Abu Dhabi

Lunch at Indigo - Davina and Ivan

Lunch at Indigo- Mum and I

Outside Emirates Palace

Emirates Palace sign

The Hotel wing, Emirates Palace

My brother in law Ivan walking around the Mosque

Wall detailing in the mosque

More sights from the mosque

The Grand Mosque

Davina, Mum, I wearing traditional Abbaya to enter the mosque

First night of arrival, dinner at Lebanese restaurant and Shisha

Friday the 18th September,

My mum and I arrived in Abu Dhabi to visit my sister Davina and my brother in law Ivan. We were pretty jet lagged and so we slept alot. After we had a big sleep we went to dinner at a lebanese restaurant and had a big feast. Then me and my brother in law smoked shisha.

Saturday the 19th September,

It was still Rammadan and there is a law in Abu Dhabi that you can not eat, drink or smoke in public. If you are caught doing any of these three things you get fined and can possibly face imprisonment (this law applies to locals as well as tourists). Also as a mark of respect to the locals it is necessary to hide as much bare skin as possible (eg. Skirts below the knees, long sleeved tops, no clevage showing)

In 40 degree weather we went to see the grand mosque. It involved alot of walking around but the views were well worth it. The architecture of the mosque and interior design is absolutely amazing, not to mention that the place is huge.

After that we went to the emirates palace, home of the emirates prince I believe. As well as being a palace it has a wing of restaurants, a lobby, a hotel, etc. The place is really big and very oppulent.

After that we went and had lunch at an indian restaurant called Indigo. The food was really tasty and the waiters were very attentive. Due to not being able to drink water outside because of Rammadan when we got to the restaurant we were all drinking litres and litres of water. Every time we took a sip a waiter would come and fill our glass up with water.

After all the sight seeing we went home to relax.

My big Overseas Experience - 18th September- 6th October

So i'm finally back from my BIG OE and even 8 days later I am still jet lagged.

Lately I haven't been able to get to sleep until 3 am or 4am in the morning which means that I am currently only getting a couple of hours of sleep. The only time I get a good nights sleep is at my boyfriends house. I guess cause his room is bigger, his bed is nicer and overall he is cuddle material.

It was an awesome trip, a life changing experience for sure. I cant wait to upload all my photos to show everyone :)

I loved seeing my family although feel guilty about how moody and grumpy I was - I guess this was due to being jet lagged, tired, overheated, as well as physically exhausted, and sometimes being frustrated at myself for not being able to speak greek, french or arabic.

I guess learning basic conversational skills in all these languages would give me a leg up if I ever decide to visit these places once more?? These are some of the things I add to my "bucket list" - they can slot in right near sky diving, and holding a tarantula in my hand without screaming or fainting.

I guess I will upload my photos by destination/date as there are so so many photos and so much explaining to go along with it all.