Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi skyline as seen
from the Corniche, a paved and
landscaped area along the length
of the city next to the water.







One of the pools at the Hilton
Hotel Beach Club.








Some of the locals taking part in the
UAE National Day celebrations.
This was taken from our hotel room.







We have spent the last week in Abu Dhabi. Carrie has been here for a 2 week course for work and Rod came along to check out the sights and keep Carrie company. Abu Dhabi is a lot more of a modern city than Muscat as it has really only developed in the last 50 years with the discovery of oil.
The flight here was pretty crap but thankfully it was only40 minutes. We have decided we won't be flying Gulf Air again, the planes are gross and dirty. We are staying at the Hilton Hotel which is pretty good, a typical Hilton. They have a great Beach Club (although situated on a man made beach) with 2 big pools, lagoons and cafes and a health club. Rod has been there during the week for a few swims. Across the water from the hotel is the Marina Mall which is like Chadstone but bigger. It has pretty much the same sort of clothes shops but it also has the exclusive designer shops. During the week Rod saw Deck the Halls and The Unknown at the cinemas. Carrie's course is going well.
Today is the eve of the United Arab Emirates National Day. For the last 3 or so hours locals have been driving up and down the Corniche (the length of the city) with their cars decorated with the UAE flag and colours and guys hanging out of the cars. They are literally hanging out....guys standing out of sunroofs, standing on the sideboards of 4WDs, sitting on the bonnets and even sitting and standing on the roof.....while the cars are moving. It is pretty noisy because they all toot their horns and try to do burnouts. We hope they won't be doing it all night. What amazes us is that they do this even though they don't drink.....you wouldn't see that in Australia!
We have one more week in Abu Dhabi then off to Dubai.