Historical/Background Info:
Abu
Dhabi is the capital of the UAE and second most populous city at 1.5 million
people. It is also the largest of the 7
Emirates. Most of Abu Dhabi is actually
located on an island with its suburbs on the mainland. It is by far the richest of the Emirates as
it has 95% of the crude oil and 6% of the natural gas. It has 10% of the world’s proven oil
reserves.
One of the
most important architectural landmarks is the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Although not the largest mosque in the world,
it has to be the most opulent. We
visited the mosque in 2013 and were just blown away by its immensity and
beauty. I will try to include some
photos of it to this posting. More than 3,000 workers began construction on it in 1996
but it was not completed and opened until 2007.
41,000 people can worship here at one time. Another landmark is Ferrari World, the
world’s largest indoor amusement park that also boasts the largest roller
coaster in the world. You never see
police cars in any of the Emirates as traffic citations are issued for
violations caught on cameras. You will
even get a fine for jaywalking. As a
result, crime is low but punishment is stiff if caught.
LAST EVENING
TODAY
Again I recommend you click on the photos to enlarge them to truly appreciate them. Especially the Grand Mosque photos.
Ok, prepare for a long post today as I took a lot of photos of my "Abu Dhabi City Tour". It is basically the same tour we took back in 2013. It is a VERY interesting tour.
I was the first one to board my tour bus at 9:00. The bus was very nice and good air conditioning.
Not sure what this art work on a round about is. We are driving to our first stop now.
Al Bahr Towers called the "pineapple buildings". Office and residence buildings.
Our first stop was at the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. It is the largest mosque in the UAE and ninth largest in the world. The largest mosque in in Mecca, Saudia Arabia. This mosque has a capacity of 41,000. It was built between 1996 and 2007 with a cost of $3 billion. There are 82 domes, 4 minarets, and 1000 columns.
This mosque is truly incredible and beautiful. This was my second visit here and I enjoyed it just as much as the first time.
Bus park where they dropped us off then the bus had to move on to another park. 20,000 to 25,000 people visit this mosque every day. So a lot of buses drop here.
Something new this time is they have built an underground mall and hallway for the long walk over to the mosque then take an escalator back up. This dome like thing is where we go down to the mall.
This is the mall and way to the mosque. The hallway had moving sidewalks as it was probably a half mile underground to get to the mosque.
I wanted to buy this thing.
There were 3 checkpoints on the way. One checking bags just like the airports do.
Just came up to ground level at the mosque.
Pools surround the mosque.
The four minarets are 351 fee high and speakers blare out their call to prayer.
Entrance to the mosque.
I'm now entering.
This is the largest floral mosaic courtyard in the world with a capacity of 10,000. The mosque is made of marble from several countries. There are also 82 domes of several different sizes. The main dome is 279 feet high with a diameter of 106 feet.
You have to be here to appreciate the immense size of the courtyard.
There were roped off paths for visitors to walk on through the mosque. You couldn't just roam around. Security people were EVERYWHERE watching to make sure we were properly dressed and respectful of their religion. Women had to cover there heads (hair) with scarves. Also their necks, legs, and arms had to be covered. Men had to wear long pants. Strictly enforced!!!! Shoes this visit did not have to be removed as in 2013.
Floral design
A look down the hall lined with some of the 1000 columns.
The columns were inlaid with colored pieces of marble.
There are 22 of these light towers surrounding the mosque to light it up at night.
There are 7 chandeliers imported from Germany.
Colored marble inlaid in the white marble.
This is the 3rd largest chandelier in the world. It weighs 15 tons and is 33 feet wide and 49 feet high. Very beautiful!!
60,570 square feet of carpet is the world's largest carpet made by an Iranian company. It was hand knotted by over 1200 workers and took 2 years to complete. It weighs 35 tons.
The clock has the five times the Muslims are to pray: 4:45am, noon, 3:30pm, sunset, and dark. It also has the sunrise time which is a optional prayer time. In the center is our calendar and their time. Their time is based on lunar time. So their month is either 29 or 30 days.
You have to see this in person to appreciate its beauty.
Three chandeliers in a row.
Driving away from the Grand Mosque. Loved this.
"Lean Tower of Abu Dhabi" is a 35 story and 18 degree slant which is more than the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Home of the wealthy and there is a lot of wealth here.
Entrance to the Emirates Palace.
Rixos Marina Hotel
Tallest flagpole in the UAE at 400 feet high.
Etihad Towers
Emirates Palace Hotel across the water. Third most expensive hotel in the world. Cost $3 billion to build and completed in 2005. 394 rooms. It has its own private beach.
Etihad Towers on left in the distance.
Presidential Palace
"Tiara Revolving Restaurant" at the top
This the national oil company building.
Rixos Marina Hotel, a 5 star hotel/resort.
Last stop was here.
One of our bar buds, Abby, from Dallas.
Shops
Isn't he/she cute!!
What the bedouins lived in out in the desert. Made of goat hair.
Skyline
My bus
Lots of interesting and colorful buildings on drive back to the port.
There were 25 of us on this big bus so plenty of room. I had the whole back row to myself. There were 5 of my friends on the bus also.
My tour guide, Zeba, was excellent. She was actually from Mumbai but has lived her for 9 years now.
I was able to get wifi at the mosque and uploaded 51 photos there. I got the port wifi as the bus was parking at the port and uploaded the other 40 photos. When I got back to the suite at 1:45 I went up to La Veranda and grabbed some pizza to bring down to the suite.
I started working on putting the photos on the blog but it was soooo slow. So I tried to get the port wifi and it worked! So it only took me 2 hours to put all these photos on the post and add captions.
So it is 4:30 and after publishing this I'll get showered and ready for the evening. I heard there are some covid cases again so have asked for our canapes at 5:30 to the suite by room service. We will have our cocktail hour here. Then down to Compass Rose for dinner. No menu on the tv for today. They are having a middle eastern buffet up at the pool grill this evening but definitely not our cup of tea.
There is a production show, "Tuxedo", at 9:30 in the theater. We've seen it many times but plan on going again.
We will be sailing again at 9pm and will have two days at sea.
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