Monday, 11 November 2019
Dusit Thani Hotel, Dubai, UAE

Well, here I am at last in Dubai—and I have been so busy that the blog has fallen behind again.   I had planned to rehash the highs and lows (very few) of the cruise, but I will wait until I return home to do that and, instead, go back to Friday, our full day in Abu Dhabi, capital of both Abu Dhabi Emirate (one of seven that comprise the UAE), and of the nation of UAE itself, as well as the second largest city in the area (Dubai is the largest).  The hereditary Emir of Abu Dhabi is always “elected” as the President of the UAE.  Confused?  Don’t be, because it doesn’t really matter:  everything here is under the rule of the seven dynastic families (meaning male members only).

Friday, 8 November 2019
Abu Dhabi, UAE

One day, even a very long one—we are docked from 7am until 11pm—is hardly enough time to get a full sense of Abu Dhabi. The morning begins with my usual breakfast, as I begin to bid farewell to the waitstaff in the Colonnade (more on them in a later blog). Free shuttle bus service is available to and from the largest mall in the city, but most stores are not yet open when I arrive before 10am.  As I explore the different levels of the mall, I am not over-impressed.  Neither the architecture nor the selection of stores is particularly exciting, although there are several Starbucks here (“there and everywhere”).

The Sun Rises as Encore Sails into Dubai Harbor
(Above and Below)

Inside the Dubai Mall . . .

And outside . . .

Since the weather is cooler than previous days, I decide on a long walk from the mall to the Financial Center, starting along the lovely Corniche.  I never quite reach my goal, and after 2.5 hrs I am ready for a taxi back to the mall and the shuttle back to the ship for lunch.  I hope to see more on this afternoon’s architecture tour.  I chat with the shuttle driver and his assistant, both workers from India—most second-level tourist industry workers here are foreigners, mostly from India and Pakistan.  They are happy with their work and their pay, but miss home.  Workers are very happy to talk to foreigners.

After lunch and a quick cooling shower I put on long pants for this afternoon’s visit to the grand mosque.  The 2:30pm tour is billed as an architecture tour, but the bus drives by most buildings very quickly, with little commentary from the guide, except to repeat, with echoes from the passengers , “in the world” (put in biggest, tallest, most expensive, etc).  Our first stop is a view of the Emirates Palace Hotel, Abu Dhabi’s self-proclaimed 7-star hotel, but we are parked so far away that it’s impossible to see any detail at all, other than to admire the extravagant cost.

When we return to the bus, we find that it will not go anywhere, having fainted and failed from the awe of the hotel.  While we wait for another bus we are given box lunches (sandwich, fruit, drink and an excellent chocolate muffin). It takes about 20 minutes to drive to the Abu Dhabi Louvre, with its mushroom-like roof structure, and it’s presentation of a small but interesting collection of art objects and paintings.  We have  90 minutes at the Louvre to see what we wish.  At first I am not overwhelmed by the museum, but as I wander through its well-organized, clearly presented exhibits, my admiration of the building grows, especially for the interaction of open and closed spaces, and the lattice-structured roof.

From the Louvre it takes 20 minutes to drive to the Grand Mosque, open to non-Muslims from 5pm-10pm.  Third largest mosque in the world, the bus parking and waiting lines are like Disney World.  But as night approaches, the mosque lights come on, and the white marble leviathan is transformed into a fairyland rising from the sand.  

We enter through a  blue-lighted dome and travel  down escalators, greeted by a small shopping mall (the first sight is “Cinnabon”).  We follow the huge crowds down lines, which our group can sometimes pass.  After a very long passage of moving sidewalks, we go through airport-like security (one 80-year-old woman in our group is refused entry because her white, appliquéd blouse is too revealing!)  Finally we are in the the mosque courtyard and prayer halls.  Our one-hour quick march through many large rooms, looking at rugs, chandeliers, and decoration similar in design but not as beautiful or delicate as the Taj Mahal‘s.

At 7:30 pm we return to the ship, where I have a quick room service dinner so I can finish packing and put my bags in the corridor by 11pm.  I just barely make the deadline.