Yas Island

Woke up quite late in our hotel.  Yas Island is still in Abu Dhabi but over 15 miles away from the Downtown area.  

After breakfast we headed for the pool for a relaxing day but typically it was windy and a bit cold.  Damn!!  

 Seda, who is used to the sun vs Jane who just has to get in the pool no matter what.

 Check out how busy it was, we were definitely here in the low season!

So after sticking it out for as long as we could we decided to use the steam room, sauna and Jacuzzi followed by a massage.  This was great especially as this sorted out my flaky horrible nose which I had scalded over a pan just before my holiday.  (I won't bore you with the embarrassing details of this dumb misadventure whilst writing this.)
I am actually not a great fan of massages but because of Seda's enthusiasm I went along with it and to be honest it wasn't that bad at all. Almost good.  The problem is I can't relax when having a massage, which kind of defeats the object plus I find it bloody painful because my back and shoulders are just so tense. I need to sort this out!
During the afternoon I just relaxed and read and did bugger all.  Damn fine. 
Ferrari World and the track were just opposite from our hotel  In the afternoon we could hear tourists in Ferrari storming around the track  But Ferrari World is like Alton Towers.  Lots of rides and  the fastest roller coaster in the world.
http://www.ferrariworldabudhabi.com/en-gb/attractions/formula-rossa.aspx
We never visited it. Nor really our thing.

In the evening we went to Saadiyat Island to meet up with Michael.  Luckily this Island was halfway between our locations.  This Island is being totally renovated with new housing and cultural projects. It is a massive project and it will all be finished by 2020. A Sheikh Zayad national museum,, the Louvre and the Guggenheim are all being built here.  Massive art complexes are arriving.  We went to the complex which is already open called Manarat Al Saadiyat..  Unfortunately nothing was available on line to see what art was actually on show but we took a chance and went anyway.  Seda and I were not disappointed.  This glass art from an Indian artist, Bharti Kher was great. It is bindis on smashed glass and looked great.

I also liked this Arabic designed spiral

Hours of work!

And the highlight was the Japanese artist, Yayoi Kusama’s Infinity Mirrored Room.  Loved it!

the room of lights was tiny, with a channel of water.  But the affect was amazing!

We then had dinner in the museum.  Yes, I did it.  I had a camel burger with chips and it was delicious.  It was yummy because it had been marinated in Thai spices and lemon grass and was totally scrumptious.  A good choice.

  It was so deserted in the Complex. We were the only three people in the museum apart from the security guard who had to unlock the front gates for us when our taxis finally arrived.

Here are the cultural plans for the future of Saadiyat Island.  

 Bloody hell that is some serious cultural planning.  lots of building going on here at the moment!