fancy a date?
When you think of the desert you kinda imagine miles and miles of rolling sand dunes, and little else right? But the reality is a little different. Whilst it is dry and dusty there are still plants that manage to eke out an existence on what little moisture they catch from morning dew and days of high humidity. Of course in the oasises (oasi? what is the plural?) there is a lot more water, and thanks to a clever system of irrigation trenches, or falaj, more foliage is concentrated here. And most commonly of all you will find the date palm. In fact you will see these plants (trees?) all over the place here.
[at the Al Ain Oasis in 2008 (now a World Heritage Site)]
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glorious buildings
[Sacré-Cœur Basilica, Paris]
When you travel in Europe you have probably noticed that often the largest and most lavish buildings (historically) are the churches and cathedrals. In some cases you can even see where the style of the building has changed over its years of construction, sometimes a couple of hundred (like the Cathedral in Toledo Spain for instance). The inside of the building (originally) would have been decorated with the finest ornamentation and craftsmanship of the period, sadly in some cases this has not stood the test of time, or been impervious to vandals and invading forces. But nevertheless, the idea was to offer a glorious place of worship for the masses. Well that and probably to show off a little bit in some cases, but “if you got it flaunt it” right?
 [Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris] |
 [Cathedral of Toledo, Spain] |
feet of .. uh .. sand
I’ve had a wonderfully busy April what with visits from both my Mom and then my Dad, and then a little mini holiday in Spain to visit my Brother and his family (and that gorgeous nephew of mine). It’s lots of fun having visitors, especially people who have never been to Dubai before. Mom and I had a grand old time exploring the city, shopping, having lunch and generally catching up on all the chats and laughs we haven’t had for over a year together. One of the things I did here for the first time was the Big Bus Tour. I actually learnt quite a bit, although the commentary is horribly out of date in some places, and still refers to projects that have definitely been shelved. However it’s a great way to spend a couple of hours and see the city, especially the older parts of Deira and Bur Dubai where parking is a nightmare most of the time.
[lovely traffic circle in Bastakiya]
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happy birthday UAE
I wrote this post for work’s website, but I thought it was pretty interesting so I am going to share it with you here as well (cheeky I know). Think of it as a guest blog, by me. Haha.
If you would like to read it in it’s original setting please click here.
On the 2nd December the United Arab Emirates, or UAE, will be 39 years old. The UAE is a federation of seven states, or emirates (so called as they are ruled by Emirs), which are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Quwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah. The capital and second largest city of the United Arab Emirates is Abu Dhabi. It is also the country’s center of political, industrial and cultural activities.
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[UAE 39th National Day logo]
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gorgeous design..revealed at last
I have talked before about the exciting developments planned at Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi, we spent some time looking at the plans when we were in Abu Dhabi in February this year. Whilst Saadiyat Island is intended to be the largest single mixed-use development in the Gulf a great deal of emphasis is currently being placed on the cultural nature of the development; five buildings (Frank Gehry’s Guggenheim, Jean Nouvel’s Louvre, Zaha Hadid’s Performing Arts Centre, Tadao Ando’s Maritime Museum and Norman Foster’s Zayed National Museum) will transform Saadiyat Island into “an irresistible magnet attracting the world to Abu Dhabi, and taking Abu Dhabi to the world”. But it is the Zayed National Museum, perched on elevated ground in a central position, that will take centre stage. And the design of the building has finally been revealed.
[courtesy of The National newspaper]
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