Abu Dhabi

The drive from Al Maha to Abu Dhabi is about 2 hours, again on very well maintained multi-lane highways. There are plenty of rest stops with gas stations along the highway network. We experienced that gas prices in UAE aren’t much different than back home and this surprises me quite a bit. I assumed gas prices would be much cheaper, but as they say it’s never good to assume things. 

We stayed at the St. Regis on Saadiyat Island, a beach resort area on the Persian Gulf in Abu Dhabi. Not quite sure what to expect, I was pleasantly surprised to see how crystal clear and turquoise the water is with the beach consisting of the finest white sand my toes have ever felt. Our room was a gorgeous suite with an ocean view and a large balcony. The room was nothing like I’ve ever experienced before with a large dressing room closet, king sized bed, large bathroom with soaker tub and separate rain shower, an expansive seating area, in addition to a separate working desk outfitted with post-it notes, highlighters, pencils, and an eraser. It felt like a home away from home. We were greeted in the room with a lovely welcome plate of fruit and chocolates- thanks to all of the stays over the years at Marriott. 

After settling in, we drove out to see the  Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. This mosque was built between 1994 and 2007 and is built from natural materials chosen for long-lasting qualities, and include marble stone, gold, crystals, and ceramics. It was getting close to sundown and we thought it would be less busy, but also beautiful to see as the sun sets behind the mosque. The drive was about 15 minutes from the hotel and they have ample free parking on site. In fact underneath the mosque is a modern souk, which you have to walk through to get to the entry point of the mosque. Within the souk are many different shops including a very large and nicely decorated Tim Horton’s. We timed our visit in between prayer times; not sure if that was coincidence now or planned, but it worked out that way. We booked our tickets in advance and so it was easy entry. There is a dress code for visiting, and as a woman I needed to wear a head covering, long pants or shirts, and wear long sleeves. Another advantage of going at night is it’s a bit cooler so the dress code wasn’t as challenging than had we visited in the heat of the day. The mosque is stunningly beautiful. Starting with the elegant entry arches as you drive onto the property the make the mosque’s domes look like they are resting on the archways. We first walked the perimeter of the mosque in search of a spot to get a sunset picture with the entire mosque, but alas we didn’t quite find the spot we wanted. Nevertheless we still got some amazing photos of the mosque from the exterior. The perimeter walls are a combination of gold gates and whitewashed concrete. There are numerous entry points with security guards stationed everywhere. The mosque is massive and can hold over 40,000 worshippers in different prayers rooms , with the main prayer hall holding over 7,000. The entire architectural design and symmetry of the mosque is impressive. Four minarets stand at each corner of the building. At the entry, there are two large ponds on either side of the main entrance which reflect the mosque's columns and are illuminated at night to reflect the phases of the moon. I was in awe seeing how beautifully decorated the interior is with what appears to be hand painted floral designs on numerous columns in the main prayer hall with gold palm leaves at the top. The main prayer hall features a large intricately decorated carpet and massive ornate chandelier. We really enjoyed this visit. To finish our first day in Abu Dhabi, we enjoyed a complimentary dinner at the hotel’s buffet restaurant where they served a wide variety of different ethnic foods. 

On our second day, we had a relaxing morning with coffee on our patio before spending a bit of time relaxing on the beach before having brunch. We had pre-booked an afternoon behind the scenes tour of Yas Marina Circuit, where the season finale race of F1 is held. This was a really cool experience because we got to see things like the team’s on site meeting villas, the garage and pit lane, the winner’s podium, and the race control centre room. We learned a lot about the F1 weekend event itself and the surrounding theme parks and sites. Yas Island’s development was started in 2006 after Abu Dhabi learned it would be hosting the F1 season final race starting in 2009. The tour ended with our tour bus driving a lap on the actual full track length. We didn’t go nearly the speeds of the F1 cars, but our driver got up to 50km on the straightaway. The entire island has been developed in multi phases until 2028 with the purpose of turning the island into a leisure, shopping, and entertainment centre. There are several theme parks on the island as well. As part of our time in Abu Dhabi on the return portion of this trip, we stopped in at Yas Marina Circuit again where this time Z did a driving experience and got to drive an F3000 race car (looks similar to an F1 car) on the south portion of the circuit. They do the driving experience very well, stressing safety over all things. After changing into the racing gear, and a safety briefing, it was track time. They take out groups of 4-5 drivers and have 2-3 instructors paired within the drivers that lead the way. It’s loud, it’s fast, and it’s thrilling. Z had the time of his life on this bucket list experience. 

Afterwards, we walked around the area in search of a barber so Z could get his hair cut. We walked for around 10 minutes to Eithad arena which is located along the water with a nice promenade that features restaurants and some other shops. Z found a cafe/barber shop owned and operated by a young ex-pat from the UK who moved with his young family to UAE during Covid for a change in life. It was a quaint place and while Z got his hair cut, I enjoyed a very tasty flat white and admired the scenery around. We then decided to walk back to the hotel along the promenade and noticed a bunch of little kiosks set up for a night market that was running during Ramadan. Interestingly to us is that all the kiosks just had curtains covering up their little shop with merchandise sitting behind; none of it was locked up like we would expect to see back home. This really speaks to the safety aspect of UAE we were told about. UAE is a very safe country, with no need to worry about pick pockets, or theft. We didn't actually make it back to the area to see the night market, but it looked like it would have been a really good time. During our walk back to the hotel, which was about 15 minutes, I quickly discovered why we don't really see people walking about - the sun's heat gets to you quickly. The relief to this was spending the rest of the afternoon at the hotel's Wet deck (adult only pool) on the top floor of the hotel. To put things in perspective at the W, the hotel is not a sky scraper like most other buildings in UAE and only has 8 floors. 

We also did a tour of the presidential palace, Qsar Al Watan. This is a working palace, and not the residence, but worth a visit regardless. We booked an early evening tour slot just before last entry to the palace because we also wanted to see the light show they put on the exterior of the palace walls at 7pm. Again the architecture of the palace and its surrounding grounds are most impressive. The trees and shrubs are meticulously manicured. The exterior facade is made of white granite and limestone with pristine marble flooring with mosaic decorative insets. As you enter the palace, you walk into The Great Hall, a massive hall that boasts a chandelier with 350,000 pieces of crystals hanging from the dome. There are several different wings of the palace that we were able to tour, including the Spirit of Collaboration room - which is where the Arab League of Nations meet, the House of Knowledge - which boasts a large collection of historical books and manuscripts, the Presidential gift room - which as the title suggests houses a collection of various gifts given to the President by other countries. The 30 minute light show is projected on the exterior facade and tells the story of the UAE's past, present, and future aspirations. From Qasr Al Watan we made our way to the waterfront promenade called Corniche where we had supper at Forn Alaajouz; one of the many food trucks along the street. We both had manaesh with a slight twist with tomatoes on top. This capped off a very full day.

Our trip coincided with Ramadan which occurs in the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and is observed by Muslims as a month of fasting, prayer, and community.  We weren't quite sure how this would impact our travels, but in the end there was little impact on us. We were mostly in tourist areas and found that hotels and restaurants were operating as normal. We learned that UAE relaxed the rules slightly a year ago, but even still we tried to respect not drinking or eating in public areas during daylight. One of the hotels we stayed at in Abu Dhabi, the W Yas Island, held an Iftar dinner on our last night. Iftar is the main meal to break the fast at sunset and brings together brings families and friends. Because the hotel was hosting Iftar, and we needed to eat supper, we decided to check it out. It was held at the hotel's buffet restaurant and we found a large variety of different ethnic foods ranging from Asian, to Indian, to Middle Eastern along with a large dessert bar to choose from. It was here where we both tried camel meat for the first time. We had met a couple from Dubai at the Chicago airport as we were both waiting for our different flights and they suggested that if the opportunity arose to try both camel meat and camel milk. We tried camel milk during our desert stay in Dubai, and here we got to try the meat. It is a very tender meat that I would describe as having the consistency of beef. The flavour is not overly powerful and if I had not seen the dish was noted as camel, I would have thought I was eating beef. Overall it was a neat dining experience to see the restaurant filled with families and friends celebrating good company and good food. 

Our stay at the W Yas Island hotel was fantastic. This hotel is located right at F1 Yas Marina Circuit and straddles the race track along with marina views from its two buildings. The hotel is designed with racing in mind, the main restaurant is called the Garage, the carpeting in the hallways had a design that looked like race lines, and the hotel room number panels were also race themed. We were very lucky to be upgraded to the WOW suite, a massive one bedroom suite with a long balcony overlooking part of the race track and part of the marina. The suite was very nicely appointed, with a living room, a bar area, massive bathroom and walk-in shower, and very large bedroom with king bed. We really lucked out with this upgrade and wished we could have stayed there longer as it was a pretty stellar room. 

Next up the destination that prompted this entire trip to begin with....