For our first weekend in Abu Dhabi, we did not have much planned. This was a good thing, as my ear was still causing me issues. Of course, with us, not having much planned does not mean that we will not do much.
We started our Friday by driving to a "local" mall. By local, I mean a mall that would be out of place in LA, New York, or London. Our nearest mall, Al Wahda, has the same stores you would find in any of those cities. Instead, we were off for an adventure in a mall without a directory. Al Wahda Mall, by contrast, has an interactive directory that will create a fly through showing you how to get from your current location to the store you've selected.
So, we are in a mall without a directory late morning on a Friday. Other than the people selling watches from kiosks, we might have been the only people in said mall. We'd made a rookie mistake, forgetting that many places don't open until after 4 pm on Fridays. Regardless, we walked the mall and found the shop that had been recommended to us. The shop was closed, but we took note of how to find it again in this maze of shops.
We made our way out to the Louvre. This museum only opened last November. Craig, of course, had already visited on one of his previous trips. So we explored the museum at my pace.
After the Louvre, we drove to Yaz Island so that Craig could show me the site where he is spending his days. We got lunch at the Yaz Mall, eating at P.F. Chang's. Yaz Mall, like Al Wahda and the Dubai Mall, has all the stores and restaurants you might expect to find at home.
That evening, we went to the Emirates Palace for dinner. Craig had made reservations to celebrate the beginning of our trip. The outdoor bar was lovely and we enjoyed great views of the sunset. Dinner was amazing, but we had to cut it short and head home because my cold got the best of me.
After a night's rest, we set out again on Saturday, much refreshed. We returned to the local mall to find the abaya shop that had been recommended to us. We were pleased to find that that shopkeeper was very helpful in both his recommendations and his speedy adjustment of the garments to fit me. We purchased two and he needed only fifteen minutes to make the necessary adjustments.
While he made these alterations, we walked around the mall. I wish I had taken pictures, but I felt self-conscious enough as it was. This was a not a mall that saw many tourists. There were so many similar shops, I would have been overwhelmed if we had not had a recommendation. But I'm very glad we made the trip. Having these additional options makes me feel that much more comfortable about the rest of our adventures.
With my abaya purchased, we decided to go to the Grand Mosque. On the way, I googled how to put on a hijab. While I clearly need practice, I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to put on. Through security at the Grand Mosque, I was directed into a cloaking room where a female security guard determined that the clothing under my abaya was not long enough to be appropriate. Here's what I had on under my abaya:
So, I had to put a loaner abaya under my abaya. At least you can't see it when I'm standing the pictures we took.
After touring the Grand Mosque, we stopped for lunch at a sports bar. We filled the rest of our weekend running errands and getting groceries.
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