Visiting a place that you have lived for long time with the identity of a tourist is quite a strange thing, let alone your homeland. This time it wasn’t my homeland but another place where I lived for long enough in order to feel somehow at ‘home’. So when I revisited Abu Dhabi some time ago, it was a nice break and triggered some strong emotions and nostalgia. I realised how much missed the place, how much missed the heat, the shy smiles of the local women under their scarfs, the softness and simultaneously the sense of careless in the expression of the local men. I missed my friends, whom I didn’t manage to see all of them due to my short stay, but had the opportunity to take a taste of the latest changes in the city.
Abu Dhabi is one of those ‘oily’ cities that are changing in unprecedented way, fast and impressive. Arriving at the airport, the first novelty was the black huge 6 seats taxi waiting for us. Abu Dhabi defines itself with a steady pace as a luxurious holiday resort. Despite all the Cassandras’s predictions ” it’s a bubble, soon or later it will collapse bla,bla…” Abu Dhabi’s infrastructure has taken a quantum leap. New buildings, malls, palaces, hotels are coming up in a fast way and creating an impressive skyline. I stayed in my old neighbourhood for the obvious reasons, familiarity with the place. Of course, I don’t know how much familiar could be, since in this area, the Corniche, there are some new constructions, a huge mall with very interesting shops and brands and a nice new beach club- a boat design- opposite to it.
The Corniche area.
The new mall in the Corniche.
Nice shops with nice decoration on the walls. The new mall looks very promising!
The new beach club in the Corniche. The boat design is its signature.
My favourite buildings, Etihad towers, with a new copper tower next to them! I’m not sure about the latter but the lego approach is a common practice out there!
At the rear of the Emirates Palace.
The new palaces will be 6 in total in order to accommodate all the Seikhs from the rest 6 Emirates (7 in total: Abu Dhabi, Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al-Khaimah, Sharjah, and Umm al-Quwain).
I visited once more the restaurant BBQ Al Qasr at the beach of the Emirates Palace, which for me is the best restaurant in Abu Dhabi in terms of service firstly and food secondly. Service in the developing countries is a sensitive term, since it doesn’t have the same meaning as in the western world!
The beach of the Emirates Palace is really magnificent.
But again, this is my favourite place in Abu Dhabi, Monte-Carlo Beach Club. Especially this small pavillion at the beach for coffee and drinks and if you are lucky you can spot sea turtles in the surrounding area with the bushes.! How exciting is that? It reminds me so much the Hamptons and I think this was exactly its purpose!
One of its restaurants, the Deck , good for brunch. The food is feast in the eyes, different kind of charcuterie, sea food, desserts…
But the most glamorous bit is ‘a la piscine’,
and afterwards resting in the gorgeous spa, reading magazines, watching tv, having some massage.
going to Turkish bath after the sauna,
or going to Jaccuzi for fun.
Bye bye Abu Dhabi, see you soon! I will be always ready to be impressed by you and actually, this is what you really want!
Penelope going global 