Abu Dhabi Doo!! …. you have no idea how many times I had to hear Jacke say this corny joke, giggling over and over again during our stay here! Scooby Doo reference (as apparently used in the Sex & the City 2 movie) for anyone struggling to figure out what I’m talking about here, but yea… it was that bad. Anyways, we’ve both wanted to visit Abu Dhabi and Dubai for as long as we’ve known each other, and it seemed like the perfect layover spot on the way to southeast Asia.

Upon landing in Abu Dhabi, it was already a cultural experience. For starters, we were the only people around not covered in clothing from head to toe. We did our best to wear more conservative clothing, but clearly we still stuck out like a sore thumb. “England?” our taxi driver says, “No, we are from the United States.” This was the first of many times that we were asked if we were from England, because of our “British” accents we picked up. Seeing as we had about 19 hours of travel time, we used our first day here to relax, recover, and adjust before exploring the area the following day.

The main attraction in Abu Dhabi is undoubtedly the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. This is what we came here to see, and it exceeded all expectations! It is the world’s third largest mosque, and was completed as a place of worship and to honor the great Zayed as a resting spot in 2007. Doing a little research prior to entering, guys can wear basically anything from shorts and a t-shirt on. Girls on the other hand, must have just about everything covered besides their face (optional). I was just as excited to see the mosque as I was to see Jacke in her new clothing! It didn’t disappoint as Jacke was one light saber away from looking like the next Jedi for the upcoming Star Wars movie. Except she wouldn’t treat me as her Jedi Master and continued to not use the force to overcome the complaints about heat the entire day. Anyways, we were finally here and couldn’t believe it! We walked in and were blown away by the shear size of this building, and the ivory white color that seemed to cover every square inch of the ground and building. It was a very impactful visit, and a way for us to yet again learn another culture, religion, and lifestyle. It was an added bonus for us to experience this once in a lifetime opportunity on the Islamic New Year in U.A.E, as the people were in celebration throughout the entire country. With that being said, it was a tiny adjustment since there was absolutely no loud music, live entertainment, or alcohol permitted in any of the restaurants, hotels, etc. during this time. 🙂

The next day we departed for Dubai. I didn’t know what to expect, but imagined something like a combination of Vegas and NYC. It ended up being completely different. Dubai is just…. Dubai. There is no city quite like it, which makes it even more important to visit at some point in your life. It’s constantly growing and evolving, as it seems like the country is constantly adding “the world’s biggest ____” to their list of impressive structures and buildings. While we were “at the top” (it’s literally called that) of the world’s tallest building, we even got a glimpse of “The World Islands”….If you haven’t heard of this.. Google it. Dubai is insane.

Our first full day was the desert safari. This is probably the most touristy thing you can do, but we couldn’t help ourselves. We were picked up by a local driver at our hotel, and then headed straight for the Dubai Desert. Upon arriving, the driver gave us a few safety instructions, deflated the tires a little, and hit the 50-70 yard tall sand dunes straight off the highway! We spent an hour using the dunes as what seemed like a half pipe, going up, down, around in every which direction until we had no idea which way would lead us back to where we started! After an hour of holding on for dear life, we made our way to a camel farm before heading to the campsite. In reality, it was more of a little village in the middle of the Arabian Desert. They had camel rides (we opted to not do so, since the camels looked miserable and we didn’t think it seemed right with how they were being treated), hookah, arabic tea and coffee tasting, sand boarding (I beat Jacke), and an included dinner, all spread out over the softest and most amazing desert sand we had ever walked barefoot across. This lead up to the main attraction… The BBQ buffet 🙂 afterwords we enjoyed some drinks while watching some traditional performances from a fire dancer, skirt dancer, and belly dancer. All equally impressive in their own way, and a great way to be touristy in the desert. It even ended up being one of Jacke’s favorite days of the entire trip!

The next day we visited the tallest building in the world! We went to the 125th floor of the Burj Khalifa (not even close to the top in reality, and they even have a viewing deck on the 148th floor)! It’s eerie height and stature make it almost impossible to stand next to the glass, but you do it anyways! You can see the entire city, ocean, and desert in every direction you look. You can even go outside and get third degree burns from the sun if you desire. After hanging out atop the Burj, we then headed down to the connecting Dubai Mall. Except the malls here aren’t like at home, or anywhere else we’ve seen. This mall has everything from a mini amusement park, to the Dubai Fountains, one of the worlds largest aquariums (you can scuba dive), to an ice rink, to a movie theater, indoor soccer fields, trampoline park, hundreds of restaurants, and just about every store and luxury fashion designer you could ever dream of. It would take days just to walk this place as it is roughly triple the size of the biggest mall in America. Oh, and the other giant mall that we didn’t make it to actually has skiing and snowboarding… you can actually snowboard on sand and snow in the same day if you want here! So after a little play time and day dreaming about actually having enough money to buy something other than a Cinnabon… it was time for a beach day afternoon! Surprisingly enough, it was probably the nicest beach we’ve been to thus far (on this trip)! It was like bathing in a hot tub, but with pristine white sand and turquoise blue waters, while having a view of one of the world’s most iconic hotels! We spent the rest of the afternoon swimming and laying out in front of the Burj Al Arab Jumeriah Hotel (You guessed right, another world’s biggest and best).

The next day was sadly our final day in this stunning country. We didn’t have any time to do anything too crazy, so we headed back to the giant play-pen that is the Dubai Mall again, after seeing some of the sites the city had to offer. Jacke convinced me it would be a good idea to try iceskating for the third time in my life, and lets just say it actually turned out a lot better for me than it did her. My brother Logan (he’s seriously going to hate me lol) would have been so proud since I went from looking like I was doing the can-can and losing my balance, to Wayne Gretzky in a matter of minutes. Meanwhile, Jacke is trying to show off while skating backwards and fell straight on her butt in her dress, because she was trying to take my phone from my hands. Jacke 0, Ice 1. After recovering from her ice rash and losing multiple races to the worlds fastest ice skater… we headed back to the hotel to pack our bags and said our farewells to Dubai.

Random Story: To avoid spending too much money out to eat at dinners, we often visit the local supermarket or grocery store afterwards for a drink. This time, I googled liquor store like I typically do on my phone and noticed that there wasn’t really any options. After some Facebook advice, we found they were called “Off-liscences”, and we went with the closest one, which was surprisingly a 25 minute walk away. We can’t find this place for the life of us, but my phone says it’s in a certain area and a couple people pointed us in this direction. So at least we knew there was an actual store and we were close. This place was like a speakeasy liquor store, considering they aren’t allowed to have windows or showcase any type of alcohol marketing/paraphernalia (therefore there was no SIGN). We just randomly opened a door and appeared in there! Normally she is pretty quick at picking out her wine (aka I make her get the cheapest), but there were just too many options and it ended up being about 10-15 minutes. We finally go to the checkout counter and hand him my I.D, and he asks for a liquor license… Apparently you have to own a special type of liquor license to purchase alcohol on your own, or you have to buy a drink directly from a bar. Needless to say, Jacke was devastated and this took a few hits on the grading scale for her favorite places.

Takeaways from UAE:

1. Don’t wear a dress ice skating.
2. If I hear one more Abu Dhabi Doo joke, Jacke is back on the market.
3. Always remember that even though you are on vacation, you are a guest to their country. Do what you can to follow their rules, respect their religion (even if it differentiates from what you believe in), and remember you are an ambassador of the USA! I can’t tell you how many times we’ve seen people embarrass us, and live up to the the stereotypical American tourist nightmare we dread hearing about. Be respectful and kind to everyone 🙂