Abu Dhabi
We have now lived in Asia for three years. Two years ago a good friend from Texas moved to Abu Dhabi and I wanted to go visit her. Then, when another family that we met in the Philippines moved to Dubai, I knew we couldn’t miss the opportunity to visit them both by taking advantage of Manila’s direct flights to the United Arab Emirates (UAE). I had been telling Matt for nearly 18 months that I wanted to spend our fall break visiting these friends and exploring that part of the world. We had never been to the Middle East and were told that in October the weather would be cooler. So off we went, and the weather cooperated and we all had a wonderful time being with friends and exploring the UAE. Many thanks to our fabulous host in Abu Dhabi, Kym, for taking such good care of us and being our tour guide.
Philippine Air has a direct flight from Manila to Abu Dhabi that is nearly nine hours. To upgrade to business class is rather inexpensive for this flight, so that is what we did and even 16 month old Blake knows that this is the way to go.
We made it to Abu Dhabi where our friends were waiting to pick us up.
Day 1
Part of the view from our friend’s condo in Abu Dhabi.
First place to visit was the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.
Inner area of the Grand Mosque. Kalani was a little bit upset that women had to wear long sleeve shirts, long pants and cover our heads. Whereas, the men could wear short sleeve shirts and didn’t have to cover their heads.
Amazing chandeliers are inside the Grand Mosque.
We had lunch at a yummy Lebanese restaurant.
We strolled along some malls and found a few “spice stores”. Pictured: so many different types of spices before they are ground up.
We are friends from Texas, so we had to snap a photo in front of a Texas Roadhouse restaurant…Blake’s never been to Texas, so he isn’t in the photo.
Farleys are in Abu Dhabi
We were too tired to go inside and explore Ferrari World, but we made it to the entrance.
Day 2
We spent the morning exploring the UAE Heritage Village.
Family photo with an Abu Dhabi skyline.
Our first time seeing a camel up close. Mason was very comfortable being around it.
Lunch at a Mexican restaurant where all of the staff were Filipino. So of course they helped us take care of Blake so we could eat.
We had an appointment to visit the Falcon Hospital and learned a lot about falcons. If they are wearing a falcon hood they are calm and can go on an airplane with their own passport. (in their own seat!)
Blake wasn’t too keen on being this close to a falcon. It was such a neat and educational experience for all of us.
Date night at Emirates Palace. There is a strict dress code to enter, but you can never dress too fancy there.
ATM machine where you can buy gold, inside the Emirates Palace.
Night view of Etihad Towers that are across from Emirates Palace. The towers were used as a filming location for the 2015 film Furious 7.
More photos of Abu Dhabi here.
