Cristal Hotel Abu Dhabi

... be seen.<br><br> After that I went back out into the sunshine &amp; headed for the waterfront. Almost completely lined with hotels, many still under construction; I walked for hours along the water. I came across a really cool hedge maze &amp; of course had to give it a go. I made it in &amp; climbed up the tower in the centre to get a few photos overlooking the maze. Getting out was sadly a more difficult challenge but I got there eventually. The length of the strip consists ...

Departure day had finally arrived. And at 6pm I was ready to go (my 50kg of luggage all packed and ready too). My parents, sister Lisa and her boyfriend Ryan and I arrived at the airport and I went to check in. Dad used his Etihad gold status to get me checked in quickly! Hehe I love queue hopping! Then we went and had a bite to eat - I didn't expect to eat on the plane! Then off to security to get ready to board.... It was ...

... iftar before we could eat. We were starving and window shopped in the mall to pass the time before we grabbed taxis and head across town to The Irish Village. The village is really just a very large pub with outdoor tables where you can eat and drink. Just like real pubs, the food was mediocre but the Guinness and cocktails were delicious. Then on Monday, we got word that our ...

... the emir would fly over in his helicopter and the builders would show him the equivalent of giant paint swatches to get his approval! We finished our time in Abu Dhabi at a mall with many reminders of home. We ate at IKEA and looked at the indoor ski slope (closed for maintenance unfortunately). Overlooking the ski slop was a Caribou Coffee! Tune in soon for some of our adventures in southern Africa and to see Ray's new African hairstyle! Candy and Ray

A lesson in enunciation.... (or How I hitchiked the Sheikh Zayed Road back to Dubai) I apologize to everyone in London....after several delays I finally left 9 hrs late....and arrived just in time to catch my connection to Dubai...which landed in the middle of a sand storm.... After being stripsearched for looking like a druggie...I wandered dazed out into Dubai. The climate of Dubai is like a damp barber's towel that clings to ...

... I also went to Western Union; they're jacking my mother around, which sucks, since she was trying to help me, and is just getting no end of grief in return. Then I took the Emirates Express, which is often a series of handsome motor coaces rolling between Dubai and Abu Dhabi, but in this case was a city bus. For two hours. And... then nothing much happened. I'm staying in the plush Crowne Plaza, which is the cheapest hotel with available rooms ...

... the clothes when my Dad got home. The mall, even though it was a smaller mall, was huge! Folks smoke inside the mall, but it seems to evaporate in the air quickly. Not too bothersome. All three of us are coffee drinkers, so we headed to a Starbucks and sat and talked while watching passer-byers. I just love the rich culture here. Believe me, I'm aware that it's a Muslim state, but everyone seems to be very nice and endearing here ...

... and that it was supposed to be super touristy. Well, I won't lie. It turned out to be extremely touristy but IT WAS AMAZING!!! We had the time of our lives. It all started when we got the call to come downstairs that our driver was waiting for us. When I went outside I saw a Land Rover filled with people but no driver then I went back into the hotel, and yes you guessed it he went outside at the exact same time so we passed each other but didn't know what we looked like so we ...

... to throw away any of the time I had paid for and It was SOOOOO much fun!!! I was like a little kid that didn't want to go home. After degearing (is that a word) we headed to the food court to pick up some dinner since it was 9:30 already. Could you imagine we had been at this mall since 3pm. Wow how time flies when your having fun. We picked up a very special local meal...PAPA JOHN'S...ever heard of it I think they have them in the states...ok just kidding. But I will tell you this ...

... to spend that, so using our heads and thinking outside the box we came up with a great idea and killed 2 birds with one stone !! We went to the car hire desk and found a car for 25euros and decided to use it as both a hotel and transport for our brief stay in Dubai !! Genius !!! We drove our "hotel toyota" to a beach that neighbours the massive 7 star hotel and settled in for the night !! The sun woke us early ...