The Corniche

I've been a bit lax with the blog lately, but I've hardly had any time to be honest. Plus of course, the fact that I don't have proper Internet yet hasn't helped. So this series of photos were actually taken a few days ago. We walked to the Corniche. That'll be the last walk I take in Abu Dhabi! Not designed for pedestrians, to say the least. From now on I'll be doing the American thing and taking the car if I'm going any more than about 3 blocks!

When we got there, it was nice. Lots of "local colour", with the dhows and the fishermen making their nets on the quayside.

Here's one of me with some Dhows behind me, and the Abu Dhabi skyline in the background. Kind of shows the contrasts that you find out here.


And here are the local fishermen making their nets.


After taking in the scenery, we found a floating restaurant to eat in. We decided to go native, and just picked the first three local dishes off the menu! I have to say it was actually really good, luckily! Still don't know what we ate though, although they do a great drink of lemon juice with fresh ground mint leaves mixed into it. Much nicer than it sounds, and very refreshing.



Moored next to the restaurant was the dodgiest looking dinghy I have ever seen! Not to sure about that sail's effectiveness either!

Marina Mall

This is me in front of the Marina, just in front of the Marina Mall. Now that is a shopping centre. Might have to keep Debs away from there when she comes over! They have loads of designer shops, and even one that mixes a totally individual perfume or aftershave for you to suit your exact personal tastes! No prices in the window of that one mind you! And yes, the sea really is that blue.



And here are a couple more of the view from that spot. There's a fair few Dirhams invested in that collection of boats. Speaking of investing money wisely, I'm off to look at cars today! So far my favourites are the Toyota FJ Cruiser (Google it: they don't sell them in Britain) and the Dodge Durango (Google it, they don't sell them in Britain: might be something to do with the 8 seats and the V8 5.7 litre engine)!

The Streets of Abu Dhabi

This was a video I took of the view from my hotel room window. Gives a vague idea of what the traffic is like. Busy.

It's Abu Dhabi Baby!!!

Well, after a long time planning it, finally I arrived in Abu Dhabi. This place is very different to life in the west. That's not necessarily a bad thing.

I stepped from a world where the temperature is about 1 degree to a world where the temperature is about 18 degrees. At 11 o'clock at night. In the winter. It was lovely to feel warm for the first time in about 2 years!

We were picked up by the company driver, who took us to the hotel. But before he did that, he took us to see a flat that he knew was available for rent. The landlord showed us round. at 11:30 pm! It was lovely, and the upshot is that after a couple of days dithering, we decided to rent it. We should get the keys this weekend, and be able to move our things in over the following week, while we still have our hotel rooms available.

The apartment is ideal, only about 5 minutes away from work, and has two bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and 2 living rooms. Which means we can share without having to get in each other's way too much, and we can both have our own space whenever we need it. It also means we have room for guests, so form an orderly queue!

I can't believe how friendly people are here. They literally can't do enough to help, and if you need something done, there are plenty of people around to do it for you. Wherever you are served, you are served with a smile, and people want to take the time to talk.

Despite what you might have been told about the Middle East, in the UAe there are plenty of bars, and it is surprisingly liberal. As long as it's not flaunted in front of the local people, they seem quite happy for us westerners to be left to our own devices.

The picture above is the view from my hotel room window. Dave's room has a much better view, with an impressive panorama over the whole city. Spectacular at night! There's a lot to do, and it's all pretty daunting and very different to what I'm used to, but I'm confident that I can cope with it all. So far, so good anyway!