Day 51 ~ Abu Dhabi, UAE

March 14^th, 2018

According to our excellent guide, Peter: “Abu means ‘son of’ and Dhabi (he pronounced this more as if it was written as Zahbi) means ‘gazelle.’ The early nomads discovered gazelles in the area and realized there must be a source of sweet water nearby.
Hence the name—Son of the Gazelle.”

The Pacific Princess was scheduled for a 1:30 PM sail away, so our tour of this exotically gorgeous city started early. We had to gather in the Cabaret Lounge at 7:20 AM. Vanieza, our long-suffering excursion coordinator, had to check all the women who hoped to tour the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque to make sure they met the dress code requirements:

1.    No white. Not even as part of a print. Only men wear white in the mosque.

2.    No transparent clothing. This means no gauzy fabric.

3.    No tight clothing. If you’re not wearing an abaya (a long-sleeved black dress that drapes from the shoulders to the floor without revealing a waistline), you must wear a long-sleeved top (read: below the wrists) that is loose fitting and reached below your hips. (When you think about it, an abaya covers a multitude of sins.)

4.    Dress or slacks must cover the ankles. No leggings. Long and loose is the order of the day.

5.    Women must have a scarf to cover their heads.

Men were required to cover their knees and shoulders. So, no shorts or muscle shirts.

The  DH & our friend Craig looking cool and comfy in their short sleeved shirts! Vicki opted to stay in the air-conditioned coach.

Even though we received these explicit instructions last night—along with a whole page of illustrations of what to do and what not to do—Vanieza had to send a number of guests back to their staterooms to change. Again, refer back to my list of Travelers’ Directives #1:

Obey the rules of the place you are visiting.

I had intended to wear a white cotton button down tunic with my black pants and take my black and white scarf for a head covering.  After seeing the requirements, I opted to wear a long slate blue tunic with a solid black scarf with the black pants and was pronounced fit to go to the mosque.

The Abu Dhabi Cruise Terminal's architecture is reminiscent of a slope-roofed Bedouin's tent.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Back to the start of our day...After passing through customs, we boarded the bus and started our adventure.

First, we drove through the city, which is as new as Dubai, but not quite as ostentatious to my eye. It’s said that when the oil money first started to roll in, the leader of the tribe in Abu Dhabi kept his wealth under his bed. The current ruler has poured it into developing a city with splendid infrastructure.

This is the ornate gate that leads to the Presidential Palace. The roundabout is a nod to their past when the area was a British protectorate. (God bless the Brits! They seem determined to spread the practice of driving on the left wherever they go, but only managed to leave the concept of a circular traffic nightmare in Abu Dhabi. Fortunately, the traffic seemed light here, especially compared to Mumbai!)

The government is also concerned with the environment and is working hard to green up the area. Over ten thousand palm trees have been planted in Abu Dhabi. (Or it might have been ten million. Neither the DH nor I can remember for sure, but the number represents ¼ of all the palms in all the UAE. I’ll Google it when I get home!) The sprawling mangrove swamps are protected and encouraged to expand. Mangroves thrive in salt water, provide a habitat for sea birds, and improve the air quality in Abu Dhabi, though our guide said a few days before it had been poor because they too had been blasted with a sandstorm like the one that hit Dubai. (Since the two cities are only 120 miles apart it may have been the same storm!)

The Louvre Abu Dhabi

The Emiratis are a very cultured people and have recently built The Louvre Abu Dhabi Museum, which tells the story of humanity in twelve chapters of art works, from pre-historic to contemporary.  It is also home to Da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi (Savior of the World), which recently sold at auction for $450,000,000, making it the most expensive painting on earth.

See the good a little oil money can do?

This rollercoaster pulls 4.8 G's. I think I'd stroke out!

But the Emiratis also like to have fast cars. On Yas Island, there is a Formula One Racetrack and Ferrari with a Formula Rosso rollercoaster that reaches speeds of 120 miles per hour. We drove on past and that was okay with me. My life is quite exciting at a slower speed, thank you very much!

This impressive arch and staircase is the lavish entrance to the glittering Emirates Palace Hotel, which reputedly cost $3 billion to build. We only drove by, but our tablemates, Shirley and Dave, took high tea there as part of their tour, complete with scones and Devonshire clotted cream. When Shirley excused herself to use the ladies’ room, she discovered even the toilet seats were gold plated. (I scolded her soundly for not taking a picture for me to share with you all!)

We, in contrast, visited the Heritage Center and saw an antique dhow. Imagine sailing to India in one of those, but the early Arab traders did.

The last stop on our tour was a date market, where the hospitable owners handed out samples. The UAE doesn’t have many acres of arable land, the oasis city of El Ain in the interior of the country produces dates, figs and other fruits and vegetables. Makes me grateful for the good black earth of the Midwest that feedsso many people.

Emiratis love sweets, which is why, our guide said, diabetes is a common health problem here.    

As you may have noticed, I don’t have many pictures of the Grand Mosque on this post. 

That’s because I’ve decided it deserves a whole post to itself. And maybe another one so I can share my thoughts on the experience. We’ll have to see. We don’t reach Aquaba, Jordan till March 21^st, so I should have things sorted out in my mind by then.

Encountering a different culture requires reflection, I’ve discovered. New ideas need to be weighed and measured to see if there’s a hook on my neural network to attach them to.

Thank heaven, world cruising on the Pacific Princess offers the perfect opportunity to engage in a little contemplation.

PS. If we’re ever fortunate enough to return to Abu Dhabi, we’ll get a taxi and spend the morning in the Louvre. And then if we have a late enough sail-away time, we’ll take High Tea at the Emirates Palace Hotel!