The Big Bus Tour through Pictures - Part 2

March 2,2012

Coldstone Creamery on the Corniche

The Corniche is the beach front in Abu Dhabi.  As I have told you before the beaches are separated into Female only, Family Beaches ( which include married men and women, kid and single women) and then beaches for Bachelor Men.

Family Beach

 






The ladies only and bachelor only beach are on opposite ends of the Corniche.  Most are family beaches.  The Beach pass is $2.70 and a chair rental is $6.80.  A very inexpensive day at the beach!

..

This is the "Boardwalk" portion of the beach.
There is also a sidewalk to stroll on and
a bike path all the way along the 4 mile beachfront.

The view of the Marina Mall across the bay!

The view of the Persian Gulf

The water is this beautiful color and very clean.  You will not find trash allover these beaches.  I was surprise to find that although Westerners are advise to wear modest beach attire, most all of the women were in bikinis.

A tug o war on the beach.  What fun!

 

This is the Yacht Club that sits on the bay between the Corniche and the Marina Mall. OH, so that's why it's call the Marina Mall.  The Yacht Club Marina is there.  I could have had a V-8.

 

 

As we continued our bus tour of Abu Dhabi,  I found it amazing that every so often you would see a huge roadside picutre of the President of the country and Emir of Abu Dhabi.  This is His Highness Sheihk Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.  He took over for his father on November 4, 2004.  The day after the death of His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, who is know here as the father of the United Arab Emirates. 

These are very where: on the highway, the front of government buildings and on the front of the schools. 

















The main highway in Abu Dhabi which links Dubai and Al Ain is Highway 11 better known to the local population as the Truck Road.  It winds along the coast of the UAE from Dubai to Silain Al Gharbia and connects to the highway that goes to Al Ain in the south. It connects to the East road which follows the southern inlet from the mainland of Abu Dhabi to the island portion of Abu Dhabi.  Along this  road are some amazing sites.

These are the mangroves which sit in the southern inlet of Abu Dhabi.







All along the edge of the East Road are nice parks and rest areas.  Due to the heat and sun there are many of these beautiful picnic structures line the edge of the roadway. There are picnic tables under each of the hedge ringed domes.













There are also these wonderful family parks and bike rides that dot the East Road.  This dolphin fountain was fabulous.

Not all the scenery is all ethereal.  Some is simply functional.


















Then there was the artsy part of the tour.















The UAE Pavilion was constructed for Expo 2010 in Shanghai. It is now in its permanent location at the entrance.


Abu Dhabi Art was held in and around the impressive UAE Pavilion and Manarat Al Saadiyat in Saadiyat Cultural District.

Manarat Al Saadiyat literally means ‘the place of enlightenment’. It is a 15,400 sqm visitor centre, designed to bring the vision of the island to life through the Saadiyat Story.

This resort is located behind the Pavilion on Saadiyat Island.









And then there is the Mina Zayed Terminals at Port Zayed. Mina Zayed is the main gateway for container and general cargo vessels and is named for the former president of the UAE.










All truck traffic orginates here.


















But it is also where are cruise ships dock and where all multi-million dollar yachts are moored.








Finally, there are the Dhows.  They are sailing vessels used by Arabs on the east African, Arabian, and Indian coasts, generally lateen-rigged on two or three masts.   Some are still used for fishing and others are now used for dinner cruises.











I will now finish my tour with the amazing GRAND MOSQUE. I will be visiting rhe mosque next week so for now I will simply leave you with the pictures of this magnificent building and the center of the Islamic faith.

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.