are you?!

 from the museum: Lovely photo taken by Wilfred Thesiger, a British explorer who travelled across the empty quarter of the Arabian desert twice between 1945 and 1950. He wrote a book about his adventures and took some rather fabulous photos.  (Many of them are in the museum of this fort as a tribute to Mubarak Bin London. aka  Wilfred Thesiger.)

 This part of the sea in Abu Dhabi now has a super highway bridge going across it.

 The first leader of the UAE,  Sheikh Zayed.  I love his English style waistcoat.  Falcons are a way of life here. A bit like having a pet dog.

We then went up the mountain to our hotel.  It was a lovely place up there and Michael I timed it perfectly for sunset. Here is my sunset photo.It was a bit like a vista from another planet and unfortunately my camera doesn't do it complete  justice. But it's good enough.

Good night.

Abu Dhabi Day 3

I managed to get up early,even after all the gin the night before, and I was in the pool before 8.30am. Yes, it was cold but it felt good. I  had to make the most of the opportunity. The lifeguard appeared at 9am. I got chatting to him. He was Tanzanian and was bored to death by his job at the hotel. He said there was no one about and that he had to hide his mobile phone because his boss watched him to make sure he was always looking busy even if it was deathly quiet. We talked about Tanzanian towns and Zanzibar. Was interesting but I was getting cold and hungry so I left for breakfast inside.

Seda and I took the shuttle bus to the private Yas beach, which was free for hotel residents. Was a lovely beach but a bit bleak under such grey skies. We just walked up and down, up and down, being observed by the lifeguards again. When we ended up trying to climb over the rocks into a nearby cove,which was barred off due to building work, we got sternly whistled at and ordered to come back onto the private beach.

On the beach

Ferrari World from the beach

Seda on the beach

A strange photo of building work and a massive grey wagon wheel structure. I later found out that this grey metal meat patty was Yas Mall.

Walking back to the hotel from the beach just for more exercise. Everything was so green. Irrigation pipes were cleverly hidden underneath all the bushes. 

We then packed up our stuff and got a taxi to the Eastern Mangroves to meet Michael for lunch. We got the place wrong and left our luggage in a really swish hotel and went looking for him in this chic establishment.

The Lobby

 pool behind was lovely.

But Michael was just round the corner at Carluccio's. We left the bags at the hotel and wandered off to find him. it was a charming little bay with one of these.

This photo made me laugh but Waitrose was having trouble with their door.  It had just fallen off and it was a bit difficult to climb over it into the shop.

We ate lovely food at Carluccio's and then wandered off along the water front which separated the Eastern Mangroves from the city. 

The irrigation system of the UAE. This is how they keep things green. 

Looking out over the Easter Mangroves onto the city.

We then went by taxi back to downtown Abu Dhabi. Michael picked up his framed artwork ready for an exhibition and whilst he and Seda were organising this I got chatting to the taxi driver, who was from Kerala, India. Again it was fun talking about a place I had visited. I enjoyed finding out about his life and how he goes home for one month every year in Ramadan and sees his wife and children. He had been in the UAE for over 10 years as a taxi driver. 

 Then we went to the souk in the World Trade Centre. This was the cleanest , most modern souk,  I had ever been to and I renamed it ' The clinical Souk'. But even so I was able to find lots of good soaps and creams. But definitely no jewellery. It was all for too bling, bling, bling for me.  We ended up in the maddest, weirdest cafe EVER. It was called Shakespeares and was a caricature of something kind of English, French based  mixed with something incredibly kitsch and bizarre.

strange place! Weird lights, furnishings, pots and cakes everywhere and a kind of Tom Baker/Dr. Who inspired scarf thing near to the counter.

Then we ended our evening in the Emirate's Palace, a swish hotel.  What a place! Dripping in money but the vibe inside was actually really nice.  Quite understated and  the lighting was fantastic.  It was all a lot more chic than I thought it would be.

Inside the Emirate's Palace.

We started our evening in the Cuban Lounge which was great. We then wandered off to the Nightclub via the toilets, which was full of the tartiest looking/uber glam  girls ever, all getting spruced up to pull a rich guy in the club I suppose.  We were not allowed in the night club because I was wearing flip-flops.  Which was just not acceptable!!  This was actually a relief as we ended up in a great bar in the far corner of the Palace called Hakkasan.  A lovely place with a really good atmosphere and v. friendly staff.  We had more cocktails with Seda and then just after 2am we said goodbye to her as she was going back to Ankara. It was great to spend time with her and to have someone to hang out with whilst Michael was working.  Hope to meet you again one day Seda.