[Note - most of this will be plagiarised from emails already written to loved ones, work colleagues, and various imaginary friends, so those of you who fall into this category will know realise what a cheap and lazy wordsmith I really am]
Flight was only 14 hours, and I ended up arriving at Abu Dhabi at 6.05am, 45 minutes earlier than scheduled!! Can you believe it!!
It was sad in a way, any anxiety I might have had on the plane turned into complete indifference as I was walking though arrivals at Abu Dhabi. I think I NOW know what it's like for people who travel for work all the time, it's just another thing, as opposed to a trip to really get excited over. Still, that changed as soon as the I saw the nice man holding up the sign with my name on it. Ah, service with a smile. A drive to the hotel, dump my stuff, quick dip in the pool, and I'm ready to rock!
I like Abu Dhabi - it's okay, though possibly a little soulless compared to Dubai. Expensive in some ways, but if you're sensible and inquisitive enough to check out the local options, it can be super cheap. Buses run anywhere for a 1 Dirham coin (about 30 - 40 cents). Generally when I find myself in an unfamiliar city I'll catch one or two local buses and let them take me as far as they'll let me. If I get lost (IF I get lost!!??) worst possible scenario I'll just get a cab back to the hotel.
Didn't take long on the bus though. Got off and took some cool mosque shots, did lots of walking. Heat wasn't too bad - VERY Humid, but come 11.00 it was starting to get nasty. Thankfully the hotel had provided me with a copy of Time Out, so I looked up the nearest cinema and went and saw Prometheus (cab was about 15Dh/$4) at some pretty soulless mall. Movie excellent, critics can go jump, although the ending kinda spoilt it - won't explain, but it does mess with the continuity leading into Alien - unless I'm missing something, which is highly likely.
Went back to hotel, swim, then took a cab to the Grand Mosque.
What can I say, pretty unbelievable. The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque was initiated by the late President of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), HH Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. He had a vision to create a mosque that would be welcoming for people of all races and religions. Hence it was the first mosque to offer free guided tours for non-muslims. Sadly the Sheikh didn't live to see the completion of his vision, but his son HHSheikh Khalifa bin Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan saw to it that his father's dream would be realized.
Here's a few little facts for your perusal
Has the world's largest carpet at 7,119 square metres from Iran.
The prayer room boasts hanging from its roof the world's largest chandelier from Germany made from one million Swarovski crystals
It has 28 types of marble and 24-carat gold throughout
The 22,412 square metre mosque site equates to around the size of five football fields.
More than 3,000 workers and 38 renowned contracting companies took part in the construction work.
The mosque has 82 domes all of traditional Moroccan design - all decorated with white marble.
The main dome's outer shell is 32.8 metres in diameter and stands at a height of 70 metres from the inside and 85 metres from the outside.
Not surprisingly, It is the largest mosque in the UAE, and the third largest in the world.
Took heaps of my own rubbish photos, but as you can probably appreciate, little holiday snaps taken on your average domestic digital snapper cannot do the place justice. Did manage to get some decent recordings of the call to prayer as well.
Nevertheless, here's a couple of snaps I took. Go crazy...
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