Vision Hotel Apartments Deluxe Abu Dhabi

My mum has two really nice neighbours who are huge cat fanatics. Unfortunately the day I arrived in the UAE one of their 3 kitties passed :( They had driven down to a vet in Abu Dhabi to try and save him and while they were there they saw a young kitten waiting for adoption, so today they went to go pick him up. Mum and I, bring big cat people ourselves and having nothing better to do, decided to go join them.<br><br>Nothing particularly eventful, but they own a Porsche so the ...

... s Mosque in Medina. And there is actually some old stuff here. The old fort was built in 1793. I had a wander around it today. It seemed to be deserted and the security guard just grunted as me as I walked past him so I assumed it was ok to enter - but I have a distinct feeling that I was snooping. In fact I wasn't even really sure what the building was because their were no signs to be seen but it looked old and in was ...

... have been adjusting. Since the days are so quiet, the nights are packed full of action. Stores stay open into the early morning and the malls are packed with families at 11 pm. Iftar is the first meal that breaks the fast once the sun has set. Lots of people go to restaurants and order food before the sun sets and everyone sits at their tables full of food just waiting for ...

... visit cousins without taking their Porshe or their Maserati... It feels more like they are competing on who's got the biggest. Anyway, that is part of the Arabic culture to show opulence and an indefectible sense of hospitality (to your peers). It's just at another scale than in Algeria, for example. And some of these big buildings are definitely interesting, architecture-wise. It's just not meant to last. Mathilde and Steve drove me to a place which was in fact more of a ...

... artefacts laced with REAL memories (none of this "get the look at your local Oxfam" nonsense). And as I have lived in Sri Lanka and with an African man for many years my house is filled with Sri Lankan artefacts laced with meaning too. The room I have been given houses a magnificent Mombassa four poster and the high walls are covered with classy black and white photos of my friend looking gorgeous at her wedding. The ...

... guard standing outside. Meanwhile, a dark tinted windowed white SUV keeps cruising behind, in front and around me in the car and eventually stops right in front of me - facing me. I can't see in, but they can see me. Talk about intimidation! Ten to Fifteen minutes have passed and all of sudden two police SUV's barrel down the parking lot and stop at the same building my Dad is in. I'm starting to get worried. They ...

... the air hostess. I mean, forget that I was ill, the bags actually say on them, "hand to a member of cabin staff". Would she take it? Nope. She wanted me to put it in the bathroom. I expained again (it was the same person) that I was UNWELL so she was damn well going to take it, lest she wanted me to get up and hurl in the aisle.<br><br>How I got through immigration and baggage claim, I don't know. But Mum Dad and Jon were there and I practically burst into tears. Not how I wanted to arrive.

... lasts around 10 days so some of you will see it). It was a great evening. I fly home this afternoon, and land at Gatwick around 730pm where Ted and Dani meet me to have some banter and beers. My Dad is picking me up in the morning from my hotel, so no humping my bags on and off trains - yippee. Hope to see you all over the coming month - those in the UK that is!! Await my next blog - August from Ireland Ronnie

... it was only about $50 for 2 hours of skiing. I also found out that you can switch from skis to snowboard for free during the 2 hours so I was psyched. I decided to do skiing first since the guy that sold me the ticket told me that the ski patrol was out there ready to pull anyone off the slope, I almost said mountain...ooops, that was not an excellent skier. Hence Andrea did not come with me, and opted for more shopping since there are a billion stores in this 4 story mall. Once I ...

... and the Creek. Armed with a trusty map we started to excite the hotel when the hotel clerk called to us that a cab may be beter. Paul knowing best said we will be right and out the door we went. After about 2km Paul conceeded that maybe the distences on the map did not reflect the true distances .He asked a guy in a shop how far and he said about 45 min,with that we hopped in a cab ($3).Walked arround the Souks for a while ...