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Abu Dhabi, November 24


A very sad start to my day as I’d been told a very dear friend and mahjong player has passed away.  RIP Helen.  

So today we’re in Abu Dhabi, I had booked an 8 1/2 hour tour with G but decided yesterday it was just too much!  So took a 4 hour city sights tour instead.  Having been to Abu Dhabi before and staying 3 or 4 nights, I thought there was probably nothing I hadn’t seen - big mistake!  The city is just so big, with 10 million residents, and the buildings are something else!  The amount of reclaimed land is amazing - thank God the oceans are vast!!! First stop was at the Heritage Museum, an outdoor museum depicting times in the olden days with pottery, rug making, leather ware etc.  

Then to the Mosque - we’ve always said that no Mosque could match the one in Abu Dhabi and so now, being a good judge of mosques, I’d still say it is the best!! Simply amazing.  But when we were here before we arrived in a taxi and were dropped somewhere close by the entrance - not so today. From our bus we walked 5 mins to an entrance with an escalator down to a massive shopping centre!  Yes, McDonalds, Starbucks, Coffee  shops, toys shops, clothing, Boots chemist, jewellery, kids playgrounds, you name it!!! Was all there!!!!! Then on to scan our entry tickets and walk the half mile or so to the Mosque itself.  But there were about seven travelators which helped.  Up an escalator to the plaza and then a long queue winding it’s way to enter the mosque.  Being alone I scurried along quite quickly, followed the lines around the barricaded areas and took a few pics then made my way back to the arranged meeting point.  But I have to say, I saw a McDonalds and thought - why not!  The Big Mac was delicious, and probably more so since we’ve been eating such rich food on board Explorer.  

Abu Dhabi is the capital and second most populous city of the UAE.  It houses federal and local government offices and is the home of the UAE government and Supreme Petroleum Council.  Is also home to the President of the UAE , a member of the Al Nahyan family.  Many of very large houses we saw today are owned by members of the Sultan’s family - the previous sultan had 19 children so plenty of houses needed and several families share houses.   

Dinner tonight was a celebration of Thanksgiving so turkey definitely on the menu and was really delicious!  Served, however, with sweet potato mash and beans!  Unlike 10 different roasted vegs as we are used to at home.  

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