Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
You could be forgiven for thinking that Abu Dhabi is just a place that reminds you of that annoying rich kid at school- more money than they know what to do with, a little boring and an example of money not buying class. It certainly was my first impression, that being said the first time i was there was 2009 with work and i had the privilege of being there in Ramada (bloody hot + no fun = v annoying) and I got to stay in the work villa which included the office so arguably i didn’t really get to know the city.
This trip has worked out a little different.
Let’s start with the weather- holy flamoly batman what difference it is in January. The days are beautifully warm, that awesome temperature around 23 degrees. And this time i actually got to stay in a hotel (more about that later so off I trot after work down to the Corniche. One of the things i have learnt through my extensive middle eastern travel (yes now that is Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey & UAE- pretty sure that counts as extensive) is that the Corniche rocks. It reminds me of home down there on the water. So down on the Corniche in Abu Dhabi a promenaded (as that is what you do on a cornice). Now its no Lebanon cornice (severely lacking in bread handbags) but it was here that i discovered that everyone is Abu Dhabi and not big lard arses that don’t walk anywhere i was just looking in the wrong place (or i found all the foreigners and my initial opion was right).
Deciding to explore a little more i adventured off the cornice and through the city. Now let me warn you here people- the map that i was given from the hotel had only every say 10 streets which made it a little difficult. Add that in with feeling like i had taken a wrong turn into India i finally found some roads which met up on my map. This caused a little, momentary freak- according to my map i was way off location possible hours off location. So what did i do? I decided to treat that map like satnav and ignore it and continue going the way i wanted- guess who won that arguement.
Feeling liberated by staying in a hotel & my after work cornice expedition i decide to plan out some more after work excursions. Excitedly i looked online and learnt there were many exciting things to see and do in abu dhabi- the cornice, the grand mosque and malls, malls & more malls. Whoop whoop.
The blue mosque was pretty cool, though that being said i don’t know if i would have picked that pattern for the world’s largest carpet.
High: laughing at the dummies dressed in all their saris with sunnies on looking cool- then realising i was rocking trousers, long sleeve top with dress over the top and scarf jauntily wrapped around my head.... and sunglasses.
Low: realising i had been staring way to long trying to work out how the woman with bull burkha one was going to eat her burger without flashing a little face.
Travel tip: do not trust maps, they will only confuse you in the middle east.
Travel tip 2: apparently all the good stuff is outside of the city for abu dhabi- camels, sand ... camels
Travel tip 3: Just because you see 10,000 Hardees sign and really want a Fishtastic doesn't mean you'll be able to find one.
Travel tip 4: i don’t think i’m wrong about the spoilt rich kid thing- a desert country should not be showing off with that many water fountains, it’s just rude (yes i realise that was not a tip).
No comments:
Post a Comment