i took a bus from dubai to abu dhabi (two hours away, but in the middle east that’s more like four), mostly to see the brand new, entirely marble sheikh zayed grand mosque, the largest mosque in the uae and one of the largest in the world. it was truly impressive, and air conditioned too! interestingly, the city of abu dhabi is on an island, and is developing almost as fast as dubai onto the islands around it, such as yas island, where they built a state of the art formula one racing complex. apparently, abu dhabi wants to avoid dubai’s rampant and some would argue unthoughtout development track, focusing instead on “culture” – like the world’s largest guggenheim museum and a new louvre museum, both of which are currently being constructed. a very interesting place. i then walked the entirety of the abu dhabi corniche (took some hours longer than i thought it would), ending at another fabulous mall. i love this country, if only for its malls!
