17 - 18 May 2013
Ferrari World
This is the world's biggest indoor theme park and it's also home to the world's fastest rollercoaster (0-240km/h in 5 seconds). Sensing a "world's biggest" theme with the UAE yet? The rollercoaster definitely felt great during acceleration but the rest of it was pretty tame. The benefit of being a loner at a theme park is that I don't have to line up because on most rides they try to fill all spots so they'll call out for a single person; I am that loner. This happened to me a few times :D
Another good ride that's there is the Viaggio in Italia which is a video fly over of parts of Italy. The cool bit is they have the seats arranged in three rows but as the ride starts all the seats lift up and stack on top of each other. The 4D Speed of Magic ride just made me sick (crappy 3D video) and the Ride with the Champion, an in-car video of a formula 1 car, had fake and out of sync sound, which killed it for me. The park was ok but not the best I've been to.
Abu Dhabi: Big Bus Co Tour
Apparently this Big Bus Co group runs in lots of cities around the world but they offer a good deal: hop on/hop off buses to a bunch of tourist spots with recorded commentary and free entry to some paid stuff. It was a great way to see the city and it even took me back to my hotel which saved me a taxi ride.
Zayed Grand Mosque
This is the largest mosque in the UAE and it's very awe inspiring when you drive up/walk up to it with it's 3 large domes and 4 huge towers (minarets). I rocked up in time for a guided tour where the guide showed us through the whole place and did a cool trick where he remembered every person's name and what country they were from. Inside the mosque they have a massive chandelier (24 tonnes) and two slightly less massive chandeliers as well as a carpet, that covers the entire 7000 person prayer hall, that was handmade and weighs 40 tonnes.
Thoughts on Yas Island
It's a fairly luxurous place but it was eerily quiet and it kind of sucks that there isn't anything close by so you're stuck with hotel food (that taste good but costs a bit). The plus is that it's right next to the race track and there's a free shuttle into Abu Dhabi.
Pictures:
-A building shaped like a giant pill
-A view of Abu Dhabi
-Giant cannon in the Abu Dhabi city square
-Some Ferraris hung on the wall, comparing weights of steel, alloy and carbon fibre construction materials
-A panorama of the view from the observation deck in the Marina Mall
-A view of the Zayed Grand Mosque as we drove up
-Me in front of the Zayed Grand Mosque
-The bus I was cruising around on
-The giant chandelier (front) and a slightly smaller one (background) in the main prayer hall
-A steel road worker because they can't be stuffed paying someone to stand there with a flag
-Sand storm covering the highway
As you travel to get inside the city of Abu Dhabi, your eyes will feast with lots of nice things on the road. And I am sure you would not be able to miss the buildings, lots of huge nice buildings.
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It was a great way to see the city and it even took me back to my hotel which saved me a taxi ride.
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Dubai has a fairly large bus system run by the Dubai Municipality. The bus system has 59 routes on weekdays and transports over 200,000 people each week raleigh nc to new york must visit the site...
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