On Friday, October 5, a couple others and myself rented a car and drove to Abu Dhabi for the day. It was nice to get away from Dubai for a little bit, although Abu Dhabi was pretty much the same, but smaller, and not so flashy.
First off we visited the Emirates Palace Hotel. Apparently it's the most expensive hotel ever constructed, at a whopping $3 billion! The fixtures in some of the rooms are made of gold, there are swarovski chandeliers all over the place, and even a vending machine that dispenses pure gold, if you're willing to part with 7000AED, or about $2,000.
From there we went to the Heritage Village, the abandoned one, as well as the new one, right down the street. Unfortunately Friday is their Saturday (and also prayer day), so the shops and exhibits weren't open for another few hours. But we still got to wander around and take some photos.
It was very hot, so we went to the mall nearby to take advantage of the air conditioning and grabbed an ice cream from Marble Slab. It's been a real treat to eat familiar things from home.
E had to meet an old school friend so from one mall, we drove to another. Unfortunately there was a Pull & Bear store there, they are all over the UAE and I first discovered it back in 2009 in Barcelona, but I don't think Canada has any. I've already purchased 2 cardigans and a hoody from there, and then I just had to check out this store as well. Perhaps that was a bad decision, because I ended up buying a gorgeous black peacoat for $100!!! that won't fit in my suitcase, so I'm just going to have to wear it on the plane when I leave here. But it's beautiful and I couldn't pass it up with that price.
S, Y and I induldged in some pinkberry while we waited for Ewa, and I was sufficiently full of ice creamy, yogurty goodness after that. Once Ewa finished up with her friend, we drove to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. It's the 4th or 7th largest, depending on how you compare it, and home to the largest handmade carpet in the world. We got there just in time for a beautiful sunset and took an awful lot of photos. We also had to dress up in the traditional muslim outfit to enter, which was much too long for me, so I was tripping all over the place, sweating underneath it, it was blowing in the wind, and I was just an all around mess.
I'm really glad that I had the opportunity to visit Abu Dhabi, even just for a day.
First off we visited the Emirates Palace Hotel. Apparently it's the most expensive hotel ever constructed, at a whopping $3 billion! The fixtures in some of the rooms are made of gold, there are swarovski chandeliers all over the place, and even a vending machine that dispenses pure gold, if you're willing to part with 7000AED, or about $2,000.
From there we went to the Heritage Village, the abandoned one, as well as the new one, right down the street. Unfortunately Friday is their Saturday (and also prayer day), so the shops and exhibits weren't open for another few hours. But we still got to wander around and take some photos.
This was the abandoned part
It was very hot, so we went to the mall nearby to take advantage of the air conditioning and grabbed an ice cream from Marble Slab. It's been a real treat to eat familiar things from home.
E had to meet an old school friend so from one mall, we drove to another. Unfortunately there was a Pull & Bear store there, they are all over the UAE and I first discovered it back in 2009 in Barcelona, but I don't think Canada has any. I've already purchased 2 cardigans and a hoody from there, and then I just had to check out this store as well. Perhaps that was a bad decision, because I ended up buying a gorgeous black peacoat for $100!!! that won't fit in my suitcase, so I'm just going to have to wear it on the plane when I leave here. But it's beautiful and I couldn't pass it up with that price.
S, Y and I induldged in some pinkberry while we waited for Ewa, and I was sufficiently full of ice creamy, yogurty goodness after that. Once Ewa finished up with her friend, we drove to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. It's the 4th or 7th largest, depending on how you compare it, and home to the largest handmade carpet in the world. We got there just in time for a beautiful sunset and took an awful lot of photos. We also had to dress up in the traditional muslim outfit to enter, which was much too long for me, so I was tripping all over the place, sweating underneath it, it was blowing in the wind, and I was just an all around mess.
I'm really glad that I had the opportunity to visit Abu Dhabi, even just for a day.
Beautiful!
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