R & R in Abu Dhabi at the Burj Al Bellie
Trip Start
Jan 04, 2008
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101
130
Trip End
Dec 17, 2008
Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
On arrival it was quite clear there wouldn't be any weather issues in this part of the world as even at 10pm at night it was about 35 degrees. Very kindly Bellie was picking us up at the airport to take us back to their place which would soon be renamed the Burj al Bellie. The reason being that they have found a really fantastic place here. They now live in a beautiful 4 bed, 5 bath townhouse in a complex on Abu Dhabi island, very spacious with all mod cons (including a big wine fridge) and huge amount of space. There's even a swimming pool/fitness complex and tennis & squah courts on site for all the residents use. It wasn't at all what we were expecting and with Bellie's little touches like toiletries in the bathroom and towels for the poolside it was more like a five star hotel than staying with friends
Al's with a glass of birthday fizz
. Once again thank you Bels and Stu for your gracious hospitality in your lovely home, it really was great.That evening we kicked back with more than a few beers and strongbows and reminisced on old times. We also caught up on their new lives here in Abu Dhabi, which was very interesting for us especially as we were here during Ramadan. This meant that during daylight hours we could not eat or drink in public so as not to offend the locals. Other unusual stuff included the dress code for the local men and women, their crazy driving antics and the generally accepted behavior in the Arab world, meaning we were all clued up on the day ahead tomorrow.
After a great sleep on one of the comfiest beds we are probably going to sleep on in a while, followed by probably the best morning coffee we are going to have as well (from Bellie's deluxe expensive new coffee maker) we headed out in the car for a guided tour of the city. Firstly we went down Bellie's high street to the Corniche which is the seafront area of the island, lined with skyscrapers on one side and a huge man made beach on the other, all very impressive, but not the first you notice about this country. The first thing you notice is the insane heat over here, it's about 45 degrees from 10 until 4 which means as soon as you step out of the much needed air con you'll be melting in sweat, even worse is during Ramadan you cannot drink in public during the hours of daylight
Birthday Girls
. You might think that was bad for us but think about the construction workers or outdoor labourers who are working all day in this heat without even a drop of water, totally crazy!!We stopped along the Corniche to take in the views of the skyscrapers and beachfront, as well as the dhows moored up in the harbour. Then we got back into the car and headed out to a weird Iranian market where they sold huge oversized spoons for stirring curries we presume and a variety of pots and plants, strange combo but interesting nonetheless. However, before heading back for lunch and a well needed drink of water there was one last place to see and one in which Maud would be in her element...the Gold Souk. Yep, loads of jewellery shops selling some of the most outrageous necklaces, earrings, bangles and rings, this was bling on a totally different level, some stuff was ghastly, but some would be fairly comparable to the crown jewels and all of this being for sale in the local mall, Maud was in bling heaven.
After managing to tear Maud away from the jewelry shops we headed back to the house for some much needed hydration and lunch before setting off for the second half of Bellie's Magical Mystery Tour which would take us to the only six star hotel in Abu Dhabi, The Emirates Palace
Out for a birthday dinner
. Driving down the other end of the Corniche to the palace we saw what must be the largest flagpole in the world proudly displaying a huge UAE flag at about 150 metres up, maybe a sign of things to come here i.e. everything will be bigger and better. It would be interesting to see how things could be much bigger and better when you get the first views of the palace, a sprawling expanse of domes, fountains and palm trees the entire place being clad in a pinkish marble. We pulled into the parking area to spot the hotels fleet of two Rolls Royce, 2 of the new Mercedes limos and a fleet of about 15 BMW 7 series, airport transfers were obviously a comfortable ride into town.Next up, probably one of the most luxurious lobbies in a hotel we have seen, a huge open area about 8 floors up, capped by an impressively coloured dome and the floor being glistening marble. The rest of the areas in the hotel were just as lavish an oppulent maze of marble, water features, hung carpets and escalators that only started running when you stepped on them. Bellie and Stu had joined the beach club here so assured us we'd be back later in the week for a few laps of the lazy river. After a hard day in the office for Stu (without any food), we had a game of tennis at dusk and then headed out to one of the hotels for a tasty Chinese.
The next morning it was off to see one of this Emirates most amazing sites the 15 billion dirham (GBP 2.3 billion) Grand Mosque
1-Birthday Girls
. Driving up to it really was very impressive indeed. The mosque itself has taken 12 years so far to build and now they are completing the gardens outside. As we drove in we saw teams of men on their hands and knees laying small marble tiles in mosaics with crates of many thousands of tiles to go.The mosque was open for visitors for the month of Ramadan so we had a Muslim guide us around explaining the uses and traditions. We weren't expecting it, but to see inside the Mosque itself ladies had to wear the Islam black dress and head scarf and men in shorts had to wear the traditional floor length dress (locally known as a dish dash). Even from the outside the mosque is amazing to look at. It is made from Greek marble with hundreds of domes and all of the pillars are inlaid with flowers and gold leaf.
Once inside we were first in an ante-room where again the floor and walls were inlaid with flowers and all of the windows were cut glass and inlaid with glass mosaics. On entering the main prayer room we were astounded by the size of it - it was absolutely massive. We wandered through and into the ladies prayer room and through the main plaza to the ablution areas. Our guide talked us through some of the facts and figures of this place. Not to bore you too much but here we go
Sally with a falon cocktail
!The carpet in the main prayer room is the biggest hand made one piece carpet in the world taking 200 women 2 years to make. To get in to the mosque it had to be cut into 4 sections as it's total weight was 45 tonnes and there isn't a plane that could transport it.
At any one prayer time 7,000 men can fit into the main room with an additional 35,000 in the central plaza.
Each of the chandeliers weighs 9.5 tonnes and has hundreds of thousands of Swarovski crystals, plus a man can fit in the central column for cleaning them.
One section of the back wall (at a guess about 20% of the total length) that has the 99 names for Allah on it is the size of an Olympic swimming pool
The Grecian marble columns were crafted in China and it was the first time that marble has been inlaid with mother of pearl apparently.
The sound system is wired to the other 2,400 mosques on the island so there is just the one call to prayer on the island relayed from the Imam at the Grand Mosque.
And a final couple to do with their traditional dress (and the most amusing we thought)...
When the men take their wives/sisters shopping or somewhere there are crowds they can't tell who is who (as most just have their eyes showing) so generally resort to phoning them and identifying them by their ringtones
The black rope like part of the mens headdress used to secure the material is actually there to be used to tie up their camel when they stop in the desert
The closest we got to a falcon encounter
.All in all it was one of the most impressive structures that we have seen with it's combination of size, craftsmanship and sheer opulence.
Once we'd returned our outfits and taken some more photos it was back to the car to collect Al & Sally from their flight from London.
It was great to see Ali & Sal again and the afternoon was spent catching up at the pool, with Hel's and Bel's having a rematch on the tennis court while we caught some rays poolside. After an afternoons tanning we headed back to the house to rustle up a fairly tasty BBQ (if I do say so myself) and celebrate Al's Birthday with a few bottles of bubbly. This is the 2nd year we have celebrated Ali & Bels Birthdays abroad, so who knows where they'll be next year.
Hostess of the year and Birthday girl, Bellie, had organized for us all to go out wakeboarding the next day with Dolly (a girl who works with Stu) and Rudy her South African boyfriend. We were up early to make lunch and pack the cool box with beers and then head to the marina to meet the boat, which turned out to be a sleek Tigé 22 foot wakeboarding number.....very nice
1-The closest we got to a falcon encounter
.The morning began with some wakeboarding, with me going out first to show my skills. I was actually okay and even managed to get a jump in at the end, though not without the worst face grimace imaginable (see pic). Next up was Stu and after a few attempts he was standing up, even though not for that long, it was impressive for a first timer. Bellie was eager to get out next before she sank too many beers, and amazingly got up first time, even though she'd never wakeboarded before (though we now think she must have had sneaky lessons beforehand, or perhaps it was she had just turned a year older). Problem was though she did not know how too turn, so spent most of her time outside the wake pulling silly poses......very amusing. Next up was Maud who soon got back into her groove, but after a few face plants was back into the boat fairly quickly only to find out I hadn't been taking that many photos - sorry Maud. Ali and then Sal had a try next and although they didn't quite get up they both made a great effort, just the tiredness getting to them in the end, we'd all definitely be feeling it tomorrow. Finally Rudy went out to show us all how it should be done, he looked super smooth a soon as he started and was soon doing huge jumps, flips and 360 spins, it was absolutely superb to watch, even if a little sickening.
Next up was a try at wakesurfing, yep that thing we tried in Miami that nearly lost me an eye. It was okay though, Dolly gave us a demo beforehand which was well watched by me and Stu which might have had something to do with the stunning figure she had, whoops I think I meant "moves" there, slip of the tongue. Anyway, moving on swiftly, we all had a go, managed to get up on the surf and walked away without any injuries, so a good result all in all
Sally Bels & Al
. A tasty lunch whilst just chilling out on the boat capped off a great day, reminding us both of those superb days spent on the water in Bermuda, so a big thanks to Dolly and Rudy who were both really nice and of course Bels and Stu for organizing it all. After a bit of a siesta it was time to hit the town for the evening, the first port of call being a Polynesian restaurant called Trader Vic's famous for it's mind blowing cocktails. Of course as soon as we sat down 6 of their Tiki Puka Puka's were ordered by Bellie and delivered in what looked like ice cream bowls, absolutely huge and a combo of all the five white spirits with maybe some fruit juice. We sipped them cautiously, which was difficult as they were so tasty. We all ordered our food, some of which was cooked in a huge clay pot with a wood fire alongside it where the meat was hung on hooks and lowered in, a bit difficult to explain, but I can tell you it cooked a lovely steak. After we had finished the main courses, someone had spotted the next table having cocktails with some type of bird sticking out of them. With Maud being somewhat obsessed with Arabs and their falcons, (after learning from Neil (Joynson) that on Etihad flights there are restrictions for the number of falcons you had take as hand luggage depending on which class you are flying) we obviously had to have some of these, so "6 falcon cocktails" was the call from the table to the bemused waiter, perhaps you had to be there to get the joke. In the end the falcons turned out to be parrots, but it was funny all the same as the made appearances on various peoples heads on the photos and even joined in the surprise Happy Birthday rendition to Bellie and Little Al sung by the waiters.
With the "falcons" finished it was time to head to another hotel and a bar called Cheebas, where quite a few more drinks were consumed, but more amusingly we actually met an Arab guy who said he owned 3 falcons and could arrange for us to see them
Falons
. To be honest the guy seemed a bit dodgy to me and I think he was more interested in pulling Sally than showing us some falcons but it was quite funny listening to him about how they go into the desert to hunt and can't take any food, my response being "well if the falcon doesn't catch anything at least you could eat it", which didn't go down that well. Time to go home I think, which we did.Next day Stu and I were up early to go and have a round of golf at Abu Dhabi golf course with a colleague of his called Gary. I won't bore you with the details, but the course was really nice, I think it was PGA standard and the clubhouse was, yes you guessed it, built in the shape of a falcon.... how bizarre. Check out the pictures though, it's one of the most impressive clubhouses I have ever seen. The girls spent the day back at the Emperors Palace at the swimming pool complex which has a lazy river and some slides and stuff, from what Maud said, it was a really nice relaxing day for them all, being pampered in the lap of luxury in the brilliant sunshine.
I had a chilled afternoon watching the Liverpool derby until the girls came back and the end of our visit here was coming to a close unfortunately. It had been a brilliant stay with our generous hosts Bellie and Stu - thanks so much again guys you made our visit one we won't forget. We had also learnt a lot about the religion and culture here and to be honest had found the locals a lot more receptive and friendlier than we were expecting. And it was great to see Sally and Little Al again after what had been too long a break and catch up with our friends, plus be able to celebrate the two birthdays abroad for the second year - who knows where for the next.
Oh also congrats to Bellie for getting a job on the Formula 1 management team that will be holding a race in Abu Dhabi next year, that is if you decided to take it ?? So will we be visiting again ? "Enshallah" - (which means God Willing in Arabic). I think so !!!
Comments
Bling Bling
Glad to see that you haven't forgotten how to enjoy the 6 star lifestyle when you get the chance. What a wonderful experience it must have been for you. I must say it is the first place you have been on your travels that I feel would suit me! Not too keen on having to wear a frock to go to church though. Good to see all the old faces together again, still can't resist 'hamming it up' for the camera can you.
Take care,
Dad. X-X
What score did you shoot on the course...
Maud & Turkish, More quality blogging and superb photos. No mention of your score on the golf round though fella...
Wakeboarding and golf, seems like my kind of place, but not sure Lauren could handle not eating all day. She is bad enough having to go a few hours! Does look like you had a brilliant time and a round at the SP and a trip on the ferry here will just not compare. Happy travels, Nick
Falcontastic
How do you remember all those facts and figures?? I'm glad you did though as we missed some of the Grnad Mosque talk so you've filled in nicely. Was lovely to see you again and thanks again for the birthday present. Your statues and clothes have arrived back safely along with the fake handbags and other tat we bought on the next day!! Now getting ready for Barbados. Take care and enjoy India. Lots of love
Al
Burj al Bellie doing a roaring trade!
Hey guys
Glad you had a fab time here, it was great to see you and you have done the visit justice in the blog! Perhaps I should give up the new F1 job (not that I have started yet, a week to go!) and run a hotel here instead! Next guests are my folks at the end of the month, I wonder if they will ever manage to leave....
Thanks to you all for the lovely pressie you left for Stu and I to enjoy lunch at the Emirates Palace, and Hels, you left a top here, do you want me to post it on to you somewhere... small blouse you wore to the Mosque... Take care and hope you aren't suffering with Delhi Belly in India! Love Bels xx
Salam
Al you looked liked one of those rich arab sheiks in your dish dash only needed the headgear and of course the falcon!!!! Really nice to see your old friends in the photies and glad that you had such a great time. Any good jobs going there? Oops forgot they don't wear hats.
Mum xx