Blogs from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Middle East - page 7

Well we woke late after a lovely lie in to John finally feeling human again on the last day of our little trip to the Middle East. After getting ready we drove threw the Yas tunnel to Spinnys which is like there bargain booze really & bought a £5.25 litre bottle of vodka which we were very pleased about then we headed for Yas shopping mall. So back threw the tunnel we went & th mall was right next to Ferrari world which looked amazing as did Yas water world I just wish we had more time here & my John was feeling 100% himself. We parked up nice & easy in the luxury parking again which was free & proceeded into the mall to find some food as by now we were both starving. The ... read more

Well after a long hot drive & a stop off in the shopping mall for down food we arrive at Yas Island. We followed the sign posts for the Yas Marina Circuit & pulled in to be greeted by a guard who told it was the next entrance we wanted for the hotel but we had to turn round at the beginning of the race track which in itself was fab. We the drive onto the hotels drive way OMG is all I can say. We had to drive across the F1 racing track just to enter the hotel. We were again greeted by the valet parking guy along with the bellboy taking our case from the car. As soon as we walked into this amazing hotel we both felt scruffy. The hotels assistant manager jumped ... read more

Well after a lovely nights sleep we woke up around 9am ready to get out & explore John still wasn't feeling the best but I dosed him on m,up tables & we went down for breakfast. breakfast was back down on the 18th floor in the wrap around 360 dinning room which showed all of Abu Dhabi at its best from high up. The breakfast was plentyful with a wide variety to chose from & the egg station is 1 of the best I've ever seen with so much choice & variety of eggs it was scrummy. After a nice long breakfast & a few cups of coffee off we went into Abu Dhabi. We did plan on going to the Grand Mosque but as it was a Friday it isn't open to the general public ... read more

Here are some random thoughts about our time in Oman and the United Arab Emirates. These reflect our experiences and interpretations. Please realize we are not trying to sum up two entire countries and their cultures in this brief blog based on our one month experience. The men of the countries in the Gulf seem less affectionate with each other in public. We rarely saw two men arm-in-arm or hugging whereas in other Middle Eastern countries this is commonplace. As in all Middle Eastern cultures, affection between a man and woman is never seen in public...ever. The Omani men and Emirati men have a special way of greeting each other when they first see each other or when they congratulate each other, such as after a big camel win. Kyle called it a nose nuzzle. I ... read more

This time of year always conjures up the excitement of childhood holidays. For me nothing could match the flutter of excitement the day the JC Penny’s Christmas Catalog arrived. It was the size of a dictionary. Its glossy pages filled with photos of childlike dreams. I used to slowly remove the brown cover as if opening a delicate parcel. I would then proceed to study each and every page as if preparing for an exam. There would be highlighting, dog-earing and dreaming…lots of dreaming. Some years passed and just as Santa Claus, his elves and flying reindeer lost their mystique, so did the Penny’s Catalog. But as my excitement for the Penny’s Catalog diminished, my excitement for another periodical grew. It doesn’t take much imagination to understand how an aspiring globetrotter like me was drawn to ... read more