Wednesday, April 24th
Abu Dhabi is the second largest city of the United Arab Emirates and is on a T-shaped island jutting into the Persian Gulf from the central west coast. The city proper has a population of 1 million. This emirate has 95% of the crude oil and 6% of the gas in all of the seven emirates so is by far the richest. Abu Dhabi holds 10% of the world's proven oil reserves and 5 % of the natural gas reserves. In all the emirates traffic citations are issued for violations caught on cameras on the roads. You never see a police car patrolling the roads. Our guide said they fines people for about everything including jay walking. As a result there is not much crime. Punishment is stiff and a big deterrent.
It was quite pleasant out on our balcony this morning as we arrived here at 8am. Not sure where they come from but there are quite a few flies buzzing around in all the Emirates. Maybe they came with the sheep ship yesterday from Australia. Our 4 hour "Abu Dhabi City Tour" today departed ship at 11am. One of the sights we did not see was "Ferrari World", the world's largest indoor amusement park. Have you noticed a recurring theme of the Emirates? They all have something that is the world's tallest, biggest, most expensive, or largest!! We did stop and visited the Grand Mosque for 45 minutes. Of course, the massive white mosque is the "largest" in the country and is able to hold 40,000 worshipers at one time. The 4 minarets are more than 350 feet high. The chandeliers inside are made from millions of individual Swarovski crystals. The columns are inlaid with mother of pearl, gold leaf, and semiprecious stones. Another stop was at their Heritage Village. Here we saw into their past with craftsmen blowing glass, weaving, and throwing pottery. It also had a replica of a Bedouin dessert camp, a mosque (of course), and a Souq (market, of course). At yesterday's Souq I bought Rebecca a very nice cashmere lined with silk jacket which she wore to dinner last night.
Last stop was at the Manarat Saadiyat. It was, well I have no idea what it was suppose to be. Seemed like a photo and shopping stop. We passed by the Emir's palace and along coastal highway with beach on one side of bus and towering office building on other during our return to the ship. We were to sail at 3pm but haven't. I just went out on balcony and staff captain was on bridge wing above me so I ask if they were waiting on a tardy tour bus. He said they were waiting on a passenger that had gone to the hospital.
We got the passenger and are sailing for our next destination, Fujairah. It is another of the 7 Emirates but located on the east side of the Strait of Hormuz on Gulf of Oman. You can actually see its location on second map at top (top, right corner).
I am going to do what I did yesterday and put today's photos on a separate posting. Everyone is on internet now so it is difficult to put photos on. I need to go do my workout. We have been invited to dine in Prime 7 tonight with another couple. After that we want to go the the production show with ship's singers and dancers.
https://goo.gl/photos/vd4LY6NgBR59gvUj8
It was quite pleasant out on our balcony this morning as we arrived here at 8am. Not sure where they come from but there are quite a few flies buzzing around in all the Emirates. Maybe they came with the sheep ship yesterday from Australia. Our 4 hour "Abu Dhabi City Tour" today departed ship at 11am. One of the sights we did not see was "Ferrari World", the world's largest indoor amusement park. Have you noticed a recurring theme of the Emirates? They all have something that is the world's tallest, biggest, most expensive, or largest!! We did stop and visited the Grand Mosque for 45 minutes. Of course, the massive white mosque is the "largest" in the country and is able to hold 40,000 worshipers at one time. The 4 minarets are more than 350 feet high. The chandeliers inside are made from millions of individual Swarovski crystals. The columns are inlaid with mother of pearl, gold leaf, and semiprecious stones. Another stop was at their Heritage Village. Here we saw into their past with craftsmen blowing glass, weaving, and throwing pottery. It also had a replica of a Bedouin dessert camp, a mosque (of course), and a Souq (market, of course). At yesterday's Souq I bought Rebecca a very nice cashmere lined with silk jacket which she wore to dinner last night.
We got the passenger and are sailing for our next destination, Fujairah. It is another of the 7 Emirates but located on the east side of the Strait of Hormuz on Gulf of Oman. You can actually see its location on second map at top (top, right corner).
I am going to do what I did yesterday and put today's photos on a separate posting. Everyone is on internet now so it is difficult to put photos on. I need to go do my workout. We have been invited to dine in Prime 7 tonight with another couple. After that we want to go the the production show with ship's singers and dancers.
https://goo.gl/photos/vd4LY6NgBR59gvUj8
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