Abu Dhabi - My Highlights
I'll come back to this story some other time, but to fill you in, we're leaving the UAE this year.
So, I thought I'd do a few written pieces on some of my highlights of the country we've called home for almost 2 years.
Starting with: Abu Dhabi.
Now I must admit that between the two 'main' cities (Abu Dhabi and Dubai) Abu Dhabi is not my favourite for exploring purposes but it has served as our first choice when doing an overnight luxury stay.
Both Abu Dhabi & Dubai are fabulous places and definitely destinations to put on your bucket list, however I could never imagine myself living in either. I have much preferred the idea of where we have been living. Al Ain, although still a large city, is much more mellow/laid back.
It's also massively more local and cultured and I guess that's what I wanted from our adventures.
Anyway, starting this blog series of highlights, here are my Abu Dhabi favourites;
1. Al Raha Beach Resort
Al Raha was our first mini trip 'away', recommended by friends of ours who we shared our first mini vacation with.
The resort is on a man-made private beach and it's just beautiful.
The rooms are luxurious with the biggest bathrooms I have ever seen. Balconies either looking over the pool or out towards the mangroves and swamp lands.
A large swimming pool, a kids splash area, indoor pool, gym, dining, and the private beach make it the perfect place to just chill whilst the kids wear themselves out in the Arabian sunshine.
2. Sheikh Zayed Mosque (Grand Mosque)
After 3 visits, I think I've seen all I can see of The Grand Mosque, however it is still breathtakingly beautiful.
The architecture and detail in every inch of this building is nothing like I've ever seen before. Surprisingly the kids really love it here, even when we are approaching visit number 4 in the next week.
3. The Corniche (Beach)
Now, I'm not really a beach person unless its a kid-less beach day where I barely have to touch the sand.
I'm not a fan of sand, I'm actually unsure why I agreed to live in the desert.
However, I can appreciate a nice beach and the Corniche is definitely that.
It's beautiful, it's quite and it's cheap.
We've been to beaches in Dubai where we've had to pay AED220 for sun loungers (roughly 45 GBP), Corniche we spent 25AED per sun lounger!
The area was quite and calm, the sea was calm and clear and the row of beach huts serving ice-cream and other foods was ideal.
Kids play parks within sight, toilets/showers right next to us. Just ideal really.
Meaning, we will be going next week with our next set of visitors!
4. Yas Mall
I know what you're thinking. It's a mall, why rave about it?
If you have not been to the UAE, you have not seen malls like what they have out here.
Malls take you a day to navigate around, if you don't know what you're looking for. They have amusement arcades that house rollercoasters, fountains, displays and they're just generally a sight to be seen.
Yas Mall is huge compared to anything back home, but slightly calmer and quieter than say, Dubai Mall.
If ever we've been to Abu Dhabi, we always end up at Yas for food. Our usual trek is to visit the Lego Shop and Hamley's for the kids to beg for more toys, wonder around pottery barn for me and the husband to pine over the homely furniture we want but could never afford and then chose our food.
The first restaurant we ate in, in Yas Mall was Rogo's Rollercoaster restaurant. A restaurant where you ordered your food by tablets at your table, waited patiently and then watched your food and beverages slide round a 'rollercoaster' across the restaurant and down to your table.
Unfortunately this place is now closed, however that doesn't limit your choices of places to dine. I'll save my favorite eatery for my nice 'Highlights' blog.
So I'm going to leave you with this for today, short and sweet.
I have a few blogs in the making (one of which I wrote weeks ago and forgot about - others about our highlights and I guess I should write about our move soon).
Much love. Stay in contact with me. Stay happy. Enjoy.
The Anxious Mother x
