Day 4 Abu Dhabi to Paris 20 April 2018

To be on the safe side we had our wake-up call at 4.30AM.  Both of us were well and truly awake before then. Everything has gone like clock-work in our stay here, except my watch which is still on Brisbane time.  I even had to use my mobile phone to make a call, three actually as the first two didn’t work. At last...April in Paris. We should have been here yesterday when it was 28 Celsius which it is again tomorrow. It’s actually hotter than Brisbane! Thank-you global warming. We must be seasoned travellers. We don’t care that our hotel is a kilometre from the Eifel Tower, it’s more important that the Monoprix supermarket and McDonalds are closer.

Day 4 Abu Dhabi to Paris 20 April 2018

To be on the safe side we had our wake-up call at 4.30AM.  Both of us were well and truly awake before then. Everything has gone like clock-work in our stay here, except my watch which is still on Brisbane time.  I even had to use my mobile phone to make a call, three actually as the first two didn’t work. 

At last...April in Paris. We should have been here yesterday when it was 28 Celsius which it is again tomorrow. It’s actually hotter than Brisbane! Thank-you global warming. We must be seasoned travellers. We don’t care that our hotel is a kilometre from the Eiffel Tower, it’s more important that the Monoprix supermarket and McDonalds are closer.

Day 3 Abu Dhabi 19 April 2018

Our private tour vehicle arrived at 9 AM with our guide, an Indian fellow from Kerala and a young trainee Muslim Russian girl. We didn’t catch either name but I will call them Raj and Svetlana.

We went to the Grand Mosque and it is quite amazing.  The largest chandelier, heaviest, the longest drop, lead crystal and Murano glass. The largest hand woven carpet in the world. The minarets are tipped with gold and the columns are inlaid with semi-precious stones.  It is really quite opulent. It is hard to judge if it is more impressive that the Blue Mosque or the Hagia Sophia. I think in its prime the Hagia Sophia would win, especially when you consider the engineering of the time in modern day Instanbul. They also have the world’s largest hand woven carpet and Dyson vacuum cleaner (one of these is not correct). What’s interesting is that there are 2,700 + mosques in Abu Dhabi, some are located on opposite sides of the road.  This means that at the Grand Mosque only about 300 people pray daily.  Given what the traffic can be like I am not surprised.

On the way back we stopped at an “Art Museum”.  In Australia, you probably know it better as a shop. They were selling wonderful object d’art, some which would make your skin crawl, but some was quite tasteful and Elizabeth came away with some bling (again).

The architecture is really unusual and few buildings are the same. We drove past the Emirates Palace Hotel which is apparently an 8 star hotel.  Not sure why coffee is US$40 a cup, unless it comes in a 200 litre drum.  It apparently has gold fittings in the rooms.  It was very elegant without being gaudy. In fact the whole place is a rather more tasteful Las Vegas.

We visited the Heritage historical village with its small museum. Not much was happening before oil was discovered in 1960. We drove through the markets which was like driving through the Rocklea markets only with extra dates. Completely uninteresting. We gave him a big tip as he was with us for an extra hour.

Day 2 Abu Dhabi 18 April 2018

We arrived about 7AM local time a short 14 hours later. Elizabeth had a problem with Customs as they didn’t think she looked like her picture. Perhaps we all look the same to them.

During our transfer the driver had the radio on.  It was a little surreal with an Australian male and British lass as the DJs. They then ran through the headlines: a white powder was discovered and until verified was going to be treated as some dangerous powder, it sounded like myotoxin (but I don’t even know if that’s a real thing), followed by two unimportant messages and then an advertisement for The University of Wollongong. Call me a snob but I wouldn’t even use them in Australia, let alone in the UAE. Perhaps the locals here are going to teach them English at the University. You can’t really call it Bogan Central Coast…or can you?

The big thing on the radio was the 30 second debate on women wearing makeup.  One caller said that she was divided. As a personal trainer, she didn’t wear makeup during the week, only on the weekend. The male DJ agreed with her logic, otherwise during the week she would look like a sad panda.

As we drove into Abu Dhabi (population 1.3 million) the Shiekh Zayed Grand Mosque loomed into view and it did indeed look grand.

After checking into our hotel, we upgraded to an apartment in order to check in immediately, we just had to give them more money. We did not want to wait until a 2.00PM check-in. We had some showers and grabbed a taxi to take us to the Abu Dhabi Louvre, arriving about midday. The taxi service here is very efficient and cheap. I mean a 30 minute taxi trip costs AU$13 including tip.

We arrived at the Abu Dhabi Louvre at about midday and spent about 4 hours searching their treasures. Not as good as the real Louvre but impressive nonetheless and certainly not as crowded.  The building has some lovely design features but the gallery layout is a little confusing, just like the real Louvre. To use the name, access parts of their collection, purchasing their own exhibits and have the Louvre train their staff, it has cost them well over US$1 Billion.  Surprisingly there are several things that they could improve on in the display and identification of objects.

The roof line with the filtered light is meant to simulate the light under oasis trees which is quite clever.

Next to our hotel is the large mall Al Wahda and really it looks like any mall anywhere, it is truly a globalised society.  Even the music played is exactly the same. This is regarded as one of the safest places in the world to live, there are security cameras everywhere.

Day 1 Brisbane Airport 17 April 2018

 Leaving on a jet plane, specifically Etihad at 10.35 PM for a 14 hour fight to Abu Dhabi. Etihad means togetherness or to join as one. Fun. With the end of the Commonwealth Games yesterday, it seemed appropriate that we had teams from Nigeria and Rwanda. Perhaps I should have told the Nigerians that they could receive millions of dollars in Crocodile Dundee memorabilia if they gave me money, as a revenge scam. I am sure for these young athletes it was a highlight of their lives.

Day 46 Monday 10 July

We arrived a little ahead of schedule and from memory we were home by about 8AM.  We didn’t feel particularly jet lagged, which was a pleasant surprise.  It was a marvellous trip, spectacular views, incredible wildlife, lovely people and a safe journey. It ticked all the boxes!

Day 45 Sunday 9 July 2017

In transit, a long flight and the seats seem narrower and food not as good as Malaysian Airlines.  The price was good though so maybe it all balanced out.