ABU DHABI AND DUBAI: YES, THE POLICE DO DRIVE MASERATIS

Unity Day bike ride that slowed us down ...a lot!

Today's Newspaper celebrating the 42 years of unity of the 7 Emirs

A royal family home decorated for the holiday.

I know I have been lax in writing about our two last stops. There was a reason for Abu Dhabi…I was feeling sick. So I sent Bos along with our two good friends Elaine and Jim for the long drive from port to Abu Dhabi (1-1/2 hours each way). First of all, you need to know that the Emerati countries are in competition with each other. So, with lots of oil money, the "Wizard of Oz" kind of city, only in white, shining on the hill.

Some of the opulance.

The Biggest mosque in all categories (until one of these Emirs
out does this guy in Abu Dhabi...not likely)

The "old palace".  New bigger one being
built nearby.

It was hard for the three of my traveling companions to enjoy the visit, as their guide showed up with a very small car, meant for two people, but supposedly to hold 5! Good thing I stayed on the ship! And, they added, there were no shock absorbers, as they bumped along the desert. Because Abu Dhabi is the biggest and best, it is also the capitol city of the Emerates. And the Sheik has built the biggest and best mosque of all the 7 countries, although the other sheiks are fast catching up. And because these countries are definitely sexist, women cannot enter the mosques, although some of a small room for the ladies off the balconies.

And, to confound things, it was the 2^nd   day of their founding celebration 42 years ago. So the streets were jammed with cars, animals, people and odd and assorted kinds of vehicles. So, disappointed, the three travelers turned around and spent another 1-1/2 hours getting back to the ship – where I had spent a delightful day reading my kindle in the air conditioned cabin!

But, on to Dubai. Now you all have been asking me and asking me what Dubai was like. Dubai has great press. But remember that almost all these 7 Emirates are floating in oil money. And they pay no taxes. So they live very nice lives. 

More buildings

One of the fancy monorail stations along
the middle of Dubai

The marina and MORE tall buildings

Skyline through the 'desert haze' (has the slippery look of smog.)

But first things first. Dubai is a shining city of many many skyscrapers. And, yes, the police there do drive Maseratis, Lamborghinis, and Porsches. I have never seen so many Rolls Royces in one place as in Dubai. And the city has got to be the dreamiest favorite of all architects, as the architecture of all these buildings is out of some George Jetson movie! The clean and soaring lines are not interrupted by old buildings, as the first tall building in Dubai was built in 1979. So everything is relatively young. That is certainly in contrast to most of the Middle Eastern countries.

As we rode around the city careening past buildings on every corner, our guide would say, "This is the largest shopping center in the world." Next up: "This is the tallest building in the world." "Here are some of the palaces of the Dubai royal family." You see, the Royal Families of all these Emirates have propagated extraordinarily well and there are 30 or more "Royal Palaces" for them, as well as summer, winter, and even in-between palaces also. Which brings up an interesting statistics: Only 19% of the population of the Emirates are actually Emiratis. And if you are one of them, you are living on easy street! 

You ask, who are the others then, that make up the population? Well, almost everyone we met was from some other middle eastern country: India, Pakistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt and the African countries. And, when asked why they immigrated to the UAE, their answers were all the same: no income taxes, high standard of living, and it is "safe." One waiter summed it up. He was from India and had 12 brothers and sisters. When asked why Dubai, he said, "To make money." What you don’t see though, is the temporary buildings on backlots with lots of school like busses to transport the labor force to and from their jobs. Almost all the labor force for menial or physical jobs are from other countries. And it appears Emiratis are so rich they just don’t have to work. Their "job" is shopping!!

Now, if you are an Emirati, you get, in addition to no income taxes, free education, free health care, a house plus $130,000 when you marry, and an additional $300,000 for each little baby Emirati when you start your family, Sounds too good to be true, huh?! I’m sure you are asking, how does one become an Emirati?? Well, it is nearly impossible. First of all, if you are a woman who is not an Emirati, you have to marry an Emirati. Then the woman automatically is raised up to this privileged level. However, if you are an Emirati woman and you marry a non-Emirati man, well, you get kicked out of the Emirati class.

Still, all the people we spoke with love their lives, even though they are paying for schooling, health care, housing, etc. So it is the one place in the Middle East that appears stable.

Burj Al Arab and the beach occupied by many westerers.

Some of the cars parked in front of Burj Al Arab

Lobby with decorations for Unity DAy

Interior shot

After our tour of the city, we were dropped off at the Burj Al Arab, the only 7 star hotel in the world, according to our guide. But there are so many ""onlys" in Dubai, it is hard to distinguish which are really truly "onlys"! We were fortunate enough, he told us, to have reservations on the 27th floor for high tea at precisely 1:15 p.m. (And he didn’t mean 1:16 or 1:14!). The hotel was breathtaking and filled with Asians snapping pictures. We had a special elevator to take us to the 27th floor at precisely the right time and got a panoramic view of Dubai from floor to ceiling windows surrounding the restaurant. When they said "high tea" they really meant that. It was a 7 course "dinner" really, starting with champagne, tea sandwiches, cakes, sorbet, candies, and thinly sliced tenderloin on toast. It actually took us 3 hours to complete! Just in time to be taken to the airport to fly back to the US.

View from tea table

We enjoy really great view with tea.

The four of us right before "tea"

I usually end my blog with my own personal thoughts on the entire voyage. What I learned this time, in the Middle East, is that we are so very lucky to live in this country peaceably with all the freedoms we take for granted. As a woman in the US, I don’t have to wear a burqa or have someone drive a car for me. I don’t have to find a male to accompany me to shop. And, in general, the Bedouins may like their lifestyle, living in tents in the desert. But I much prefer my warm house with air in the summer – and I don’t need to see camel races or drink camel milk to get stronger.

But I did come away with way different opinions of peoples and countries we visited. Some countries I thought I would love, I found cold and forbidding. Others, like Oman, I have a fondness in my heart for. The big question: Would I go back? Answer: Not on my life! America is really the best. We have been almost everywhere in the world now (except South America and I’m not interested in that!) and I can verify that we are so lucky we were accidentally born or landed in – our United States of America!