First thing, we went to the Abu Dhabi Marina. Similar to Dubai, the marina comes complete with a mall! However, no shopping for us. Instead we went to the "Tiara" which was a coffee shop and rotating restaurant about 27 floors above the ground. It had fantastic views of the Abu Dhabi skyline! So we ordered a $12 ice cream sundae and enjoyed the view for a bit while planning our next move.
View from the tiara! and what amounted to a $12 sundae. At least it had strawberries and cheesecake. Daniel loved it.
Upon leaving, we walked to the actual marina and watched some of the practices for the finals of the Red Bull Air Race, which was pretty sweet. Imagine planes flying over the sea and dodging in and around different obstacles that are floating in the water. Pretty cool if you ask me! Which helped us to decide to make a reservation for afternoon tea at the Jumeirah at Emirates Towers which overlooked the sea so we could watch the actual competition... but more on that later.
Panorama of Abu Dhabi from the marina
Us in front of the Red Bull Air Race, and a plane going through one of the obstacles.
We then sadly took a cab to go right across the street from the Emirates Towers to the Emirates Palace. In our defense, we wanted to go to the Presidential Palace, but since our taxi driver told us it was still under construction, we went to the Emirates Palace instead. Emirates Palace is definitely the most swanky hotel in Abu Dhabi and looks more like a massive resort compound in the shape of a palace. We went inside, pretended like we knew what we were doing, pretended then attempted to get gold out of the gold ATM machine (seriously), then went outside the front for photo opps.
The dome of the hotel was really pretty inside--very ornate. And Thien and I had a go at the Gold bar ATM.
Outside the front of the hotel was such a great photo opp that we couldn't resist :)
The fountains outside the hotel, a Emirates Palace selfie, and the buildings across the way. The group of four similar looking buildings are the Emirates Towers, one of which is where we went for tea.
Selfies! And then the view out of the backside of the Emirates Palace Hotel. Alas, since we were not hotel guests, we could not take advantage of their beach, pools, and paddle boarding :(
After that we caught a taxi to the World Trade Center of Abu Dhabi so we could visit the souks there. These were a lot fancier markets and much less name-calling than the ones in Dubai. Thien was finally able to get some coconut water, fresh from the coconut even! And then we bought some souvenirs from Abu Dhabi and walked around the souk some more to kill time before our afternoon tea reservation.
Thien and I with our yummy coconut waters, straight from the shell! And I played around with some of the magnets at a souvenir shop. I think you're supposed to put photos and faces behind the hole in the fairy's head but I like to do my own thing.
A look down into the souk, it was a lot more fancy than the one in Dubai. And us with the World Trade Center of Abu Dhabu!
Eventually, it was time for afternoon tea, so we headed back to the Emirates Towers and ascended to the 77 floor for our tea. We were seated and like so many other buildings, it had a marvelous view! We walked around and took some photos, and agreed that it was a fabulous idea to do this during the day time so we could see everything around the city. Then our tea was served and sealed the deal of the afternoon tea being one of my favorite events from the trip. Each of us had three trays full of food. First there were the appetizers: mini cinnamon rolls, fruit cake, and almond bread. Then there was the little tea sandwiches: cucumber, salmon, roast beef, cheese. And lastly, the desserts. Oh, the desserts. They were valentines themed and oh so delicious: chocolate raspberry torte, coconut cake, fruit tartlet, red velvet cupcake. Needless to say, when we left tea we were stuffed, in a sugar coma, and needed to do some walking.
The views from our afternoon tea spot: birds eye view of the Emirates Palace and the underconstruction Presidential Palace, a look at the Abu Dhabi skyline, and the beaches behind the towers.
The juice that came as part of the tea, a look at the actual bar/restaurant area, and Thien and I with a selfie of course.
I had Maharajah tea, which was delicious! And then a look at all the goodies that we each had as part of our afternoon tea. I think now you can understand why we were in such a food/sugar coma.
We each took our turn of having a photo with the spread and the view :)
Up close and person of some of the offerings. The top plate had more pastry type items: cinnamon roll, fruit cake, almond cake. The middle plate was our sandwiches: cucumber, roast beef, salmon, cheese, tuna. Not pictures is the Valentine's Day themed dessert plate--the real reason for the sugar coma because we had to try it all!
The meal was followed with some Turkish tea which was dang good. And then a closer look at the unfinished Presidential Palace.
So off to the Grand Mosque we went! We made it just in time for the 5 PM guided tour, and that's including the 15 minutes it took me to go put on the appropriate garb that they make available to everyone. The tour was really informative and gave us tons to think about, but still left some questions unanswered. However, the mosque is beautiful! A grand structure, made of marble and fantastically designed. We also picked the perfect time of day to visit, because as the tour was wrapping up, the sun was setting and the mosque at dusk is a sight to see!
A good look of the front of the Mosque, completing the view with myself and Thien (we always make pictures better).
Thien with some random Muslim girl, or me. And looking through the columns across the Mosque.
Daniel and I took turns getting pictures with the Mosque while we waited for the tour to start. A look down the columns of the side of the Mosque--really pretty with all the marble and gold painted palms.
Looking up into one of the domes; our guide told us that each of the domes has arabic but is written using a different writing style. The entryway into the Mosque wouldn't be complete without an electric door. And the clock on the right has the times for each of the 5 calls to prayer, and also the time of sunrise, in case you don't make it up in time for the early morning call to prayer.
A look inside the main prayer room: it has fabulous chandeliers and cool details. The chandelier on the right is meant to look like an upside down palm.
The carpet inside the Mosque is the largest piece of handmade carpet in the world. And you can't tell in the picture but it has lines raised throughout it to demarcate where people stand when they are in their prayer lines. And the wall that is on the East side where everyone prays to has the 99 names for God that are found in the Quran. The empty one, is because they don't want to limit God to 99 names, as they believe there are many other names but they aren't mentioned in the Quran.
When the tour was over, it was dusk which made the Mosque even more beautiful.
So pretty!
We then attempted to go to Yas Island to get a tour of the Abu Dhabi Marina Circuit, home of the Abu Dhabi Forumla 1 Grand Prix. Alas, our taxi driver didn't quite take us to the right entrance (I'm being nice here), so we were unable to get in and do anything (and we didn't know we could have tried another entrance). Foiled, we decided to go back to the hotel and have a relaxing evening.
We went up to the rooftop pool of our hotel, took in the views, swam a bit in the heated pool and then headed back to our rooms for an early evening. After all, we still had one more day in Abu Dhabi! And it was the day of the safari...
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