Miscellaneous Pictures of Abu Dhabi

This past Saturday, Dad took the opportunity to tour around Abu Dhabi. They have double decker busses you can ride around town. You purchase a ticket and then can get on and off at various locations. He took most of the day to explore the city and see some of the unique aspects of the city. Here are a few random pictures of things he found interesting.

He said all of the homes have 2 car garages, as well as these umbrella covers for their cars.

He has been asked about the construction materials used in the city, they do not build with wood. Wood is used for doors and furniture, all other building is done with cinder blocks and cement.

This is a fire hydrant. They fold out to reveal a fire hydrant.

This is the door handles that are on the majority of the homes. Very ornate.

We hope your enjoying these pictures from Dad's experience in this unique part of the world.

Adventure's in the Desert

On New Year's Day, Dad and a few of his co-workers went to the desert to ride camels and bounce around the sand dunes :)

Sunset in the desert.

The vehicle they rode in at the sand dunes. In his email, Dad was telling us the drivers of these vehicles have to take around 200 hours of driving classes and if they roll the vehicle they are immediately fired. They strap you in and make sure you are protected and then go flying around the desert sand dunes.

The desert village they started their adventure. It's an all day trip, they get to see and ride camels, have a meal, entertainment...ie belly dancers :) and then they turn out all the lights so you can see all the beautiful stars in the desert. It sounds like it was a fun day and event to attend.

This is a one day old camel that was born the day before they arrived at the desert village.

Dad riding a camel....what an exciting adventure our Dad is having.

More of the Mosque

A wall inside the Mosque...absolutely gorgeous, don't you think!

Carpet on the floor of the Mosque.

Inside the Mosque

Dad took an afternoon and went inside the new Mosque in Abu Dhabi.

Here are a few pictures:

A marble mosiac on the floor

Chandelier in the main hall. Dad said it was huge.

More Christmas in Abu Dhabi

Here are a few more picture's from Dad's Christmas Day adventures.

While they were at the Camel Festival, they ate lunch at this Oasis Hotel near the Festival site.

Isn't this an incredible picture, I love the water against the desert.

Inside the Oasis Hotel

This is the market that was part of the Camel festival. Dad was saying that the reed mats you can see in the picture were all along the marketplace.

We hope you all had a wonderful Christmas celebration and that the coming New Year is full of peace, love, joy and happiness.

We love you all!!

Christmas in Abu Dhabi

Dad spent Christmas day at a Camel Festival in the Desert near Abu Dhabi.

Falcon's

Camel's

Such interesting and beautiful animals.

Dad was telling us that when they entered the arena where the camels were being shown, they were taken to the red carpet area and were seated in the nice recliner seating. So glad they treated our Dad like royalty, because we think he's awesome!

I love seeing all the fun picture's that Dad is sending home to us.. What a fun and interesting way to spend the Christmas holiday.

Palace Hotel

Here are a few more pictures from Abu Dhabi:

I don't know if any of you have read, seen or heard about the $11 million dollar Christmas tree (if not, you can do a google search and find several articles) anyway, this tree is in Abu Dhabi at the Palace Hotel.

Dad went and took a few pictures of the Palace Hotel. He's also emailed these to some of you.

If you have an extra Million you need to spend, why not spend it here :) For $1 million dollars, you can spend a week at this very exclusive hotel. And, the only way to get on the property is to have reservations and be a hotel guest.

We hope your enjoying these little glimpses of Abu Dhabi. We are having a lot of fun talking to Dad and learning interesting and fun facts about these exotic locations. We hope you all are enjoying this Christmas season. Love the Curtis Family!