Abu Dhabi: An Interlude

A trio of pigeons dipped their beaks in the blue waters of the rooftop pool of our hotel in Abu Dhabi, ignoring the middle-aged woman who waded across the pool’s shallow end. Her long clothes impeded her progress, spreading around her like waterlogged shadows. A young woman in a bright yellow bikini sunned herself on a lounger while I floated on my back and gazed at the cloudless sky. An oasis in the desert.

We were on a two-night stopover, breaking our journey between Ireland and Taiwan. Although we had no intention of stopping in Abu Dhabi, the offer on the Etihad Airline website when we were booking our flights seemed too good to miss. Passengers on long-haul flights could avail of a two-night complimentary hotel stopover. We couldn’t resist free accommodation in a place we had never visited before, especially as we weren’t in a hurry.

Selecting a hotel from the allotted list, a very impressive 5-star place overlooking the Persian Gulf, it was far fancier than our usual accommodation. Our delight lasted until the day before our departure, when we found out that the hotel had not confirmed our booking. Caoimhin spent an hour going around in circles with an online chatbot while I discovered lots of alarming posts saying that the Etihad stopover was a scam. Many passengers complained that they had to pay for hotels that they thought were complimentary.

 Eventually, Caoimhin communicated with a human on the chat link who asked him to choose three options from another list of designated hotels and said that he would forward our stopover details. The email with a hotel name (which hadn’t been on any list) arrived late on the night before the flight. Although there was no mention of cost, we were now committed to two nights in Abu Dhabi, whether it was complimentary or not.

Leaving Dublin on a 9am flight, dirty drizzle replaced the October sunshine of the previous days. Our 7-hour flight passed quickly as we watched movies like Disclosure Day, The Sheep Detective and I Swear, and snoozed.

Abu Dhabi Airport was large but quiet, beautiful and very modern. Since we only had carry-on luggage, we opted for public transport and obtained bus cards at the Hafilat bus counter because the Abu Dhabi buses refused both cash and bank cards. When the automatic airport doors opened, we walked into a wall of humid heat like stepping into a sauna. It was 8.30 pm and 37C. My glasses fogged up instantly as I pulled them out to read my phone’s directions to the bus stop. It was a relief to step into the air-conditioned A2 bus, which took us to the main bus terminal about 30 kms away for about €1.

The assigned hotel, the Grand Millenium, was only a 7-minute walk away from the bus terminal but felt far longer in the sweaty heat. Revolving doors led into a large marble foyer, perfumed with flowers and decorated with plush sofas and an air of subdued luxury. Would we have to dig deep into our pockets? The receptionist smiled, examined the email on Caoimhin’s phone and checked us in. The only cost was for breakfast, which was a banquet, catering for every taste, Indian curries, sweet and sour dishes, freshly made omelettes, fried everything, olives, fruit and dates, salads, flatbreads and pastries. Our room on the ninth floor was huge, with both a bath and a shower in the palatial bathroom. A corridor on the third floor connected the hotel with an upmarket shopping mall so that guests could shop without ever experiencing the outside temperature.

Abu Dhabi has an excellent bus service, and with Google maps guiding us to the correct bus stops, it was very easy to use. Waiting at a stop to visit the White Mosque, I asked the bus driver of a different bus that pulled up at the stop if he was going in that direction. He said no, but looking at our sweaty faces, he offered to take us to the next stop, which had an air-conditioned shelter where we would wait for the correct bus in relative coolness. This was a blessing as it was 41°C and felt like 45°C.

Although we knew that the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque (also called the White Mosque) is one of the largest and most beautiful mosques in the world, nothing prepared us for that first glimpse of shimmering white marble with gleaming domes, elegant columns and beautiful reflecting pools. The building is relatively new, constructed between 1996 and 2007 and named in honour of the country’s first president. Free entry for the over-60s and free tours for everyone. Our tour guide was a young Emirati woman, Aisha, dressed in a flowing, light- coloured abaya. The dress code was strict, especially for women, who had to have heads covered, long sleeves and pants or skirts to the ankles. Stalls in the air-conditioned visitors’ centre provided costly remedies for the unprepared.

The mosque radiated grace, beauty, and a sense of serenity, especially since it wasn’t crowded during our visit. We marvelled at the intricate marble work and stunning floral designs in the courtyard. The hand-knotted carpet in the main prayer hall was soft under our bare feet, the colours mirroring those in the Swarovski crystals that twinkled in the enormous chandeliers above our heads. This carpet is the world’s largest handmade carpet, made from New Zealand wool and crafted by two thousand artisans who spent almost two years working on it. The lighting at night around the mosque varied during the month to mirror the phases of the moon, changing the mosque’s colour from butter-yellow to pale silver.

Although we adhered to the dress code and I felt stifled under the headscarf, a security guard still reprimanded us. Caoimhin had put his arm around my shoulders as a fellow tourist took a photo of us. No touching at all was allowed.

After the beauty of the mosque, we needed a cooling beer. An English pub beside our hotel provided just that although it was surreal to sit in the darkened basement surrounded by a multitude of TV screens showing soccer games, MMA and boxing while Oasis blasted out Wonderwall in the background. We also took the easy option and ate a dinner of fish and chips here.

Abu Dhabi is proof that money can buy you practically anything. The following morning, another public bus took us to the Cultural Area of the city to visit the Louvre. Yes, you read that correctly, and we were still in Aby Dhabi. This museum is part of a bilateral agreement-a multi-billion-dollar cultural pact – between the UAE and several French museums. Under the agreement, the UAE acquired the right to use the ‘Louvre’ name until 2047.

Regardless of origin, this was another spectacular building. The 180-tonne roof appeared to float, weightless, above the structure in a combination of Islamic geometric inspiration, structural engineering and inspired architecture. Although there were Monets, a Rembrandt and sculptures by Rodin, the actual star was the iconic building surrounded by pools of water.

Inside under the dome, it was like being under a huge, loosely woven wickerwork canopy. This lattice of light and shade spilled starlight onto the ground at our feet. Mesmerising.

From the Louvre, we took photos of the strange shape of the ‘Guggenheim’ silhouetted in the distance against a hazy sky. They have almost finished this, presumably through cultural cooperation with Spain with plans to open this December. Maybe the next project is a replica of the Tate?

Although it was a little disconcerting that the Strait of Hormuz was only a couple of hundred miles away and Iran was just across the Persian Gulf, Abu Dhabi was a clean, modern, friendly city with lots to see and do. It’s well worth a stopover visit…especially if it’s complimentary☺️