Advertisement
Published: August 16th 2009
Edit Blog Post
Hello everyone,
It is my first official day in Abu Dhabi, well actually my second but we arrived late last night. The flight was very long..I did not sit next to anyone with B.O. but I did play arm jockey for 7 hours with some guy who thought that a quarter of the space on my side should be his...so finally I just rested my arm on his. British Airways from Toronto to London was pleasant and the food edible. The flight from London to Abu Dhabi however was not. The food was almost inedible...in fact I had to ask them to explain what they were serving as I had never heard of it before-cottage pie- which is actually shepherds pie only this one had been frozen for several years, heated and then served to me. I still have heart burn, yuk!
Whoever decides to come visit me should get a flight with as little lay overs as possible. Going through baggage check points is stressful and exhausting! I felt like cattle in Heathrow and as an added bonus I was patted down because the metal detector went off. But that was not the worst...it would have to be when
we were wheeling our cart loaded with our luggage in the Abu Dhabi airport, there were several others I had been travelling with that were ahead of me and we went through this opening only big enough for the cart and this little light would go off every time one of them would go through so I figured it was supposed to light up. But no....As I go through the little light goes off and a man runs to me saying "you go there" as he points to a corner of the room. I was thinking Oh my god...he wants me to unload my luggage and search it. I had been up for almost 14 hours at this point so as you can imagine I had not the courage to even find the keys to unlock the locks. He fiddled with my tags and would not speak to me even though I asked him questions. A woman came after a little while and said I could go. What a relief! There was a ride waiting as promised and the reason we were never given an address is because the apartments are not finished yet. We were driven in the heart
of the city of Abu Dhabi to the Cristal Hotel ( I highly recommend it- it is really nice and as you can see from the pictures of my room I am very comfortable - it reminds me of the Hilton in Niagara Falls). The only hitch is we have no kitchen and have to buy food already cooked or just buy little meals here and there from the grocery store. Before foraging for food this morning, I used their gym facilities. I walked up 16 flight of stairs to get there in order to start my workout - oh my trainer would be so proud 😊 - so after my workout I swam in their pool which was VERY clean and I went into the steam bath (not dry) with extremely hot steam continuously being generated, I could only stay for maybe 15 minutes before taking a cold shower. I had just spoken to Chantal about a Nordic Spa and I guess that's pretty close to what she described. It was great-you were right! I decided to go to the grocery store which is in a mall next to the hotel. I took a few pictures along the way
to show what I have seen so far-not much but it gives you an idea. So once in the mall - this is a very small mall compared to the others - I walked along the hallways looking because I knew once in that I would be followed and asked repeatedly to buy some thing or another. I had almost made it out of this store that sells jewellery galore - even Martine could not find a nice piece of jewellery here -when a man who saw my sunglasses stopped me and said "Ray bands, you buy". He typed in 90 dirhams which is about 30 Canadian and I said no ( I am so bad at this and was dreading my first haggling experience) so he then said you type. So I entered 20 dirhams which is about 7 dollars. He looked at me for a while and said where u from. Then he proceeded to tell me I was from a rich country and therefore should not dare to offer such an amount. As I was leaving he gave them to me for that amount. So I have worked my way up to haggling prices and NOW I
have to work my way up to actually saying NO and walking away as I am now the proud owner of a pair of fake Ray Bans (I'm surprised it is not spelled Ray Tan or something!) that I did not want in the first place! The dresses in particular are interesting - I'm not what occasion would warrant that kind of dress! We all went to an English pub for supper and let's just say smoking in restaurants is not banned in all country's. I think I smoked a pack at least just from breathing it in. THERE IS NOTHING MORE I DESPISE IN WORLD THAN SMOKING especially if I have ingest that poison. My first meal here was a normal chicken salad - the menu was like a Casey's restaurant would be. Tomorrow, they are picking us up at 8:30 to take us around. Before I go I would like to say that if anyone wishes to visit, you are more than welcome anytime-just send me an email letting me know when. I now of some really good deals for flights that are on right now till October. In other words my couch is your couch. Love you
all, S.L.T.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.043s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 10; qc: 35; dbt: 0.0202s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
BessSauve
non-member comment
Happy you arrived safely.
Good to hear from you Sherry, sounds like a bit of an ordeal, but also an experience. The pictures came through really clear and your room looks lovely. How long are they telling you that you will be there? How was the trip back to Sudbury? We have booked a trip to Las Vegas for a week starting on Oct 26. Can't wait! Been there once about 30 years ago but there has been lots of changes. Still hot and humid. I have a friend I grew up with visiting with her husband. They are staying at the Comfort Inn but were here most of yesterday and are coming for dinner tonight again. I'd love to visit you but I know that probably isn't going to happen. Will look forward to hearing from you. Love Bess