Sunday, 20 November – Abu Dhabi, UAE, the richest city in the world. There is so much building going on in this city that you can’t look in any direction without seeing some huge building being built.
Sunday is the first day of the work in this part of the world, so it is quite a bustling morning as our tour bus heads away from the port toward the Sheikh Zayed (Grand) Mosque here in the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The Mosque is definitely grand as you see from this first photo taken from the bus as we approach before the crowds arrive. It is the largest mosque in the UAE; the eight largest in the world,; can accommodate 40,000 worshippers (counting the courtyard and other halls).
Because this is such a visitor highlight, and due to their strict guidelines, they provide robes and head scarves for all women who wish to go even into the immense courtyard area. The black robe isn’t the most flattering, and it’s hard to tell one person from another from the back, but at least there’s no decision on what to wear. Darlene had her own scarf with her; doesn’t she look stunning in her black robe and white shoes? Notice the intricate inlay work on the columns – you’ll see them again later; amazing!
We took our shoes off to enter the mosque – our group put ours in the shape of a square (ours were in my backpack). The ante-room was impressive with a clock that had the times for call to prayer and the type of prayer for that time. As we entered the main hall, it’s immensity became apparent. As we stepped on to the “world’s largest carpet,” we noticed what we thought were seams. We were told these are “rows” where the people know to kneel to keep lines straight and get more people in the hall. Here is a picture of the world’s largest chandlelier—33 feet in diameter and 49 feet high. The light coming through the open domes and striking the glass was very impressive.
I snapped quite a few pictures here at the mosque as it is definitely a photographer’s delight. Here is one of the hundreds of perfectly aligned columns with their festooned gold leaf tops and precious stone inlays. Once we were all back in our group, our next challenge was to find the bus; a 10-minute meandering walk through the parking lot proved not obstacle for us -- it was the last one there!
After the mosque we went to Heritage Village along the waterfront. This is an area that was developed so the peopled would not forget what the area was originally like. The village houses a small museum and depicts the daily activities of the Arab community prior to the discovery of oil in the region.
There were various types of tents sent up, such as the Bedouin-style tents that we’d seen in the desert lands of Jordan. We also saw the mainstay of the cargo fleet, the camel. As you can see, he has large teeth, they didn’t look well brushed, and we weren’t going too close to him to pet him – no one else did either.
An interesting part of the Heritage Village is that it sits on beautiful waterfront opposite the high-rise buildings of downtown Abu Dhabi. There were many intriguing venues, including an amphitheatre that faced the water, and the opportunity for pictures was abundant – as was evident by the number of people snapping pictures. So of course, I called Darlene over, and she obliged. I don’t know what the building is in the background – I just liked it for a backdrop.
Well, we’re nearing the end of our last day of the cruise. As we pulled out of port and the blaze of the lights from the oil-driven city are behind us, the beautiful sunset that was there long before oil – and will be there long after oil is used up – told us that the end of another day was upon us. Tonight was our last night on the Brilliance of the Seas, and the photo below shows that we, indeed, had brilliance on the seas!
The Mosque is definitely grand as you see from this first photo taken from the bus as we approach before the crowds arrive.
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