A trip Of A Lifetime --Part 5

We had  thoroughly enjoyed our UK trip and the final leg of the journey was to give us a couple of days  to have a look around Abu Dahbi.
We landed in Abu Dahbi just after dark and by the time we got through customs and organized a taxi to our hotel it was  around 8 or 9 pm.
The biggest shock as we left the airport was the extreme heat 41 deg c and the oppressive humidity, after being in the UK for 4 weeks it was horrible.
We were lucky that  one of the restaurants in the hotel was open (it was Ramadan and many eateries were closed).

 It was a very expensive restaurant, this small snack cost us over $125.
Our hotel, The Royal Meridien was beautiful, we were on the 19th floor with some amazing views.The central building with the circular  top is the hotel.

The next morning we headed off,The heat was  awful.

We were meeting the hop on hop off bus at the trade centre.

We had a great tour around the city, I was amazed at the huge city it is, I am not a city person and I found it all a little overwhelming .

We decided to do a cruise on a Dhow to see the city from a different  perspective.

We got back on the bus and continued the tour.

After lunch out(shrouded behind heavy black curtains due to Ramadan restrictions) we decided that walking long distances in the heat was  not a fun experience so  we decided to hail a taxi back to our hotel and had a rest and a swim before heading to a shopping centre to have a look around. Because it was Ramadan the streets were highly decorated similar to Christmas, the taxi driver explained to us that Ramadan was a very special time..

The shopping centre was massive, many levels with a tent style about it. with many decorations,

Outside the the Ferris wheel was lit up,
Brian found a frangipani  tree and picked a blossom for me( special to me as they were used  in our  wedding bouquet  and cake decorations). I put it in my diary for safe keeping,

We headed back to the hotel and had an early  finger food dinner and a good  nights sleep.
The view from the foyer of our hotel,

We girls had wanted to check out the gold centre ,

as we had heard marvelous bargains were to be had, so we caught a taxi and looked around. I was amazed at the number of shops dripping with gold, unfortunately I was not allowed to take photographs.
There were also numerous clothing  shops full of local fashion  which I loved looking at.

We had decided to go and have a look at the Grand Mosque, as we approached we realized the true scale of the building.

Before we could enter the mosque we had to pass through strict security and us girls had to change into a hijab to enter. The boys clothing was acceptable. After dressing we passed through even more security and walked under a  long underground tunnel to come up near the mosque.

I am sorry if I flood this post with photos of the mosque but I can honestly say I have never seen anything so beautiful on this scale.

The first room was stunning,

It was stunning, I have never seen anything like it.
The next  room was the main prayer hall,

The outside reflection pool was  beautiful. We made our way back to the escalators to take us back through the tunnel.

The Grand Mosque was a place beyond words, a place of such  beauty , and extravagance, I doubt that I will ever see such a place again in my life, and I highly recommend anyone traveling to Abu Dahbi to take the time to visit it.
When we left The Grand Mosque we went to the Abu Dahbi Louvre

We wandered the  Louvre  for several hours and  saw some amazing displays of history and works of art,

We enjoyed the Louvre  but could have spent even more time there. Our time was limited and we had to get back to the hotel to pick up our bags and get a taxi to the airport. Getting a taxi  to carry us all was a problem , but eventually a lovely taxi driver arrived and squeezed us all in illegally into his vehicle.

We arrived at the airport and had a couple of hours to fill in at the Etihad Lounge.

We boarded on time and sat back and enjoyed the airlines hospitality,

It's a long flight, 14 hours,

When they handed the forms out that we have to declare anything, I suddenly remembered that I had my Frangipani flower tucked away in my diary, so I quickly removed it, and took a keepsake photo,

and then promptly threw the flower away  into the bin.
We had a couple of wonderful meals on the plane and as the sun was setting we descended into Brisbane airport.

We were home !
Our trip of a lifetime was over.
I still wonder, Did we really do it ?, Did we really see all those beautiful amazing  things and places ?
I know some people do this sort of  holiday all the time, but  for us, this was really special.
I will never forget  what a great time we had and what great bonds we  forged with our fellow family travelers.
Thank you Brian,Kerry,Bernie,Bill and Yvette for making  this dream a reality and sharing this wonderful experience.
Take Care Everyone,
Cheers
Jane and Brian.