So, here we are in downtown Abu Dhabi.
This shot shows part of a mosque in the foreground and a beautiful highrise in the background.
They do love glass and shiny things here.
I didn’t take this photo for the reflection in the glass, but it turned out kinda artsy fartsy. If I had been trying, I’m sure it wouldn’t have come out this good.
It is not uncommon, in fact it is very common, to see large billboards and murals depicting one sheikh or another. This is probably Sheikh Mohammed, ruler of Abu Dhabi and president of the UAE.
Here we are sitting on the steps of the Presidential Palace, which is not the Presidential residence, but an amazingly posh hotel.
Here’s what it looks like as you drive up.
They do love their fountains here. Water, water everywhere!
This is looking down from the steps. Notice the construciton in the background. It’s hard to find a view that doesn’t include construction and cranes.
More construction to the left.
There was a large greenscape all around the hotel. Very beautiful.
This is the view down the steps including the fountain flowing all the way down the steps. Water, water everywhere.
We came to the hotel to have high tea. It was very expensive, but yummy and fun. We each got a tray like this with three layers of plates filled with little sandwiches, pastries and desserts. I’ve decided that I really like clotted cream. Mmmm.
This is Daddybird enjoying a sandwich. I told him to look pretty and took a picture. Looked at it, then told him to look pretty with his eyes open. The golden glow to these pictures is probably due to the golden hue of everything there — the walls, the furniture, the lighting. It was very beautiful.
This is a shot upward at the top of the rotunda. Unfortunately, it is blurry. I failed to check the setting on the camera. But, hopefully, you can get a feel for the grandure.
Despite the grandness of it all, we both felt comfortable here. We didn’t feel like poor relations who had wandered in off the street. The acoustics were amazing, too. There was live music being played a short distance from where we were sitting and we could hear it just fine, but were unable to hear the people at the next table talking. We could also easily hear each other as we talked at our table.
Abu Dhabi is a beautiful city, but I don’t think I would take it over Dubai.
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