And Then We headed To Barcelona...

Pretty sure I couldn't believe it when we landed in Barcelona. It had been on my own bucket list for about 20-odd years and we finally made it.

The first thing that struck me that afternoon, after we had settled into our accommodation and had gone for a stroll around the immediate neighbourhood, was the architecture.  As I had encouraged Monet back in Berlin, to always look 'up' and take in everything that surrounds you, she very much enjoyed looking at the buildings too.  There were many beautiful buildings we saw over the whole week we spent in the city...  This one was a few doors down from where we were staying.

When we spied this building below, across the road a few blocks down, we had to explore in there - it was a fresh food market with a two storey supermarket in it.  I am pretty sure we were in awe.  Looks gorgeous, doesn't it?

It wasn't too long before we spotted our first Antoni Gaudi ceramic architecture masterpieces that the city is famous for.  But more on Gaudi in posts to come.  All I will say is 'wow', after having a degree in Ceramic Design (shh, don't tell anyone) and learning all about the great man all those years ago and seeing his work with my own eyes - well that is something else.  Just awesome....

It is always worth having a quick wander in the neighbourhood when you arrive somewhere new.  Good to get your bearings, see what is around the corner and on your doorstep.

Barcelona immediately had a very different feel and smell to it, after being in Berlin.  That's what I so love about Europe.  A two and a half hour plane ride, we went from some where where it was cool to somewhere that was humid, and how each country is so very different.  Melbourne to Cairns is a 3.5 hour plane ride which puts it all in perspective for us.  How very fortunate were we to be able to do this.  Very....

De-Construct, Abu Dhabi style

After MrL taking Monet to the Doctor's on Saturday morning (bloody ear infections - I tell you, they'll be the death of me!), the four of us drove into Abu Dhabi city to purchase a couple of things and to go out for lunch.

I thought I would share with you a couple of observations.  As you know, I am married to someone who works in construction, so our eyes are always peeled for new buildings, infrastructures etc., but only here in the UAE have we ever seen building being torn down via this method;

We always gasp when we spy this type of action happening.  It is so dangerous and when the buildings are 'deconstructed' this way, it really means they could actually collapse at any moment (though I doubt they do).  This building above, would've probably looked like the building below, a couple of weeks ago.

All boarded up and ready to be torn down to make way for a brand spanking new building.  I'm not sure what happens to all the people who once called all those apartments home.  There are some real shocker buildings here in Abu Dhabi and in a way, I am glad they're pulling down the eye-sores!

MrL made his purchases on needed items and then we headed to our favourite restaurant at the Beach Rotana Hotel located next door to Abu Dhabi Mall, (see location at the end of post), Prego's.  It's Italian and we've rarely been disappointed when we've eaten there.

I cannot go past my favourite dish on the menu (it seems I now order it every. time.)  A spinach and ricotta ravioli with a butter, basil and hazelnut sauce.

Monet cannot go past her favourite pizza.  (It is a rare restaurant here that has pork items on it's menu and even rarer to find a proper pizza with out the pork substitute of beef or turkey ham!)

After our filling lunch, we browsed Abu Dhabi Mall (we both noted that it really has improved over the past couple of years) and finally made our way home by late afternoon.

The Souq at Central Market

For quite some time, I have been wanting to have a look at The Souk, at the new Central Market in Abu Dhabi city.

That's Central Market, the highrises way in the background there....

The site has been one of construction for what seems like ages (since we've been living in the UAE anyway).  There used to actually be a Market, or Souq, there years ago until there was a fire which destroyed the whole thing.  So now they've been building three skyscrapers in it's place which are going to house a hotel, a 'High Street' shopping Mall, apartments, office space and a Souq.

The Souq is the only thing completed at the moment and inside it is rather beautiful.  The design is lovely, made from some type of wood, concrete, and gorgeous stained glass windows letting in loads of natural light but still quite cool on the inside.

It's kinda like a modern house you see in films, truth be told.

Not a lot of little shops open at the moment but I imagine in a couple of years time it really will be a hub of sorts.  But the ones that are open are selling an assortment of Arabic goods...

I particually liked the signs to the toilets, as I haven't seen ones like this before;

Worth a little visit if you're in the city, just for a sticky beak if anything else.  And plenty of car parks (always a plus) because it is paid parking and no one (it seems) likes paying for any type of parking in this part of the world.  (If they can park on the pavement or on a roundabout for free, they will!)  Just getting into the car park was a little tight with cars parked on the both sides of a one way lane, making it a little hairy getting to the actual Central Market car park (lucky MrL was driving!)

Hodariyat Bridge Project

MrL and I love watching television shows on how they build certain landmarks around the world.

I don't know how many times we've watched the construction of the Burj Al Arab, Ski Dubai or the bridge (we will see one day in southern France), the Millau Viaduct.  So we've been a little excited to find out they are constructing a new bridge in Abu Dhabi, we're a bit nerdy like that. =)  We are hoping that someone is making a documentary on the Hodariyat Bridge Project because so far....

...it is looking pretty awesome (if you're into these kind of things!)

Now, I 've taken these photos through the car windscreen and it was a bit hard to capture the construction of the bridge (that we could see through the fences).  I would've loved to have got out and taken some photos but mid-morning on a Saturday when there is lots of people milling about the site didn't seem like the right time.

And because I know some construction lingo, it looks like they are doing the precasting on site.

It's going to be a beautiful bridge when it is finished (due for completion in late 2011) and is the first bridge to be heading off Abu Dhabi Island in a westerly direction.  It is going to join up to Hudaiyriyat Island where lots of housing for local Emiraties is planned (amongst other plans) and part of the 2030 project.

Awesome seeing a plan coming together.  Love being here at the right time too.

18 Degrees

We've got some amazing buildings here in Abu Dhabi. Even though Dubai seems to get in the news all the time about their amazing buildings (which there are plenty of), Abu Dhabi is coming into it's own in construction. And being married to someone in construction, I too get to appreciate certain aspects of buildings.

One building, which is one (of many) of my all time favourite buildings, from anywhere in the world, is right here in Abu Dhabi, located on 30th Street.  Capital Gate.  A building built with a delibrate 18 degree lean/curve, over 4 times more than the Leaning Tower of Pisa!  It stands at an impressive 160 metres in height (about 35 stories high).

Considering I took that photo when driving past as a car passenger, I think I did capture the 'curve' of the building.  It is pretty amazing (the building, not the photo) and thought I'd do some 'pop art' with the photo.  *heehee*

The final building is not far from hand-over and is going to house Abu Dhabi's newest Hyatt Hotel, and have plenty of office space too.  It is owned and is joined to the ADNEC (Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Companies) building next door.

It is one of those buildings you have to see to believe (and there are plenty of those here!)  The thing too about Capital Gate, is that it looks different from wherever you get to see it - at some angles it certainly looks like it could topple over and at others it looks completely straight.  Just amazing....

A Dubai Weekend

We decided on Friday morning to head north to Dubai for the weekend (remembering the working week here runs from Sunday to Thursday.)  We booked a room at the Premier Inn and off we went.  Monet was very excited - for her the prospect of a night away in a hotel is like Christmas for her!  (She's very hotel savvy, let me tell you!)

But before the hotel room beckoned, we had decided to visit Dubai Mall, which lies underneath the Burj Dubai, the tallest building in the world.  The Mall itself is home to over 2000 shops and restaurants and is one of the largest shopping malls in the world.  It seriously was an amazing place.  The below photo was taken before the crowds hit.

Where else could you find one of the world's biggest bookshops? (It kept going on and on and on....)

An ice rink?

An indoor waterfall?

An aquarium? (Now, that was amazing!)

It honestly blew us away but it is so big it is actually too big.  There is still a lot of shops to be opened in the near future so honestly, if you can't find what you were looking for here, you must have your eyes shut.  

By the time we had lunch (in the most amazing food court ever!), walked around, did a touch of shopping (not much but I did buy a couple of good cookbooks!) and on our way to find our hotel, it was past 4:30pm.  

Dubai roads seem to be a series of ring roads, on and off ramps, bridges and roundabouts.  After (finally) finding ourselves heading in the right direction I caught this snap of the Burj Tower from a distance with the sun setting...

The Premier Inn was great (we'll stay there again down the track I am sure).  It was relatively inexpensive, had a great little bar and a restaurant there and a coffee shop.  The room was not too dissimilar from the one we stayed at in London (which gave us good feeling - same prints on the walls and everything Lol!!) 

After breakfast in the morning we headed to the Emirates Mall for a wander around there.  We left a little while later to head home.  (Over shopping, but surprisingly, shoppers didn't annoy me, which usually happens!) 

Next time we head to Dubai, we have decided we'll go out onto Palm Island and explore some of the amazing architecture on foot, rather than doing drive-bys.  

A Wander Around The Streets

My neighbour friend, Monet and myself caught a taxi into the city this morning.  We had a little business to do (visit the post office to begin with.  Abu Dhabi only has two or three post offices here, believe it or not.  But that is another post altogether.)

It was a good opportunity for me to take some snaps of some buildings.  It is an interesting city bar the stupid footpaths (up and down, steps, not very pedestrian friendly) but is nice to get out and see some more of the city.

There are some amazing looking buildings in some glorious colours...

...and then there is some typical city scenes of low-lying buildings, not a lot of sky-scrapers in the city parts yet!  (There are a few and the future plan for this city looks pretty impressive.)

We ended up walking to Al Whada Mall for a few bits and pieces, including a well deserved Starbucks drink and Maccas for lunch!  *heehee*

Now excuse me as I go and make a salad as we're off to a neighbour's tonight for a BBQ and a Guitar Hero show-down!

(Any of these photos can be enlarged by double-clicking. My new camera works wonderfully with snaps like these.  Hope you can see how clear they are!)

Shopping Mall City? Construction City? Sim City? Yes, That's It! Sim City!

Dubai.

Is there anywhere else on earth quite like this city?  At the moment, I think not.  It blew us away.  And quite literally too, but more on that in a minute.  

I have never been to such a place where construction is everywhere.  E. V. E. R. Y. W. H. E. R. E.  Everywhere you looked you were either seeing road barriers, construction workers and labourers or cranes.  So many cranes.  Lyndon was in heaven.  

It took us about an hour on a straight (straight) road which basically took us literally into the center of Dubai.  We parked the car (on good advice) at Mall of the Emirates and browsed the shops for a good 90 minutes.  Mall of the Emirates is the place where they have 'Ski Dubai' - 400 meter ski slope indoors.  Amazing.  We were also happy to find a Borders, a Campers Shoe Store and also not one, but two H&M stores!  (Love H&M!)  

From the Mall we decided to catch one of those Big Bus Tours (also on good advice!) as it would save Lyndon driving and we could get on and off where we wanted and see all the famous sites (and some sights they were!)  We sat up the top and bloody hell, was it windy up there!  

The first thing we spied when we were on the tour was this...

The Burj Dubai. Photographs don't quite capture the enormity of it all.  This is the tallest building in the world, standing currently at like 850 meters high.  (I thought the Eureka in Melbourne was tall - but no, it isn't when compared to this.)  My sister looked over at me and said "Its like something out of Sim City!" and she was right.  (We were and probably still are, big Sim City fans!)   After she said that, low and behold, around the corner we spied this scene - directly out of Sim City...

The bus tour took us to about eight different malls (no kidding - Shopping Malls are everywhere in Dubai - no wonder they say it is Shopping Heaven here!)  and then we finally got to see up close, what I had been waiting to see in the flesh (for so very long), the Burj Al Arab Hotel.

What a stunning landmark.

We hopped off at the Souk Madinat, close to the Burj Al Arab to find some food and a drink.  The Souk was lovely with lots of stalls in a grand building and lots of restaurants on the waters edge.  

Back on the bus, it took us down to 'Atlantis on The Palm'.  It was here when I turned to Lyndon and said "This place is effing crazy!"  I was lost for words.  The Palm Island, fully man made is simply amazing.  It even had a deep tunnel we entered to reach the 'Atlantis', which I still can't get my head around.  A tunnel on a man-made island.  How does that work? To see this newly opened hotel was jaw-dropping...

It was like nothing I have ever seen before.  Just amazing. 

The bus took us back to where we had taken off from five hours prior.  

The drive home back down the road was easy, once we could navigate the road getting from going north to south (lack of signage!) but we got home a little over an hour later, with our minds ticking over what we had seen and done in Sim City.  

I'm looking forward to going back.  

(My sister left this morning - I suspect the next time we see her it will hopefully be in her stomping ground not too far down the track!)

Better Luck Next Time...

I went to The Grand Mosque today with Kim, Monet and my neighbour, Karen. 

(Note to oneself; Mosque is open to tourists between the hours of 9am and Noon.  Do not go after midday as you only get to explore part of the exterior of the fully-marble mosque.  The exterior looks magnificent, I can only imagine what the interior looks like.  Next time....next time....)

Fun & Games

Abu Dhabi is known around these parts as being more 'green' (as in gardens), more 'casual' and more 'family orientated' than its cousin down the road (Dubai).  Now, I have not yet gone to Dubai but if Abu Dhabi is noted as those three things then I do tend to believe them.  (Not sure who 'them' is though!)

On Sunday, the beginning of the working week over here, my sister, Monet and I ventured into the 'Family Park' area of Abu Dhabi City.  Monet was in playground heaven...

She had a blast playing on all the little playgrounds situated in this park area, which was quite large.  The park caters for families with little kids, right through to your skateboarding teenagers.  And for one of those child's aunt and mother, an opportunity to take some photos of the city building surrounding the park.  

After a good wander around and Monet running from play equipment to play equipment we made our way to 'Marks and Spencers' in the city.  (Yes, Abu Dhabi has the British store, M&S.  Of course it does, this is the UAE and nothing, absolutely nothing should surprise you!)  

On the way we got to take some photos of the fantastic murals which line the underpasses.  They were good for a giggle!

We all made purchases at M&S and then walked back to the family park area along the 'Corniche'.  The 'Corniche' is a road that surrounds basically the whole island of Abu Dhabi, (because Abu Dhabi is an island).  It has been wonderfully thought out with walkways and parkland, looking out across the Arabian Gulf.  

The underpasses are like little architectural masterpieces with water fountains and mosaics.  They really were something else.

Lyndon met us and drove us home, as I am not quite yet confident to hail a taxi by the road side!  All in due time...