The Big Bus Tour through Pictures- Part 1

We started at the Marina Mall!

Wednesday, March 1, 2012

I took a big bus tour around all of Abu Dhabi.  Enjoy the sights!

Things are changing daily even in front of the Emirate Palace!

There is a little good fishin' anywhere!

This lovely sculpture of an Arabic coffee pot is right in the center of town.

Along with this incense burner sculpture.

Most of the native emirate neighborhoods are developed behind walls.

The residential architecture is fantastic.

There are pet shops here but only for birds and fish.

My Monday Adventure to the Marina Mall!

Monday, February 27, 2012

The Marina Mall is the most elite Mall in Abu Dhabi.  From the outside it has the design of three Bedowin tents.  It contains all the designer stores like Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger, Juicy Couture, and lots of gold and diamonds.










There is even a Ferrari Store.  Sometime I hope to get to Dubai to see the Ferrari Factory.







In this Mall there is an ice skating rink.  For 40 dirhams (about $12.00), the kids can skate for an hour.  Situated around the rink are coffee shops and restaurants.  So I settled into a French cappacino and a couple of chocolate crepes and watched the children skate.  It was really relazing and the kids were cute out on the small rink.







I sat for quite awhile reading my kindle and ejoying my cappacino.  The crepes were delicious but gone way to soon.  Then I could stop chuckling, when all of the sudden this mini zamboni came out onto the ice.  I was hysterical.  This little oriental man on his tiny zamboni.  It was the best laugh I had since I got here.

This same Mall also has an amusement park with rides and carnival games.  Alicia's children got lost in it for hours.  There were racing games and skee ball and a small roller coaster.  It was a child's dream and Bianca and D had a great time.

There is a wonderful fountain in the center of the mall.  The water is somewhat timed to the music.  A lot of people stopped and watched as I did.






It was also the first time I was able to take some candid shots of people.  You cannot just take random people shots here in the UAE.  The emirate men and women have to consent to have their picture taken.  With the men it is not generally a problem but many of the women want to insure the their faces are covered when photographed.  Below are a few pictures I was able to got.

Catholic Mass in Abu Dhabi!

Sunday, February 26, 2012

After a full morning at the Abu Dhabi Health Ministry having our residency visa exams and fingerprints.  I decided to have a quiet afternoon and then I ventured out alone to Mass at Saint Joseph's Cathedral which is about 2/3 of a mile from the hotel.  It sits between a Mosque and a Protestant Ecumenical Worship Center.  This church has 100,000 parishioners.  There are a total of  22 Masses from Friday morning through Sunday evening.  I went to the 4:30pm Mass on Sunday.  This picture does not do the church justice.  It holds about 1000 people and it was standing room only by the time Mass began.  They have no mistlettes or song books.  The entire liturgy is projected on 2 huge screens in the front of the church. 

At the end of Mass I was able to click off this picture of the alter.  But they are trying to shuffle us out as soon as possible because the next thousands parishioners are waiting to enter for the 5:45om Mass.  There is a beautiful grotto to our lady in the court yard but it was so busy my picture is not very good.  So next time I will get a better picture of the grotto

It's all about the shopping!

Saturday, February 25, 2012

The Al Wahda Mall is about 3/4 of a mile from the hotel.  So Monday a bunch of us decided to walk to the mall.  I might have made a different decision have I known how dangerous a walk down the street was in Abu Dhabi.  This danger is not of a criminal nature but of an infastructure nature.  I had been warned that the sidewalks were a tripping hazard and that one of the teachers from the first group fell on the first day and broke her leg.  These should have been my clues to taking a taxi instead of walking but I was feeling strong and had it in me to do.  Less than a quarter of a mile out I decided I needed to lengthen the strap in my purse and down I went.  No scratches, no blood, no torn skin.  But I went down like rock and fell on my purse, which was painful. I got up and moved along with the entire group asking again and again was I alright.  Other than a sore breast I was fine.  So we carried on to the Al Wahda Mall.






Our first stop was the exchange to change all of our money.  Then on to Lu Lu's Hypermarket.  The best I can do to describe this store it to say that it is Target on steroids with the addition of Lowe's.  By size it is 3 times bigger than a SuperWalmart.  We spent three hours in Lu Lu's. I did not make it through the whole store but I got groceries and a couple of abayas. Luckily we took a cab back so there was no walking. 

THE CORNICHE

After our brief meeting at ADEC, a bunch of us decided to head to the Corniche (beach area) on the shore of Abu Dhabi.  Jennifer, Laqueeda and her kids (Kamea and Kalil), Christine, Alicia and Shannon.  The cabbie first tried to take us to the "Ladies Only" Beach.  The beaches here are a bit segregated.  There are ladies only, family and bachelor men only.  Single ladies are allowed on the ladies only and the family beaches but the single men are only allowed on the bachelor beach.

The water here is the clearest color of blue.  So blue that it turned a couple of the girls into fashion models.  The water was ice cold and to some very sore tootsie it was wonderful.  The water is so clear that you can see my toes in the picture below.  The Cornich is more than just a beach.  It is also a shopping area.  Very much like the boardwalks on the east coast back in the states.

Our First Meeting at ADEC

After breakfast with my new pals, Shannon and Alicia, we headed to the Abu Dhabi Education Council.

This was our first orientation meeting at the Abu Dhabi Education Coucil (ADEC).  We had planned to be early but the front desk at the council was a little confused on where we should be. This was our second trip to the HQ building and they finally figured out that we were in the right place. 








. It was a short meeting only about 40 minutes.  We opened our bank accounts and started our residency visa process. After the meeting, a few of us headed out on our first real adventure in Abu Dhabi.

OUR FIRST DAY IN THE UAE

 

This is the most amazing city. 

Beautiful architecture.

There are 2 mosques right outside my window and I can hear the call to prayer which is incredible. 

Most know English well enough to understand.  I am having so much fun. I meet up with Shannon, Jennifer, Christine, Alicia and Tammie yesterday (WED). We are all just getting to know each other but everyone is really cool. 

Five of us went to dinner last night at the Arabian House Restaurant. It's just two blocks from the hotel. I had Mutton Shwarrma. It is like a gyro. They (2) were really delicous, only they your curly parsley, which we all know should only be used for decoration. The 2 New Zealand girls whose names escape me at the moment has fried fish. One had fries and the other had fried rice. Tammie also had shwarrma and Sharon had salad and veggie soup. They served the most wonderful flat bread and 3 plates of veggie as complimentary starters.  My meal only cost 10 dirhams which was only $2.78 US dollars.  What a bargain and I got lunch out of it too because I couldn't eat it all.  We also had falafel; which was excellent.  I am not a fan of hummus or chickpeas and was very surprised to find that falafel contains this item.  I am now a fan of falafel but still not a fan of hummas.

Once dinner was completed and a brisk walk back to the hotel.  I was done for the day.  With the final call to prayer floating through my window I drifted off to sleep.