UAE Day 1

This is the Desert, Right?

With all the tension in this area of the world, we had been prepared to abandon ship at any moment. Reports of air space opening and closing, as well as drones and missiles flying had us a bit concerned but we felt fairly confident the airlines would steer clear of any dangerous areas – perhaps a bit foolish but…

Our flight from Paris to Abu Dhabi was rough. We experienced some of the worst turbulence we have ever experienced as we began our approach into Abu Dhabi, so bad the pilot actually pulled up out of the approach and we ended up circling at least three times before finally touching down on the rain soaked runway. Needless to say it is a miracle that neither Jenny nor I got sick, though I can say with certainty, it would have only taken one more go around before things would have turned ugly. Five hours later, I still feel a bit queasy.

Picking up the rental car, the agent warned us to be careful as there was some rain and he said the streets here flood and the cars can quickly hydroplane. We pulled out of the garage in a drizzle and I kid you not, not even five minutes later and we were in a deluge that I have rarely seen. The highways were quickly inundated, cars were getting stuck in the deep floodwaters left and right but Billy kept our little sedan on the road and moving forward. 

We arrived to the St Regis to a bit of chaos from all the rain; they had buckets everywhere to catch the water pouring in from all the leaks but the staff was wonderful, welcoming us with dates and Arabic coffee; they upgraded us to a fabulous corner suite with jaw-dropping views (when they could be seen) and allowed us to check in hours ahead of time.

I had bought tickets ahead of time to visit the Presidential Palace, a working palace not a residential one. It is a formal space where the President receives foreign heads of state in his role representing the UAE in all international relations. The UAE, a federation made up of seven emirates was founded in 1971, after gaining their independence from Great Britain and changing their former name, The Trucial States.

 We got a small break in the storms and made our way there. Once through security, they bus you over to the main building to tour that on your own.

The palace was beyond opulent and absolutely stunning. We loved looking at the display of the gifts the President has received from other countries but were a bit embarrassed by the gift given by the US – a stainless steel eagle (the symbol of or own country). The one good thing is the weather seemed to keep many people away so the crowds were quite thin.

Back at the hotel, we grabbed a couple of drinks in the bar before noticing another wave of bad weather was rolling in off the Persian Gulf.

Once it hit, we had no idea how bad it was going to be but when we poked our heads outside, we thought we should go watch it from our room on the 33rd floor.

Once again, a slight drizzle quickly turned into a complete deluge and then the wind picked up literally blowing the rain and hail completely horizontal. At one point the windows looked like someone was running a hose over them and any view was completely wiped away.  What a crazy day to think we were in the desert but there was so much water it had no place to go.

Trying to catch a taxi to dinner was next to impossible as the streets were completely overrun. We ended up offering an Uber guy cash to take us when we dropped someone off at the hotel.

Dinner was completely over the top, our own fault. Our total meal for the one night was ten times what we paid for each night’s meal in Morocco – the single most expensive meal we have ever had…and I would only categorize it as very good…

What a complete contrast this part of the trip has already been to Morocco. We have noticed it in so many ways.