Everyday became an adventure when we visited more of Abu Dhabi.
After a quick breakfast in the morning ( I am sure everyone was tired of me talking about the amazing buffet at the Marriott Courtyard but it is that good!), we were off on our next day of touring around the City which started with a visit to the Abu Dhabi Tourism Office. I have to say that it was not the same as the visit to the Dubai Tourism Office.
Our class at NYU taking notes on the PowerPoint presentation at the Abu Dhabi Tourism Office for our final projects that were done at the end of the class.
They gave us a through look at the city and the recent developments made to attract more tourists from North America. Some of the issues with this is that in the US, we already miles of beaches on three coasts and access to the Caribbean Islands and the South Pacific, which are all much closer to us. This on top of the fact that we have hundreds of malls in this country and we pretty much invented in the modern indoor mall starting with Paramus Park in Paramus, NJ in 1978.
I thought where the Tourism Office should concentrate on is the wonderful palaces, the trip to the Oasis and developing the Convention Business, which I think would bring more people to the region who might stay on for Business/Vacation type of trip. You have to give people a reason to come here and it can’t all be the beach and shopping malls. We in the US can do all of that at home. I do not need to travel ten hours to do any of that. Plus with the amount of immigration in the New York area, I can find Arabic food from Lebanon, Syria, Saudia and Egypt in Paterson, NJ, (ten minutes from my home), whose Arabic population has doubled.
Our NYU group picture at the Abu Dhabi Tourism Office that morning.
When people travel somewhere, especially at these distances, they want to see something that they can’t see or experience at home. It is nice to have McDonald’s, a mall and a beach if you need a piece of home nearby and that option is nice but as a rule that is usually at the end of a trip when you are tired of touring around (I found this out after five weeks in China and needed something from home). When I was here, I wanted to experience something different (yes, you can ride a camel in the United States).
After our trip to the Tourism Office, we traveled to Masdar City, a planned futuristic community that was being developed. That was an interesting concept in modern living.
The City of Masdar layout of city blocks.
The whole place was sustainable and built with every modern feature. Unfortunately like all places like this in the US, I can see it turning into public housing one day if not carefully planned correctly. Just read Jane Jacobs “The Death and Life of American Cities” and you will know these places never work in the end. Neighborhoods need to develop at their own pace with the people that live there and it is the people themselves who make up a neighborhood.
Walking through the maze of the complex.
Masdar City is a groundbreaking urban community and a world class business free zone and technology hub with innovation in our DNA. Driven by the UAE’s commitment to sustainability. Masdar City is driving global solutions to climate change and helping create cities of the future (Masdarcity.ae).
The Masdar City layout in the Visitors Center.
Us touring through the wind towers.
The city set up was pretty amazing. We walked through the city through the mazes of buildings and offices to see how the whole complex was set up. We drove in a driverless car around the complex which I thought was interesting. I hope this does become the wave of the future because I hate driving.
I broke away from the group while they were choosing restaurants and was able to explore the complex a bit. They even had their version of Central Park towards the back of the complex.
Central Park in the back of Masdar City.
I was searching around the complex for a place for lunch and there were some places in the complex that were quite interesting but some were closed and some had a lunch menu I was not in the mood for a afternoon meal. Nimesh and I headed back to the Thai restaurant that my classmates were all eating at that afternoon, Simple Thai. All I have to say is that this place was Simply Delicious! The food is excellent!
This is one of the best restaurants that we ate at in Abu Dhabi. The food is more than excellent. It was superb in everyway from taste, presentation and in price. This type of quality in the US would have been double the price and I thought everything about the restaurant was very reasonable in price with excellent service.
Nimesh and my lunch was a selection of items off the appetizer menu.
I was still stuffed from the hotel breakfast buffet so I just ordered two appetizers, the Shrimp Patties and the Thai Spring Rolls. Both in plate presentation and in taste this was some of the best Thai food I have ever eaten.
The Thai Spring Rolls.
The Shrimp Patties were crisp and sweet.
After an amazing lunch, we headed to the Abu Dhabi branch of the Louvre Museum which was impressive. We had a wonderful private highlights tour of the artwork and of the museum.
The entrance of the Louvre Abu Dhabi.
The Louvre Abu Dhabi is an impressive piece of architecture. When you walk inside, you can see the metal work in the walls and ceilings with a lattice appearance. I had never seen such an creative looking building where the building is as important as the art. The museum is impressive and in awe when you walk inside of it.
The ceiling in the entrance to the Louvre Abu Dhabi.
The product of architect Jean Nouvel’s unique vision, Louvre Abu Dhabi was constructed as the heart of a new urban quarter for the United Arab Emirates’ capital city. A symphony in concrete, water and the subtle play of reflected light, its design was inspired by the region’s rich architectural traditions and the museum’s unique location at the point where the Arabian sky meets the sands of Saadiyat Island and the waters of the Arabian Gulf (Museum website).
Now considered as one of the modern urban wonders of the world, Louvre Abu Dhabi is not only the Arab world’s first universal museum but a powerful symbol of the United Arab Emirates’ ambition and achievement. Inspired by the cupola, a distinctive feature in Arabic architecture, Nouvel’s dome is a complex, geometric structure of 7,850 stars. These stars are repeated at various sizes and angles in eight different layers (Museum website).
I was dazzled by the museum and all its treasures. When the tour was over, we had some time to walk around the museum on our own and it really was unique set up as a building. It had beautiful views of the water and the architecture was amazing. It made me late for the bus.
Traveling through Downtown Abu Dhabi with the buildings glistening in the sunlight.
Our next stop on the visit was Abrahamic House, a place of Moslem, Catholic and Jewish worship and faith. Since commercial photography is not allowed, I can not use my personal pictures on this blog but I attached the link to it:
Our vision is for people to come together in peace, diverse in our faiths, yet common in our humanity. Our mission is to bridge our common humanity through the exchange of knowledge, dialogue, and the practice of faith. Our values are peaceful coexistence, inclusivity, and the centrality of human fraternity. They embody the multiculturalism and diversity of the UAE, where communities from more than 200 nationalities live together peacefully (Abrahamic House website).
At the heart of the Abrahamic Family House are a Mosque, a Church and a Synagogue, each established to welcome Muslim, Christian and Jewish communities to practice their individual faiths. The three houses of worship are designed of equal stature, size and materiality to eliminate any sense of hierarchy. The three structures border an elevated landscaped garden that becomes a shared space for gathering and connection. The Mosque is oriented towards Mecca, the Church towards the East and the Synagogue towards Jerusalem (Abrahamic House website).
The site was very touching to me. I thought this was a wonderful way of understanding each other’s religions and faith. Since all three religions are interconnected through the belief in God, it showed me that the country was trying to bridge this belief that they are so different when they aren’t. They are just different ways to celebrate God. It was a very enlightening tour of the facility.
After we left the Abrahamic House, we got a chance to go back the hotel and relax before dinner. This would be the last time all of us would be together before we went our separate ways. Some of my classmates would be leaving right after dinner for the airport, some would be leaving the next morning for either home or to another country they would be visiting.
I was staying another night because I could not get a flight out and in the end that was a God send. I needed a day to myself away from all this togetherness. I really wanted to visit the city of Abu Dhabi on my own and really see it from the ground up.
Our Farwell Dinner was held at Bu Tafish Restaurant in a really nice section of the city by the water. The restaurant was in a beautiful complex of apartments, parks and hotels. The restaurant had beautiful views and wonderful food.
The complex where Bu Tafish Restaurant was located was very upscale and elegant.
I had the grilled meat entree over the fish one. It was excellent but a HUGE portion of food. I think I was the only one who finished my meal. Barely! I could not believe the American sized portion for dinner. It was sad that most of the food on the table was wasted. Still the food was excellent.
Our final group picture of the trip to Abu Dhabi and Dubai at Bu Tafish Restaurant. It was an evening of good food, a lot of laughter and stories and a wonderful Professor who ran a great trip. Thank you Dr. K!
We really had wonderful time at dinner. It was nice to talk about the class and about all the places that we visited over the last five days. I could not believe that amount of sites that we visited and places we went. The desert tour the day before had really wiped us all out the day before so everyone was tired from that.
There were a lot of laughs and good conversation over dinner and then it was time to go. Heading back to bus meant none of us were going to see each other again until classes started. In my case, not until March when I finished my last class before graduation.
Our second day in Abu Dhabi was just as productive as the first. Fresh from another great breakfast, we had to get ready to visit the Great Mosque, our first stop on the tour.
Our mornings at the Marriott Courtyard World Trade at the Bistro started us out each day. It was a great place to discuss the previous day’s activities and the places we would visit that day.
The proper breakfast starts the long day of touring.
Everyone was looking forward to the visit to the Grand Mosque that morning. The ladies were comparing notes to prepare for the morning. We had to follow all cultural protocols when visiting the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, so men had to be dressed up in conservative clothing and I wore proper slacks and a long-sleeved button down.
It was hard to go out in that hot sun with no head gear. We were lucky that we went early in the morning when it first opened for touring, and we did not have to wait long. It was very impressive.
The entrance to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. This is when you show your respects to another religion.
The mosque was so beautiful with every detail attended to as you walked around the building. The lighting fixtures, the details in the pillars and the chandeliers were just so elegant and impressive. There was no expense spared in the detail work of this building and the sheer respect of the religion and the way it was depicted. Even I was ready to covert.
My classmates at the beginning of the tour. All women had to cover up.
I was in awe of the religion and the power of the symbolism that this building has on the people that visit it. It is like the great cathedrals of Europe that I visited. A new history was being written here.
The jeweled pillars
The hallways were mesmerizing.
The elegant walkways.
The rooms were so beautifully decorated.
The detail work shows the pride in craftsmanship.
Even the chandeliers were sparkling and dazzled in the light.
I could not believe the beauty of the detail work.
Every room and hallway built on the other and gave me such respect for the architecture of the building. This was a mosque that was meant to show the great respect for Islam.
The interior of the building
Every room the details were so fantastic.
The beautiful clock
I have to say that I was blown away by the great detail and care that was put into this building, and it was one of the highlights of the trip. What was also nice was that we were the first ones on the tour in the morning, so we got to see it without all the crowds, so we never felt rushed.
One of the other impressive chandeliers
Even when exiting the mosque, from inside to outside the whole complex was impressive.
The outside of the great mosque
We were all so impressed by the Sheikh Zayad Grand Mosque, and it is something that everyone should experience when they are visiting Abu Dhabi.
Our group shot outside of the mosque.
Our NYU Group shot at the Sheikh Zayad Grand Mosque.
The city view outside the mosque.
Talk about a dazzling city.
What a view!
After our tour of the mosque, off we went to the city of Al Ain to visit the Al Jahili Fort.
The Al Jahili Fort entrance
The Al Jahili Fort at Mohammed Bin Khalifa Al Nahyan St – Al Jahili – Abu Dhabi
The Al Jahili Fort is in the lush garden city of Al Ain, which is part of the focal point of philosophy and the cultural heritage of Abu Dhabi. It was built in the 1890’s by Sheikh Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan (known as Zayed the First) as the home of the ruling Al Nahyan family (Tour guide).
The directory sign
The sign describing the fort.
The inside of the fort.
The interior of the courtyard of the fort.
The inside of the fort
The interior of the fort.
The detail work of the interior of the fort.
The fort was built of sun-dried mud brick and restoration work has been done on the fort in 1985, 2007 and 2008 (tour guide).
The front of the fort.
The fort has received the prestigious Terra Award for Internal Design and Layout in 2016.
Our NYU group shot.
It was an amazing tour through the fort and what was nice is that we got here so early that we had the site to ourselves and got to see it at our own pace.
After the fort visit, it was off to lunch at the Ayla Bawadi Hotel’s Sedra Bawadi Restaurant. The had the most wonderful lunch buffet with authentic Arabic and Indian dishes. The selection was extensive and there was a vast variety of salads, soups, entrees and desserts.
Sedra Bawadi Restaurant in the Ayla Bawadi Hotel in Abu Dhabi:
The fresh fruits made a perfect start to the meal and for dessert.
The colorful Dessert display
There was so much to choose from the dessert station.
The Samosas were addictive.
I had my favorites on the line and the Vegetable Samosas were delicious. I went up more than once with these.
These sweet fried desserts were of Southern Indian heritage and were dipped in honey. Yum!
I was attracted to the sweet dessert which I found addictive. One of my classmates said they were of Southern Indian origin. I loved these colorful sweet treats and was in a sugar high for the rest of the afternoon.
My lunch at the restaurant:
The Cream of Broccoli Soup
My starter was the rich Cream of Broccoli soup with fresh croutons.
The selections of meats, rices, samosas and salads were well prepared and spiced.
I took a little taste of everything on the menu and went back again and again.
I love sweets.
I loved the desserts. The perfect combination of sweets and savories.
The fresh fruit was so sweet and the perfect end to a meal.
I was so impressed by the food and service at Sedra Bawadi Restaurant. The staff did not know what to make of us but I could tell they loved the tip. We left a combination of AED and American dollars and not knowing what to leave we all left something so there was this giant stack of bills I gave to our waitress for the staff to share. This is when I see people love Americans. Did she have a smile on her face when we left!
After the wonderful lunch, it was off to the Camel Souk market to see where people traded and bought camels of all ages. I could tell the staff there had not been exposed to many Americans before and looked at us the way we looked at the camels with curiosity. I found out later on they never see that tourists at the market though the TripAdvisor reviews tell a different story.
The camel market was one of the most authentic experiences we had on the trip with meeting local citizens. I never really knew what all the stares were about until later, but they were amused by us being so thrilled to see the camels. The camels just ignored us.
The camels ignoring us.
I loved the looks they gave us.
This little guy wanted me to take him home.
The camel market was such an interesting experience in that you would never see something like this in the States. We were talking about this for the rest of the week. The market was hardly touristy.
Next we were off to the oasis and another palace. We stopped at the Al Ain Oasis to visit the inside of the grove of palm trees and the city that has been built around it. It is interesting how the city has developed around it over the years.
The Al Ain Oasis Gate
We arrived at the gate of the Al Ain Oasis Gate and were the only ones there that afternoon. I could not believe how quiet the place was on a Tuesday afternoon.
It is hard to believe that this whole place was built around a water supply. It hard to believe that a crack in the earth created all of this. It was really lush on the inside.
The water source and pathways inside the oasis.
The oasis was really lush with palm trees growing at various stages. We were even treated to by one of the tree trimmers climbing the tree in record time to show us how trees are cleaned up.
The lush landscape of the oasis.
The tour guide told us that there was over 100 varieties of vegetation in the oasis. The ancient irrigation system called ‘falaj’ is still being used in the oasis and according to him was one of the reasons why it is a noted UNESCO Cultural Heritage site. It really changed my perspective on what an oasis is and does for the environment.
Our next stop on the tour was Al Ain Palace, one the most important and historical sites in Abu Dhabi. Our tour guide told us that this was the home of the Founding Father of the United Arab Emirates and the first President of the country, the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. The family had lived here until the late 1960’s until he moved to Abu Dhabi.
Al Ain Palace Museum at Hessa Bint Mohamed St – Central District – Al Mutawaa – Abu Dhabi
The palace he added gave us a glimpse into the lives of the family before oil was discovered and transformed them into nation. The oldest building on the property dated back to the mid 1930’s (Tour Guide).
Another view of the courtyard and the palace.
He explained that the palace is a series of rooms and courtyards and was meant to engage and delight visitors.
The started going through a renovation in the late 1990’s and was open to the public in 2001. Our tour guide said it was an interesting contrast of the past and present.
One of the bedrooms.
The rooms were tastefully furnished and reflected the tastes of the Royal family.
The Diplomatic meeting room
I was most impressed by the Diplomatic Meeting Room and the old pictures from the 1950’s and 60’s of the Sheikh getting foreign diplomats and leaders in a very tasteful and respective way.
The outside sign of the Al Ain Palace Museum.
The outside of the palace was most impressive. I just found the contrasts between the old and new palace in Abu Dhabi to be startling. What money, innovation and creativity can create.
Our NYU group picture outside the palace.
It was getting late when we left the palace and the oasis grounds and we were just settling in for our long ride back to the hotel when we heard a giant thump and the rumbling. Part of the tire came loose. We thumped along to the side of the road. We were all exhausted from the traveling and had to wait on the bus to find out what the step was going to be.
Getting a new bus was going to take too long so our tour guide, Nimesh, had us drive slowly into the next town to have the bus tire changed. This is when we took advantage of ‘going local’. Since it was still the early evening and it was going to take about an hour to change the tire, we had to find a local place to eat. That is when thirty of us walked in the small cafe restaurant, Al Bait Al Shami Restaurant & Cafeteria near Al Yahar North.
This small place was dead quiet at 8:00pm and the owner looked shocked to see thirty American students walk through the door. We were first greeted by this friendly little cat.
The front of the Al Bait (Bayt) Al Shami Restaurant and Cafeteria in Al Ain at Al Yahar North.
This little guy greeted us with a meow when we walked in. I think he was a feral cat.
The restaurant has the most delicious type of gyro looking layered roast meat on a large skewer that was then sliced and served on a sandwich. This unplanned meal was excellent.
The menu at Al Bat Al Shami Restaurant.
We started off with a selection of crisp vegetables and dip and then they brought out freshly made hummus. Everything was so colorful and the food was so fresh.
The vegetable assortment.
The Vegetable tray is how we started our meal.
The freshly made Hummus with lots of bread
The Hummus was delicious.
The Sliced Roasted Chicken sandwich I had for dinner that night.
I was still stuffed from the buffet lunch so I just had a half chicken sandwich with fries which was more than enough. The food and service was excellent and it ended up being a very positive experience for everyone involved.
Our group picture at the restaurant. I was busy eating by the time they took the picture.
Nimesh kept his cool and got the tire changed and took charge of the situation, we had a wonderful meal. We made the best of the situation without complaining and the owner of the restaurant and the surrounding coffee shop, bakery and retail stores got the benefit of thirty American customers who bought dinner, baked goods and coffee not to mention a gift shop that benefited from all that extra business on a quiet Tuesday night. I could tell all this by the reaction of the owner of the restaurant owner when we left that evening. He was so happy.
We got back on the bus about an hour and a half later and were back at the hotel two hours later than we thought but had a nice little adventure to talk about for the rest of the trip. It was nice to do something in a small town and meet people who may not see too many tourists pass by. We made a lot of business owners happy that night.
We finally got to bed late but had a great day touring around another section of Abu Dhabi.
Us inside the palace for a group shot.
Our class at the Palace at the end of the tour.
Places to eat:
Courtyard World Trade Center, Abu Dhabi
Hamdan Bin Mohammed Street (5th Street), Abu Dhabi,
We ran around Abu Dhabi and Dubai like chickens with our heads cut off and it was nice to finally sleep in, have a nice LATE breakfast and just relax. My roommate for the class was not leaving until Midnight for his flight, so he went off to join friends who were in Dubai. I set off after breakfast and decided to explore Abu Dhabi. It was just nice to relax and go at my own pace.
The Bistro at The Marriott Courtyard World Trade buffet was wonderful every morning.
The fresh omelets in the morning were a great way to start off the day.
I really enjoyed staying at the Marriott Courtyard World Trade Center. It was the perfect hotel for a group of graduate students with a central location close to everything and close proximity to the beaches, parks and shopping. A nice alternative to the NYU dorms on the Abu Dhabi campus.
My walk that morning started a beautiful sunny Saturday morning with clear blue skies. The perfect day for a walk around the city. I started my adventure walking down Sheikh Rashid Bin Saeed Street past Heritage Park and the unique outdoor sculptures that line the park.
The beautiful Al Ittihad Square in Heritage Park in Downtown Abu Dhabi.
At the heart of this captivating park lies Al Ittihad Square, an architectural masterpiece that commemorates the formation of the United Arab Emirates. In the local language, “ittihad” signifies “union,” and this square stands as a symbol of unity and pride for the Emirati people. The square’s design artfully weaves Emirati cultural symbols on a monumental scale, exuding a sense of grandeur and significance (GPSMYCITY.com website).
The beauty of the works of art line the downtown park.
The centerpiece of Al Ittihad Square is a stunning representation of a traditional incense burner, known as “mabakhir,” meticulously crafted to reflect its true essence and cultural importance. Emirati hospitality is embodied in the symbols surrounding the square, including a large coffee pot called “dallah,” adorned with a long spout, a quintessential part of Emirati gatherings where coffee is a symbol of generosity and warmth (GPSMYCITY.com website).
The sculptures accent the beauty of the downtown.
Another beautiful building in the same park was the elegant and historic Masjid Jaafar bin Abi Talib Mosque. I read that is one of the oldest most historic Mosques in the city. It was certainly impressive when I passed it. I loved the details in the architecture.
The view of Downtown Abu Dhabi from the shore line is very impressive.
After passing the park, I walked through the underpass and arrived on the other side of the street onto Corniche Beach Park and Lake Park that both face the water. This was when I finally got to see the locals and expats enjoying time with their families. Kids were playing in the playground, parents were talking under shaded trees and couples were pushing baby carriages or riding around the parks. The same things we do on the weekends after a long day proving to myself that people are people all over the world.
Lake Park between the beach and downtown is so beautiful.
The parks were really beautiful and so well maintained. The paths were lined with flowers and with the sun getting stronger that morning, most everyone opted for time under the shade trees. Nothing stops kids though from running all over the park. What was also nice was the park and the beach area had clean bathrooms which was perfect when I had to make stops. The views of the beach with the city in the background were breathtaking.
The entrance to Corniche Beach Park that lines the water and the sandy beaches.
I walked the length of the walkway along the beach which was getting very busy in the late morning and afternoon with people tanning and swimming. The water was very calm and looked so refreshing. I wished I had brought my bathing suit with me and just sunned myself for the afternoon. I had thoughts of running back to my room and just forgetting the tour but I really wanted to walk the city.
The welcoming sign to the Beach area.
The walkway in Corniche Park offers such spectacular views of the beach with the glittering skyline in the background. I can only imagine the views that the apartments and hotels have of the beach.
It was such a beautiful walk that morning but it was getting hotter with each hour. I had to take breaks in between to sit in the shade. As I stopped I admired how beautiful the skyline looked against the beach. I have to admit they had some some interesting architecture here and I like the way it blends with the sea. Some is just so new and impressive in its design.
These little smiling faces dominated both sides of the road of the development. This faces the beach.
I walked the entire length of the beach and was going to cross the bridge and then realized that we had visited it the other day when we visited Heritage Village and decided to continue along the park walk.
I stopped at the Founder’s Memorial and was taking pictures not realizing that that was a no-no. I then saw the sign asking not to take pictures of it for commercial purposes and immediately erased all my pictures. It is a very interesting sculpture that you have to look at from all angles. It is the profile of the founder of the country.
The Founder’s Memorial is a permanent national tribute dedicated to commemorating the life, legacy and values of the late Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the founding father of the UAE (Founders Website).
The artwork was designed by American artist Ralph Helmick. Mr. Helmick is a graduate of both the University of Michigan with a BS in American Studies and an MFA from the School of Museum Fine Arts Boston and is known for his large sculpture commissions (Wiki).
After I walked around the memorial and looked at it from each angle (and seemingly scaring the security guards who keep jumping everytime I walked by. You thought they never saw a six foot white guy walking around), I walked around the park and decided to walk the heart of the city so I walked the street that was parallel to the beach to explore the small businesses and buildings that lined the shore. It was all so new and so QUIET. I wondered where all the people who were in the city during the week went.
At the edge of the shoreline is Etihad Towers with its gleaming hotels and restaurants like a shining beacon at the edge of the downtown. Extremely impressive building complex.
I walked down Corniche Street that lined the beach and then crossed over to walk Zayed First Street which took me into the heart of downtown. This is where you really do start to see the heart of Abu Dhabi, is when you get away from the first two blocks that line the shoreline and begin to see the ethnic enclaves that have developed in the city from the workers who have been brought here to work the hotels, restaurants and do the building, cleaning and work the infrastructure of the city’s hospitality. This is where I found the interesting restaurants, bakeries, shops and places where the workers gathered after this shifts were over.
The small family run businesses and ethnic stores that make the character of a city.
I walked the six full city blocks between Al Falah Street and 11th Street, walking around all the shops and restaurants and looking at the architecture. It struck me that this must have been the first wave of oil money that developed this area with the buildings looking like they were from the late 1980’s to 90’s. This must have been ‘The’ area to live in before all the new development along the coast in the last twenty years.
Just like any city when people move on from the neighborhood, another ethnic group moves in and makes it their own. We see this in New York City all the time when former Italian and Irish neighborhoods then become Columbian, Indian, West African and Peruvian. One wave replaces another. This blocks were full of the sites and sounds of people who left their native lands for a better life in Abu Dhabi and brought their culture with them.
As I walked the confined blocks with their small alleyways and full parking lots, I got to experience the real sites and smells of the ethnicity of Abu Dhabi that the Souk’s just didn’t offer. That to me seemed a little touristy and catering to the out of towners looking for an ‘authentic experience’. This to me was the authentic experience just seeing people live their day to day lives.
I walked through the blocks of small spice stores, tiny bakeries, shoe repairs, small clothing and fabric stores, spice and candy stores, phone and travel stores. People from all walks of life I assumed were from Yemen, Omen, India, Thailand, Pakistan, Vietnam and other countries were chatting in their foreign tongue only to stop for a split second to see the tall white 6:4 tourist walk around their neighborhoods. I have to say I stopped more than one conversation and got quite a few stares but for the most part everyone just nodded and went on their way. It got more interesting when I got hungry and wanted something to eat.
I found so many interesting hole in the wall places in these neighborhoods but when I checked out the reviews on Google Maps, some were downright horrible. One interesting little Indian place had an “F” on their sanitation sign and I was all bummed because everything in the window looked so good. After my experience in Cambodia a few years ago at eating on the street, I vowed never again so I continued touring. I was dying for some Chinese food but the only restaurant I could find got terrible reviews so it was onto the next place.
As I turned the corner after exploring the whole neighborhood, circling all the blocks to see what was there, I myself back on the main street of the downtown a couple of blocks by my hotel and that’s when I came across Cafe Toronto, a small sandwich place with outdoor dining. On a sunny warm afternoon this is what I wanted. I was not too sure about the place until I heard an Asian girl with a strong California accent talking to an Indian guy with a very strong British accent eating lunch at a table near where I was standing. I figured that they were students too so if they were eating here, it would be fine for me as well. That logic got me one of the best meals in Abu Dhabi.
The Toronto Cafe at 212 Sultan Bin Zayed The First Street
I have to thank that girl from California because the food and the service were excellent and I really enjoyed my roast chicken sandwich. It was so unusual looking but so good at the same time. The sandwich was from a rotisserie spit of layers of chicken breasts and then slowly cooked and roasted and then sliced thin from the rows of chicken. It is so interesting and delicious. The sandwich was served with a side of fries that were freshly cooked and a Cole slaw side.
The menu at Cafe Toronto was extensive and had some interesting things on the menu.
You can’t beat this Chicken Sandwich topped with roasted skin. Who cares about calories when it is this good!
I can’t describe how crisp and juicy this sandwich was for lunch.
The Orange, Mango and Banana Smoothie to wash it all done was wonderful on a hot day and brought out the savory flavors of the chicken.
Now this was a lunch! This is when walking around a city produces something special and what the locals would have for a meal. It was such a beautiful afternoon and I felt so safe eating outside without homeless coming up and asking for money. Just sitting at these small tables, enjoying my meal and watching the world go by showed me the heart of this City.
After lunch was over, it was back to the hotel for some rest and relaxation for the last day in Abu Dhabi. All that running around during the week between here and Dubai took a lot out of not just myself but my classmates as well. So I walked back the Marriott Courtyard and spend the late afternoon and early evening at the pool and jacuzzi just relaxing and admiring the views from the top of the 12th floor of the hotel. They are quite spectacular as well.
The pool at the hotel was very refreshing on a hot afternoon. It was so nice to just stop and relax and enjoy life. I read books, wrote articles and read my back issues of New York Magazine. Everyone once in a while I would stop and look at the views from the edge of the pool. What was funny was when I was the last guest left as a the sun set, the doves and pigeons stopped by the pool to take a drink of the water and wash their feathers. It is amazing the interaction we have with nature when there are no humans around. Similar to the dolphins in the canals of Venice and the turtles on the coastlines mating in the United States. Nature takes over when there are gaps.
The Marriott Courtyard Pool at night and the views from the World Trade Center.
After the pool, it was time to relax in the room and start my research paper on our trip for Abu Dhabi and Dubai. My partners and I made our recommendations about tourism for both cities and created a PowerPoint for the project. We had such a positive in both cities that I see a very bright future of tourism from the United States.
The next day after another great breakfast it was off the airport to leave for Cairo. Getting through the airport in Abu Dhabi was never a problem. Getting through the airport in Cairo is another story. So I said goodbye to Abu Dhabi but not forever. I would like to study or work here someday. I just think I would fit in. It was such a great experience and I am glad that I came. Our class was wonderful and I learned so much about the country. No place is like New York City, but this was an excellent visit and a wonderful learning experience. I was only here for six days but it felt like a month. Then it was off to a series of airports for the next two days and off I went to Cairo, Egypt.
My day in Cairo, Egypt at the Airport (what an experience!):
I had to go through Immigration and customers and since I was technically leaving the airport to go the Le Meridian Hotel for the night for my 10:00am flight the next day, I had to get a transfer visa that did not take that long but was very confusing. You go from one desk to another in Cairo Airport and have to talk to multiple people. Have patience. They all speak English and are happy to help confused Americans. Finally leaving the final checkpoint with a guard that looked at me like I was some undercover operative for the US, I finally got to the hotel. The Le Meridian Hotel was like the ‘Land of Oz’. I walked across that crossway and it was into a another world from the chaos of the Cairo Airport.
The Le Meridian Hotel at Cairo International Airport sets a certain standard of what airport hotels should be like. It was amazing!
The pool at the hotel is like an oasis from the reality of the airport.
After a quick check in at the hotel, I was in my room unpacking and taking a shower. Then I just relaxed. I had read a TripAdvisor review on the plane about the restaurants at the hotel and saw the pictures. They looked really nice. The Lebanese restaurant was closed for the night but China Red, their Chinese restaurant was open for the evening and that was exactly what I was in the mood for dinner.
China Red exceeded my expectations in every way. A elegant restaurant with excellent food and service. The plate presentations of the food were photo worthy and the taste of everything was delicious. I ordered the Pre-fixe menu of four courses and this weary traveler enjoyed every one of them.
The entrance to China Red in the Le Meridian Hotel’s second floor.
The view of the restaurant to the pool outside.
Dinner was amazing. I was starved and since there were so many choices that I liked the meal covered everything I wanted. I started the meal with a small container of rice noodles that I devoured very quickly.
Then the Seafood Hot & Sour Soup came out and that hit the spot on a cool Cairo evening.
The Excellent Seafood Hot & Sour Soup was studded with baby shrimp
This was followed by Pan Fried Shanghai Buns and Steamed Chicken Dumplings that melted in my mouth.
The Shanghai Buns and Dumplings I could tell were hand made and were wonderful.
What a way to start a meal after a long day of traveling. Their portion sizes were not overwhelming and it was just enough.
Then the entree came out. I ordered the Basil Chicken with a side of Vegetable Lo Mein and it looked as good as it tasted.
The Basil Chicken with Vegetables.
The Vegetable Lo Mein.
The perfect dinner.
For dessert (I love Pre-Fixes with dessert) I had the Fried Bananas with Ice Cream. That was a real delight.
The perfect dessert, Fresh Fried Bananas and Vanilla Ice Cream.
The perfect way to end a meal in Cairo. What a delicious dessert this was.
After the picture perfect and excellent dinner I had, I walked around the pool and admired how breathtaking it looked in the evening with the lights on and a warm breeze going by. I wish they had allowed night swimming but I was so tired and stuffed from dinner and traveling it was time to turn in for the evening. I will have to come back in the future.
The pool is just outside the restaurant.
I swear I just wanted to jump right in. It was so nice at night at the hotel.
After a big meal and jet lag, I was ready for bed. I knew I had to get up at 5:00am for breakfast and to get ready for the flight, but I stayed up and read and wrote. There was so much I wanted to do and now wished that I had a later flight in the afternoon. That would not be the case and I did not get to bed until Midnight Cairo time. The room was so comfortable that I did not care.
My bedroom at the hotel.
The sitting area of the room the next morning.
The “Joan Crawford” Bathroom in my room. The showers came from all directions.
I may have only gotten about five hours of sleep that night but I swear I felt like I was sleeping for a year with how comfortable that bed was that night. I was out like a light. It did not last that long because my body was so thrown by all this traveling that I got up at 4:00am instead of 5:00am and I was already showered, dressed and packed by the time the wake up call came in. No worries as it was off to breakfast before I left.
Let me tell you something about the Cairo Airport, it is not a place to find something to eat. The choices were not like going through Abu Dhabi’s airport. It also does not have the same comfort level, With the war going on, there are guards everywhere staring you down. I needed a good breakfast before my long journey home that would take me from Cairo to Munich and then Munich to Newark. EVOO, the hotel’s buffet Breakfast Room was the perfect place to start the day. Talk about choices.
EVOO was located on the second floor just outside the pool area and also had great views of outside. The food was amazing as well.
I got the restaurant a little before 5:45pm and they were completely set up for a late dinner and a early breakfast. You could not want for anything here. They had a whole assortment of dinner foods and breakfast foods. it was strange to see all the fish, rice and pasta dishes at 5:30am in the morning, but I figured like myself, everyone was coming from different time zones and had different needs for meals.
The Buffet line was extensive.
The delicious pastries and breads on the buffet line.
There was even fresh honeycomb on the buffet line.
The seating area by the pool.
I settled in and looked around for breakfast foods and settled once again for a omelet with a side of potatoes, some pastries and went back for a second time and wanted some pancakes. The assortment of pastries was tough to choose from but I settled on some iced puff pastries and decorated croissants. Everything on the line was delicious and fresh. The visuals of the food were just specular.
The delicious Ham and Cheese Omelet was excellent that morning.
The pancakes were excellent as well.
The delicious pastries, croissants and breads were freshly baked here.
My Omelet breakfast which is the best meal of the day.
I just sat in the empty dining room and looked at the other five people like myself who had not gotten much sleep and eating at crazy hours and were probably just as jet lagged as was that morning. I had the time to eat and relax for a bit before my flight but knowing I had to go through Customs again at the airport, I made my out and walked around the pool to stretch my legs. I wish I had had time for swim.
The outside of EVOO by the pool area when the sun came up.
After my walk around the property at sunrise, it was back to the room and finish packing to go home. I checked out of the hotel, got through Customs (that took almost an hour of trying to figure out what I needed to leave the country. You need the exit Transfer from the airline again so please remember this. Have it filled out and ready to go with your passport) and finally got my luggage scanned for the third time that morning and got to the gate. Word of advice when traveling through Cairo International Airport, really do leave yourself about THREE hours to get through the process. It was a process.
It really was a great trip and a wonderful experience in Abu Dhabi and Dubai. One that I know that I will remember. Now its back home and then back to school in March and then Graduation.
From there, who knows?!
Places to Stay:
Courtyard World Trade Center, Abu Dhabi
Hamdan Bin Mohammed Street (5th Street), Abu Dhabi,
I can’t tell you how tired we all were this morning. I just about got up thanks to the wake up calls I arranged every morning. It would be another busy day for all of us. It would be filled with a lot of new sites and smells as we would be visiting markets and then the desert.
Thank God a good breakfast every morning was a big help. I know I go on and on about the Breakfast buffet at the hotel but it really is that good! The Bistro at the Marriott Courtyard World Trade Center was wonderful every morning and the selection of food each day was slightly different and always fresh. The displays of breakfast items was always colorful and well maintained. Everything always looked so appealing that you wanted to try it all.
The bread and pastries at the buffet
The Bistro at the Marriott Courtyard World Trade Center Hotel
The quality of the food and the visual display of it was excellent. I liked the diversity of dishes for the entrees which included stews, spreads and rice dishes. There were even Spring Rolls at breakfast time.
The dinner entrees at the buffet
I swear I never needed lunch after eating breakfast at the Bistro. Everything every morning was delicious and so well prepared. It would be hard not to find something you liked on this buffet.
The best way to start the day.
We always had such nice conversations during breakfast. They were basically a wrap up of the day before and what the plans were for that morning. After breakfast was over, we boarded the bus to Nimesh’s greeting. I have no clue where he got his energy from since he ran around with us. We all fell asleep on the bus as we made our way back for the two hour trip to Dubai to meet with the Dubai Tourism office.
Visiting the Dubai Tourism office was one of the best experiences I have experienced in the three Global Field Intensity classes I have taken. Their Tourism Board is one of the most creative, forward thinking and resourceful Teams I have seen. It was so detailed down to the hotels and entertainments being planned for the city. It was so well organized and detailed.
Their ideas of how to generate excitement, know how to engage tourists and creative ideas in events has garnered a reputation all over the world. The PowerPoint presentation was so detailed and inventive I could see the reason why Dubai has an advantage over Abu Dhabi. It was in the way they saw their city and how both history and the future both play a role in welcoming visitors.
What impressed me the most was how they answered the questions about over- tourism, sustainability and pollution. How can you do all this building in the desert when you need food, water and energy to run all these things and you don’t have the local resources such as farms and water to supply them? This when money and creativity take hold.
Us in our meeting in the Dubai Tourism Office engaged in the presentation.
It was a very nice experience at the tourism office, and we learned a lot about why Dubai is such a success in tourism. This is why their growth is so good year after year. The understand what their visitors are looking for and what is important to them. This is especially true for the tourists from the colder climates in Europe who flock here for the beaches and shopping.
Our group picture with members of the Dubai Tourism office.
After our visit to the tourism office, we were supposed to visit the Spice and Gold Souks and tour the Old City of Dubai. The problem was that we were all starved and asked if we could have lunch early (eating breakfast at 6:30am does have its disadvantages).
So off we went to the restaurant at noontime for an early lunch. What an amazing experience that was for a meal. We arrived at the Al Bain Al Qadeem Restaurant and Cafe Al Ras Al Ras Road by noontime and the restaurant was really quiet at that time.
Al Bain Al Qadeem Restaurant & Cafe in Dubai
It was an interesting dining experience from the beginning. We all sat down as a group on the carpet with pillows all around us and we served course by course. It was a very relaxing and casual way to eat our lunch. I liked the informality of it all.
Lunch was really amazing feast. The dishes came out family style and we ate course by course starting with hummus with homemade warm pita bread and a salad with a light dressing. Then came out the fresh salads and more bread. Our side of the table managed to eat everything including the salads left over by the other side of the table.
Starting our wonderful meal.
We then moved onto the main meal of grilled beef, lamb and chicken with two types of rice, plain and saffron and a side of grilled vegetables.
The wonderful entree for lunch.
The food was excellent and so well spiced. I really enjoyed the lunch.
The flavorful rice sides.
After we finished our lunch, we had a long conversation with an Arabic culturalist, who talked with us on the stereotypes and cultural differences between Americans and their thoughts of people from the Middle East. He had a lot to say about what he learned about Americans when he lived in the States.
We are so trained by Hollywood and the movies about what the Middle East is like and the people that live there that we really do come in with preconceived ideas. This is why the talk was so interesting.
Eating our lunch.
It was an interesting conversation.
The owner of the restaurant talking about cultural in the Middle East.
After lunch was over, we started our tour of Old Dubai of the Al Sabkha neighborhood. We started at the original wall that surrounded the city and then walked around the historical parts of Old Dubai. This is the part of the tour that was so intriguing about the City. You got to see the heart of the City and its foundations. This was its heritage and what makes it so special.
The original wall of the city.
The history of the Wall of Old Dubai
The sign of the original wall.
The map of the Al Fabio Historical neighborhood with the original wall of Old Dubai.
The map of the historical section of Old Dubai.
This is when the class split up for the afternoon. Some of us wanted to visit the museum and the others wanted to shop at the Souqs.
Our tour of the Old City of Dubai.
Walking through the streets of Old Dubai is a step back in time to the 1960’s and 70’s before the discovery of oil changed the city of Dubai. While the rest of the group went to visit the Souqs to go shopping, a small group of us wanted to visit the museum so we split up into two groups at the entrance of the Gold Souq. The ladies went shopping and the guys headed to the museum.
The entrance to the Gold Souk.
We would visit the Gold Souq when we returned from the museum. We wanted to have enough time to visit the museum, so we made our way to the next water taxi.
Heading to the water taxi.
Getting on board the next water taxi. The trip to the other side did not take that long.
Looking at the City and at another taxi.
The views of the city were amazing as we crossed the river.
Video of the water taxi ride across the Dubai River:
We crossed the river again and got to the Al Shindagha Museum for our tour. Our guide was a little surprised to see so few people. We had to explain that there was a change in plans but these were the students. Who were interested. The water taxi ride was a lot of fun and you really got to see a lot of the City from here. You could see the contrast from old to new Dubai.
The Al Shindagha Museum in Old Dubai
The museum was small but had interesting artifacts and art work from the Old City of Dhabi.
Artifacts from the old city
The diagram from the old city.
Diagram of the Old Dubai
We were able to tour the museum for about a half hour, admiring the exhibitions and seeing the displays. We got to see the second half of the orientation film before. We had to leave. It was a quick tour but you do not need more than an hour to see the whole museum.
We than headed back to the river to take the water taxi back to the other side of the city where. The Souks were located. Talk about getting great views of the city on top of a wonderful breeze.
Brazil, Yamato and myself at the end with our tour guide, Nimesh on the water taxi.
I was able to take about a five minute tour of the front of the Souk before we had to leave for our desert tour. We were now running a bit late and people were still shopping. The Souks were rather long and there was a lot to see.
The entrance to Old Baladiya Street from the water taxi.
I got to see some of the spice vendors and then realized that I would have to drag more stuff on the plane and I was not sure if Customs would know that these were spices. It was just easier to buy the spices at home.
I tried to see as much of the Souk as I could see in ten minutes.
The spices of the Souk in Dubai.
We did not have the time we all wanted as we had to leave to get to our next experience, the Desert Dinner Tour and Star Gazing later that evening. What a great time we had that night!
Us joining the group at sunset watching the falcon demonstration and enjoying some juices.
Me rediscovering my Arabic roots when holding the falcon at the end of the demonstration.
We got to the camp site where we would be eating dinner. The first thing we did before we sat down to eat was take a camel ride around the site. I had a camel ride when I was visiting Egypt so I was used to this. I could not wait to get back on the camel. I have to say that he was very friendly and you could tell was used to humans riding him.
My classmate Rizal on the camel
My classmate Yarneth on the camel
Our NYU class shot with all the camels. They were really cooperative.
After our Falcon demonstration and the camel rides, it was time for dinner. I was starved again and dinner would be a mixture of soups, salads and grilled meats. The one thing about these tours they feed you really well and the quality of the food is excellent. We started off with a bean soup to start the meal.
The thick bean soup was filling to start the meal
We then moved onto breads, salads and then more grilled meats. We ate a lot of kebabs on this trip which I love.
For some reason and I never knew why, we went out in the desert to look for animals instead of just relaxing and finishing our dinner. We never got to have dessert that evening as we went into the dunes in search of animals. I have to say we had an ambitious jeep. We found all sorts of deer, lizards and other things that live in the desert. It was an fascinating trip into the desert at night.
Us searching the desert for things that creeped and crawled around dunes.
We found a colorful little gecko lizard in the desert. How my classmate found him I do not know. He just glowed in the dark.
We got back from the desert ride late so we went immediately into the star gazing part of our tour. We looked up at the clear sky and the tour guide explained all the constellations to us and what was currently in the winter sky. Frankly I was so tired at this point that I started to fall asleep. Later I found out that we missed the dessert the chef prepared for us. We were bummed by that. We had really toured late in the evening and everyone was exhausted when we were taking the jeeps back to the bus. We all fell asleep on the bus back to Abu Dhabi which was about two hours long back to the hotel. We did not arrive back until about 2:00am. Then we had be back on the bus again first things in the morning.
It was another great day in Dubai and I have to say that I learned a lot about the city and about myself.
It was an early morning for us on the way to a day of touring, site visits and meetings. After the tire blowing the night before and us getting back late, we were all a little worn out when we got to breakfast.
Marriott opened the restaurant early for us and that was very nice of them. The food is excellent and they do a nice job with the buffet. I had just discovered that you could order an omelet and that was a nice alternative to the runny scrambled eggs that the Europeans love so much.
The Marriott restaurant
The breakfast buffet at the Bistro at the Marriott Courtyard World Trade Center.
The Omelet was cooked to order each morning and it was delicious.
On our way to our first stop we took a quick bathroom break and the rest stop was so amazing. It had a food truck theme and a look of Route 66 theme. Very American and very clever. I wish our rest stops could look like this. I wish our rest stops in New Jersey in the States along the NJ Turnpike and the Garden State Parkway were like this.
The bathroom
The Rest Stop on the way to Dubai.
The Food Trucks at the stop. Interesting concept.
Our first stop when we got to Dubai was the Dubai Mall and a tour of the world’s tallest building, Burj Khalifa and the observatory on the 124th and the 125th floors. Talk about a view! It was impressive just from the ground.
Dubai Mall and Burj Khalifa, the world’s tallest building.
While the Burj Khalifa does not have the same views as its New York or Chicago counterparts it was no less impressive. You could see old Dubai rising from across the highway from new Dubai and the difference in the progress of the city and its extremes. You can see where the city will be developed in what is now desert. The next ten years will bring a lot of changes to the area.
On our way up to the Skydeck from the mall.
You entered the building from the Dubai Mall, which is an impressive upscale mall that seems to go on for miles. Designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill architects, this mixed-used development atop Dubai Mall is inspired by the Great Mosque of Samarra in Iraq. This record-breaking skyscraper in downtown Dubai is the tallest structure in the world. Burj Khalifa has several open-air viewing decks and swanky lounges which offer splendid views of the UAE and the Persian Gulf (TripAdvisor.com).
I then started to take pictures of the people on the 124th floor. I swear that humans look awfully small in this picture. This picture of me was taken on the 125th floor of the building. All my fireman instincts came into play and I was always looking for the exits.
The people on the 124th floor.
Our NYU group shot on the 125th Floor.
Just in case you were wondering about the world’s tallest building.
After the tour was over, our Professor treated us to some of the most delicious baklava from one of the oldest bakeries in the business. The Hafiz Mustafa Bakery is located at 1864 Dubai Mall and the beauty of the store matches display of their baked products. Like small jewels in the cases. They were excellent.
Our Professor treating us to this delicious baklava.
It was wonderful. Rich and sweet from the honey, but not overly sweet like in the States.
The baklava chosen
I love baklava when it is made right. It was sweet and flaky and not overly drowned in honey like its American counterparts are when I have eaten it. This was excellent quality and was delicious.
Yum!
I loved the few pieces I got to sample. I did not know if we had this in the States.
The logo of the Mustafa company.
We did have some time to walk through the mall which was very impressive. Still, I felt that I was walking through another version of the Garden State Plaza in Paramus, NJ. I did like that there was a branch of “Bloomies” here. I just wondered how a New York department store like this translates in a foreign country.
Our next stop was the ‘Museum of the Future’, which is a new museum in the city. It was impressive from the outside with its unusual architecture. The unfortunate part was it was like visiting a version of Epcot at Disney World in Florida. Its outside design looked very futuristic but as a museum I was disappointed. There was not much to it.
The outside sculpture on top of the Museum of the Future.
The Museum builds on the visionary culture that has transformed the UAE into one of the world’s most advanced nations in less than 50 years. We are a showcase for the spirit of courage, optimism and innovation that propels Dubai forward. Like our home city, the Museum is a place of tolerance, inviting varied cultural, philosophical, social and spiritual outlooks. Our imagined futures are rooted in the values of the UAE and the Arab world (Museum website).
The inside of the museum in the lobby.
We spent so much time in line that we did not get to see much of the museum. The lines were huge to get in and it took almost 45 minutes to get inside the museum. They need to get people in and out of the lines and into touring the museum much faster. We only had about an hour and half and waiting in line is not part of the experience. Lines at the Met in New York are never like this. They need to work on this.
While the museum would be better suited for families with small children who like interactive displays, there were a few displays that I enjoyed. To me though, this isn’t the future just some form of glorified future in someone’s mind.
The display of the future.
I participated on some of the interactive active display run by a fellow NYU student who went to college in the Abu Dhabi branch. I thought it was a little to Disneyfied for me. I really didn’t care to know what I wanted to be on the planet Mars. Would we ever get there?
Me as a “Space Ambassador” at the Museum of the Future in Dubai.
The best part that I liked about the museum outside the ‘Meditation Room’ was the restaurant on the seventh floor of the museum. It had been highly recommended by one of my classmates who was from Dubai. She said it was excellent and the best part of the museum. She was right.
Public Pizzeria at the Museum of the Future
The Public Pizzeria in the Museum of the Future was lovely and breezy to sit in. It is a very relaxing restaurant after all the craziness of the lines and crowds of the museum. Even though it was on the Seventh Floor of the museum, it was like eating in a private garden.
Most of my classmates chose to forgo the museum and had lunch. After standing in those lines and dealing with the crowds, it was not worth it to tour around. I did not blame them as the restaurant was gorgeous with the most amazing breezes, a nice garden setting and excellent wood-fired pizza.
I sat down for a moment after rushing through the museum and ordered a SweetPeppe, a pepperoni/honey pizza. Just as I started to relax after walking through crowds of families, I was told we had to leave. I ate one slice before it was boxed up and paid for with me racing to make the bus. I just enjoyed at my seat on the bus. Not the garden setting but the pizza was excellent and made it worth the trip to the museum.
The menu of Public Pizzeria at the Museum of the Future
The pizza is worth the trip. While I was indulging on the bus to our next stop making everyone jealous with the delicious smells, you could really taste the honey they swirled on the pizza. The savory taste of the pepperoni and the sweetness of the honey matched perfectly.
The Honey. pepperoni is a winner.
The pizza was a real treat on the bus ride. The taste of the honey pepperoni pizza was amazing!
After the museum visit and lunch, we had a series of meetings with the travel offices of Mastercard and Google. Mastercard is mastering the use of the Metaverse. I have to say I am not the biggest fan of the Metaverse. Those goggles are a pain, it kills your eyesight and it still needs some work in the comfort department. Mastercard explained how they are using it in their travel area for its customers. The company is creating some interesting programs with its use. After the demonstration with the goggles, we took a tour of the Mastercard Headquarters. It was very impressive.
Our group being dazzled by the advancement of the Metaverse at Mastercard Dubai
Touring the Mastercard headquarters in Dubai.
Our NYU group shot with our hosts at Mastercard in Dubai.
After our tour of the Mastercard Headquarters and our interesting talk it was then off to the Google Dubai headquarters. This was the first time I had been in a Google office. I pass the one in Chelsea all the time in Manhattan but had never been inside.
Our tour of the headquarters of Google Dubai.
We started the afternoon first with a tour of the office by one of the employees who gave us the ’embellished’ day in the life of Google employee starting with his breakfast, morning break, work out in the gym, then lunch, afternoon break, time in the relaxation pod and then starting work around 3:00pm. We have an expression for this in New York City and its “And the cow jumped over the moon.” I know how hard Google employees work and the 16 hour days some of them put in. I know he was kidding us around by the end of the tour. Still it was fun to hear what people ‘think’ is a day at Google.
We then sat in one of the lecture rooms and an alumni of NYU gave us a talk on the developments going on at Google and the advancement that the company wants to make in travel and tourism. With Google Travel, Google Reviews and Google Maps helping now I can imagine what direction that the company will want to make in the future. What they are doing now is leading the industry.
Our meeting at Google.
Our NYU group shot at Google Headquarters.
It really was an interesting office visit. It is a company I would love to work for and coming from the ‘Macy Machine’ and Hyatt, the hours would not bother me. I think working with other people who have the same ideas of innovation and creativity would make a person better at what they do and foster more engagement in the industry. There is too much stifling in corporate and there needs to be more a free flow of ideas.
Our last stop of the evening was at the Global Village, a Disneyland themed type of park that represented all the countries of the world. I have to say that it was an elaborate complex. The layout was huge and I was only able to visit a few countries and still have dinner.
Arriving at the Global Village at 38C5+F57 in Dubai that late afternoon. The view from the parking lot in the early evening.
At Global Village, their motto is ‘they celebrate diversity and creativity that makes the world so wonderful! This is why every season they invite the most incredible artists, performers, and creators from all over to join us in Dubai and share their talent with our guests all day every day’ (Global Village website).
The Global Village is huge and I mean HUGE! The complex would take about a week to really explore and enjoy it. With the countries that I visited, it was almost a glorified Epcot Center in Florida’s Disney World. They must have wanted to try to be authentic in the beginning but got caught up in the ‘Fantasied’ view of what a country should be. Almost a watered down version of someone’s life. To be honest it was not ‘authentic’.
Inside the main entrance to the Global Village at twilight.
A little bit of home.
The Main Street of the Global Village at night was impressive with its lively stores and entertainment. More impressive than Main Street USA and a bit more depth.
The complex is huge and over-whelming and you can visit multiple days. It needs some hotels inside the complex like Disney to bring a ‘real’ factor to it.
We only had about two and half hours to explore the complex and even that is not enough time to experience the whole thing. You would need a week and multiple days to explore the entire complex thoroughly. What might make this work better is that each pavilion have a consultant from that country come in and look at the shops and crafts and food options and give a more authentic viewpoint to it. What also would work is multiple hotel concepts so that people could spend more time in the Global Village and explore it without having to rush. It just too big!
I was able to visit quickly the United Arab Emirates Pavilion because I wanted to see how they portrayed their own country, then Egypt, Saudi, then China, Japan and Vietnam. I visited them so quickly I forgot what was what. The stores inside the complexes were underwhelming and poorly merchandised. It was piles of clothes and trinkets on top of each other. You could not stop to enjoy the entertainment because then you could not get to the next pavilion.
I took a breather in the Chinese Pavilion to look at the artwork and have some dinner. Have the last few nights of barbecued meats and rice dishes, I needed some Chinese food. Unfortunately the menu at Chin Chin in the Chinese Pavilion was a lot of deep fried foods with heavy sauces. The food was good but was more Chinese-American suburban mall type of food. It was still good.
Spending time in the Chinese Pavilion at the Global Village.
This is how I got to know our tour guide, Nimesh, who was eating by himself at the restaurant. I invited him to join me and we talked about our lives and careers and our hopes of what we want to do in the future. He was a terrific tour guide with a wonderful personality but I could not understand why he wasn’t doing this work in his home of Sri Lanka. With the economy and wars I could understand this plight.
Over dinner at Chin Chin, we laughed about the experiences that we had traveling and talked about where we wanted to be in the future. It is amazing how you can open up to a complete stranger who is going through the same transitional experience in life that you are having.
Dinner was more deep fried foods. People out here really love the deep fried stuff and it can be a bit overdone especially since this stuff is so good to eat and so bad for you at the same time. Still every once in a while you have to treat yourself and we did at Chin Chin, the signature restaurant in the Chinese Pavilion.
Chin Chin at the Chinese Pavilion at the Global Village.
The Fried Shredded Beef at Chin Chin for an appetizer could have been the whole meal.
The Chicken in a Sweet and Tangy sauce with Fried Rice made up for the fried stuff.
After a nice dinner and great conversation, Nimesh had to head back to the bus to await everyone returning in about an hour and I quickly finished my tour of the Asian Pavilions as I made my way back to the entrance but not before I saw the Light Show by the main fountain in the middle of the complex. Now that was impressive.
I made my way back to the bus just in time but everyone else had not made it back yet so I got to relax with some peace and quiet. Everyone was asleep on the way back to the hotel. We were all exhausted by this long but productive day in Dubai. I have to say that I am very impressed with how the City of Dubai has developed and it would be fun to explore the old part of it in the coming day. It had been a long day of driving and touring.
I just fell fast asleep and never heard my roommate until the wakeup call woke us up the next morning.
mywalkinmanhattan 