After breakfast we left TIME Hotel in Dubai and made our way to Abu Dhabi to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.
Palm Jumeirah
We drove past the Burj Al Arab again and then came straight onto the elevated road to the “Palm Jumeirah”. It's hard to imagine that this is all land that was heaped up! Passing blocks of flats, you drive straight onto it Atlantis Hotel to. Except for the apartments, holiday homes on the palm fronds and the Atlantis, not everything is finished here. Construction sites and construction work everywhere! The Atlantis was the first large hotel to be completed. We drove a bit along the outer ring of the water and collected a few caches and then headed to Dubai Marina.
Dubai Marina
I don't know what else one imagines as a port (it should be noted, there is also a container port here) but this is a port of superlatives. Chic skyscrapers left and right. Great landscaped stretches of water and bays. Splendid! We pulled into the Marina Mall for parking (free) and walked a bit along the water. There is still construction going on at every corner, but most of it is already finished. However, road construction sites are not the strength of the city of Dubai. We got lost a bit to get back on the freeway.
The Palm, Jebel Ali
Then we drove to the second palm tree “The Palm, Jebel Ali”. This is still under construction and you can only see the heaped up land and a few concrete pillars, which will later carry the highway. But at this point there is nothing else!!! Even less than nothing! Can't you imagine that Dubai will continue to grow to this point?! All around only industry ... and well a luxury golf course. But otherwise desert and closed roads that lead nowhere. But as fast as Dubai has grown so far, they will manage to settle everything here in a few years.
Then it was on to Abu Dhabi. The Autobahn up to that point is free and goes straight through the desert for an endless length of time!
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque
Today only the Sheikh Zayed Mosque was on the agenda for Abu Dhabi. First of all, women who do not wear long trousers, a sleeve-length top and a headscarf must get a body suit. This is a black hooded cloak and looks a bit like going to Hogwarts. Everything must be covered except for the face. For men it is sufficient if they wear long pants and a t-shirt. Then we went into the mosque. WOW... all white marble. A huge courtyard with amazing flower ornaments on the floor. The interior is so magnificent that many a cathedral in Europe turns green with envy. Shoes off, of course, and onto the carpet, which is laid everywhere. It's great that you can really go in here without feeling kind of weird because you don't belong to the religion, except for the "Hogwarts cloak". When we came out again, the sun was slowly setting and the mosque shone in the romantic sunset. A dream!
After sunset we drove to our hotel Novotel Abu Dhabi Gate. The rooms here were a bit smaller than our last hotel in Dubai, but so far everything was clean and in good condition. For dinner we drove to Dalma Mall and ate at Shake Shack.