Domestikatie

We had the joy of making another move over the past few days.  Truth be told, I still have a few things to take over, but our official get outta here date is Wednesday, so I’m good.  There is not an oven in our kitchenette in the new place, so I am baking off some things to freeze for use over the next month.  It also helps me use up some of our groceries.  It is amazing the amount of stuff one can cram into a 900 sf apartment.  Much of the additional stuff is grocery related, but nevertheless there is more to move this time.  Still though, with the exception of the bicycles (which we rode) it all went in a couple of cab loads.

As you may know, we have been looking for a liveaboard for a while.  We thought we had found one, but were saved from a disastrous purchase by a really fantastic boat surveyor.  Now we are looking at 2 more simultaneously, and hope to have this all figured out within the next couple of weeks.  Then we will wait for delivery and hope it arrives before the summer heat arrives for our last move.

Our lease here expired at the end of February, and they extended us 1 month beyond.  New management came in and insisted we sign for another year if we were going to stay.  Not happening…  So we moved.  We went out in search of suitable short term places, most of which here are hotel apartments.  We looked at several, each with pros and cons, and all priced within our budget.  I should tell you that it is interesting getting to the person who can answer the question about pricing.  Here there is one person who will show you the room, another that will give you information about the building and amenities, and yet another who will give you pricing.  The latter is never on site (even if they really are.)  You must contact them via email or text.  They will not answer any questions prior to you physically coming to the building, and then will only answer if you provide your contact information so that they may constantly pursue you once you have indicated interest.  It is a cumbersome and annoying process, which takes up way too much time.

The last building we looked at was the place we had been staying when I initially arrived.  It is a middle range hotel, but very well located in the area we prefer to be.  We walked in and were greeted as family members by the staff.  They all came in, greeted me, and shook Larry’s hand.  They remembered our names (Mr. and Mrs. Larry of course)  and asked when we were ‘coming home.’  We left smiling and knowing that they had a room available for us.  Larry reached out to the business manager, who responded within minutes with a price better than we had paid previously, and for a much larger and brighter apartment than we’d previously been in.  We accepted, and are now back where we started this adventure so many months ago.

There are a few differences now though.  For example, I have become used to flipping switches up for off and down for on, I know the correct temperature in Celsius to set the a/c to.  I can say a few words in Arabic, including (and most importantly ‘thank you’) and I have a lot more to do than I did when I first arrived.

I am hoping we don’t have to stay here too long, but I am very happy to be back.  One thing that Abu Dhabi really has no lack of is good customer service, and this particular hotel is a stellar example of how customer service can trump many other factors when people are considering your product versus others.

The summer is coming way too quickly.  The day before yesterday we reached 97.  Today the high will be 73 if the weather guessers are right.  Hopefully we have more of the latter than the former for the next few weeks.  I am not yet ready for the heat.

It rained last night.  The rainy season is over (you may recall me speaking of those two days in a previous post) but we came through it short of our 2.75 inch annual average.  I have been told that we may get a little more through the end of this month.  After that, it’s pretty much over.  What we have by the end of March is what we will have for the year.

The sound of rain blowing against the windows woke me up.  It is such a foreign sound here!  It reminds me of the sound of a pinball paddle, and is also about as random.  Sometimes there are many in a row, and other times there will be one or two per minute.  I remember the first time I woke up to that sound last month.  It was befuddling, and I took a while trying to figure out what it was.  It’s definitely different from the relaxing tin roof rains I recall from childhood.

I feel as though we have adjusted to life here pretty well.  On the surface at least, it is not a difficult lifestyle by any stretch.  This time of year there is a lot to do, and you don’t need to go far to do it.  There are multiple classes, workshops and presentations.  Next week I am going to a wine and cheese pairing class.  I have enjoyed a couple of art ‘classes,’ one more instructional and the other simply fun.  I recently finished a six week creative writing course and have been invited to attend an advanced course, which I will.  These are in addition to the yoga and Pilates classes that are offered on an ongoing basis.  I have also been playing around with my baking here.  Baking at sea level in high humidity is as you would guess, the polar opposite of baking at dry altitude.  Dependable old recipes are, lets use the descriptor ‘interesting’ here.  Still, being in the kitchen relaxes me.

Festivals and other events are frequent, and each one showcases something different.  The primary activity location is the Corniche – or main beach downtown.  They will shut down parts of the beach in order to build whatever is needed for each festival.  For National Day, they built huge stages and giant sound systems for multiple live performances, parking areas for food trucks, and a small sort of carnival type stretch of games, etc.  Starting next week, there is the 10-day Mother of the Nation Festival.  To date, this is the largest one I have observed.  They have shut down almost 2 miles of the beach to prepare for it.  The website advertises multiple zones including beach dining, “happy zones” for both adults and children that includes climbing walls, zip lines, and a bag drop.  They plan build a pavilion that they claim will host interactive conversations on popular topics like sustainable living and female entrepreneurship.  (I think I will attend that one!)  I also want to sign up for challenge the chef.  I don’t know what it is yet but I am picturing a sort of ‘Chopped’ type environment and it sounds fun.  Here is a link if you’d like to read about it:

http://motn.ae/en/

So clearly, staying busy this time of year is not an issue at all.  The difficult thing here has been making friends.  It isn’t hard to meet people at all, but because of the transient nature of the city developing real friendships is problematic.  Lengths of job contracts (and therefore stays) vary, as well as individual day to day schedules.  Work weeks are different with the exception of Friday Holy Day, when all besides service industry employees are off work.  I find that people are slow to put any energy into friendships until they have seen your face around enough to realize that you are not a short timer.  While you’d think that would not matter in this time of easy electronic communication, apparently for many it does.  It gets worse during the summer when many people leave for an extended period of time in order to escape the heat.  Due to the serious (albeit temporary) drop in population, the number of available activities also decreases.  So we are also planning for summer travel, and I will take another extended trip to India.  Still, I will be here for at least some of the summertime gloom.  I am grateful to the friends who have (and continue to) take the time to reach out and say hello.  I like being able to sit in the air conditioned comfort and keep up with the happenings at home.  So thank you for the emails, chats and even the occasional and random phone calls from you.  I can’t adequately express how much you are appreciated.

Let’s start with the trains.  Larry’s first (and only) previous experience using trains had been on the locals around Munich when we were there in 2013.  That trip involved only taking the local from the suburb where we were staying into Munich for Oktoberfest, and back again.  This trip is a whole different ballgame.  We have been getting everywhere using a train of some sort.  Metro subway trains around town.  Cercania short distance trains for the suburbs, and the high speed Ave & TGV trains for longer trips.  This is an experience that most Americans never get to have.  It is such a convenient and comfortable way to travel, and as I mentioned previously, the high speed trains are very smooth.  What constitutes high speed?  Well as I type this, 
we are on the way back to Barcelona on the Ave, I was trying to keep track, but my Waze app only goes as high as 147mph.  It stopped increasing a while ago.  The train display says we are going 302 kilometers per hour right now, around 187mph.  Not quite Japanese bullet train velocity, but pretty darned fast!

We split our time in Spain between Madrid and Barcelona, with the extra day being spent in the latter.  Because I LOVE Barcelona.  While in Madrid we took a day trip up to Segovia.  My plan was for Larry to get a tour of a pretty cool castle.  I was taken by surprise when we came around a bend into view of the Aqueduct and Larry exclaimed “OMG!  I have wanted to see this forever!” It turns out he had read about, and seen pictures of, the aqueduct in an ancient history class, and always wanted to get an up close view of the engineering to see for himself.

The aqueduct at Segovia is one of the best examples still standing in the world.  Built in the second century, under Emperor Trajan, it originally ran a little over 10 miles, from the mountains into town, ending where the castle stands.

On arrival night, we had walked over to the Plaza Mayor, but I wanted Larry to see it during the day for the full effect.
The mural covered east wall is much easier to appreciate in daylight.  From th
ere we strolled over to purchase cookies from the cloistered nuns.  The monasterio is a nondescript building, just a few steps away from the Plaza Mayor.  After ringing the bell and asking for cookies, you are buzzed through the door.  Not surprisingly, it is a very quiet walk down hallways to reach the walled lazy susan through which cookie transactions are performed.
We arrived with only minutes to spare before siesta time, and scored one of the last boxes of lemon cookies.  They are reeeaalllyyyy good!

Final day was spent at The Prado, for a touch of culture.  We grabbed a picnic lunch at Mercado San Miguel to carry on the train.  We have purchased first class tickets to include lunch, but the train concession workers are on strike, so we are on our own.  The Mercado is a fantastic place for a picnic, whether purchasing to take away or to eat there!  They have great selections of whatever you want.  We walked in, set down our backpacks, and took turns getting our picnic selections.     I went to the olive vendor and got a selection of olives and stuffed peppers.  Larry took his turn to get two types of paella to go.  I grabbed cheese, Lare grabbed bread, and off to the train we went.  What a feast we enjoyed!  We were delighted to find that we could get wine to accompany the meal.

Our apartment in Barcelona was a 5 minute walk from Las Ramblas.  So staying in the theme, we enjoyed a fantastic Seafood dinner at La Boqueria.  This market is 5 or 6 times the size of the one that we purchased lunch in. 

We spent a lovely day at Montserrat Monastery.  It’s built into the mountainside rocks about 30 miles outside and above Barcelona.  This place is so peaceful and beautiful, and the views are amazing.  It is home to the Black Virgin, a destination for Catholic pilgrimages.  The legend of the Black Virgin can be read here:  http://www.catholictradition.org/Mary/hope-popup3.htm

That evening Larry’s sister and Brother in law came to Barcelona from their home in Germany to hang out and play with us for a couple of days.  What a blast!  We spent a day doing the Gaudi tour, beginning with the Sagrada Familia, and ending in Parc Guell.  Antonin Gaudi’s style is controversial.  You either love it or hate it.  I am in firmly in the love category.  His style has been described as Art Nouveau, Spanish Gothic, or most commonly Catalan Modernista.  I think he was a brilliant engineer and an amazing artist.  I adore his interpretation of curves, light and style.   Construction on The Sagrada Familia began in 1882 and, except for a break during the Spanish Civil war, has been almost continuous since.  It has been a slow process since the financing has been primarily dependent upon private donations.  At some point around 2010 they announced that they were about halfway through.  The church was consecrated in 2013.

The exterior of the basilica is striking and unlike anything else I have seen.  The interior is flooded with light and color.  I find it to be one of the most joyful church interiors I have ever been in.  We did not take the elevator up into the spires, but I plan to next trip.  I will be back.  I love Barcelona and want to see the finished product.  This is a model of what it should look like on completion.  The current estimate is that construction of the Sagrada Familia will be completed in 2026.  Actually, now that I think about it… I am pretty sure I will need an interim trip just to check on progress.

Post Script Note:  Many of you know that the primary reason for us coming here was to inspect a boat for purchase as our home here in AD.  The one we looked at was, on the surface, almost perfect.  This purchase is just like a home purchase, and requires a pre-purchase inspection.  Luckily we had hired an incredibly through and observant inspector.  His observations unearthed a couple of issues, one of which was a potential disaster.  Subsequent testing that he recommended showed his suspicions to be correct.  So… our search continues.  Stay tuned!

(A view from the train)

Prior to the last several years my amazing husband had not done much in the way of international travel.  We have been working hard to bring him up to speed and this week he hit countries 9 and 10.  10 of course, being the milestone.  Country 10 is France, and we came to be present for the survey on a boat we are considering purchasing.  Originally we had hoped this process would go much more quickly than it has, and in anticipation of actually taking delivery of the boat this week, Larry had requested the time off when he had to put in his holiday requests at the end of last year.  Since he had it already, we opted to turn this business trip into a short holiday.

Some of the places we’ve visited have been new adventures for me as well as for Larry.  Other times I have enjoyed being able to play tour guide for Larry.  This trip is a combination of those things.  Right now we are both tourists.  I haven’t been to this area of France before, we’re in the Southern most part, just north of the border with Spain.  Besides having a beautiful, picturesque coastline, this is also one of the best (and many think most underrated) wine regions in France – Languedoc.  Enjoying a glass of local wine with lunch and dinners has been an adventure in deliciousness.  I plan to purchase a few bottles for us to take back home to Abu Dhabi.

We flew into Barcelona and caught the high speed Ave train up to Perpignan.  What an experience!  I haven’t been on a train that was so smooth.  It is light years away from my last kidney jarring experience on a Spanish train!  (That was prior to completion of the high speed tracks.)  You don’t hear or feel a single ‘clickety clack’ and the ride is akin to a monorail more than a train.  At a couple of places, the tracks parallel the main highway and it was exhilarating to see how much faster we were going than the traffic on the road.  The train ride made short work of the trip.  Normally a 2½ hour drive (without city traffic) the Ave cuts travel time almost in half and makes only 2 stops en route.

We cabbed the 7 or so miles from the train station in Perpignan to our hotel.  The small town that is our focus, and our initial stop here in France, is called Canet en Rousillon.  It has a wonderful, homey, beach town feel and the residents are smiling and happy, and extremely friendly.  The petite size of the town lends well to walking, and the air this time of year is clear, cool, breezy.  It feels great!  It’s slow season here, so many of businesses are closed for holiday, or have short hours.  Except of course for the restaurants.  It appears that all of them are open.  As is typical for France, they are mostly smaller and family owned.  As this is a coastal town, there is a focus on fresh local fish, and the meals do not disappoint.  It leaves me wishing we had opted for an extra day here, just for the food and wine, and the relaxed easy feel of the town!  But we didn’t.

We hopped another train, and headed for our second (and only other) stop in France, the medieval walled city of Carcassone.  We arrived on Saturday morning – market day – and after dropping our bags at the hotel, wandered to the street market we saw from the taxi.  There are a couple of markets in town, and I recommend asking a local which one to go to.  The market we went to was for the Middle Eastern inhabitants of the area.  We had to laugh.  Everybody was speaking Arabic, and many of the wares were similar to what we see at home.  Except for the brisk air and surrounding mountains, we could have been in Abu Dhabi.  Had we known about the market with the food and pastries, we would have gone in search.  Instead we cut out and had a very nice early lunch at a small brasserie along the boulevard.  Again we had really good food, with a half carafe of house (local) wine that was delicious!

Carcassone is a hilltop town with a walled city, and a long, interesting, history.  It has been occupied by Romans, Visigoths, Saracens and Franks.  The initial walls were built to protect the inhabitants from the invading Romans.  In the late 12^th century, a second wall and moat were added to further fortify the structure.  At that point Carcassone became a base for the Cathars, until Pope Innocente III launched the crusade against the Cathar heretics.  Carcassone was besieged, and ultimately surrendered in August of 1209.  The Inquisition was established, and Carcassone became the center for a religious tribunal.  All of the heretics were incarcerated within the town walls, and the last of the Cathars was burned at the stake just below the walled city.  Carcassone was turned into a fortress, and guarded the border between Spain and Aragon until the Treaty of the Pyrenees in 1659.  At that point it was no longer strategically located.  The fortress/castle/walled city fell into disrepair until the mid-1800s, when the initial restorations began, and were not completed until 1911.  The current walled city shows a terrific illustration of the differences between building techniques in Roman vs Medieval times.  It is also a great example of how towns were set up in Medieval times.  There are multiple shops, hotels, and restaurants operating within the walls, much as there would have been then.  (Though I am certain haute couture was not a thing in those days, nor did the shops back then did not sell plastic placemats with images of the town lasered onto them.)  We spent the entire afternoon touring the Medieval city and enjoyed afternoon tea below the ramparts.  Our hotel offered such a spectacular view from the breakfast room, that we opted to stay in rather than grab something on the way back to the train station.

All in all we spent less than 24 hours in Carcassone, and less than 48 in Canet en Rousillon.  Nevertheless, we fell in love with both towns, for very different reasons.  I think we would like to visit this area again, with time to visit wineries and relax a bit more.  As I finish this, we are again on the train, this time headed south.  I will resume tour guide duty when we reach Madrid.  (For those of you playing along with ‘Where over there is Lare?’ on Facebook, you now have a leg up for tomorrow’s posting.)  We continue to enjoy this ride we are on….

Pretty much everywhere I have lived has had both good and bad aspects of living there.  This is of course, no exception.  It is however, a very different lifestyle in comparison to well, any place I have been before.  That is to be expected of course, but the differences are not at all what I envisioned.  In some ways life here is much better.  In other ways, not so much.  Most of life here is neither better nor worse, just not the same.  Sometimes I love it.  Sometimes it is not so fun.  And sometimes it’s very frustrating.

There are the obvious things that one would know in advance of arrival.  For example, having my name on the bank account and full access privileges requires a rather lengthy discussion with the bank manager.  (Really it’s just a conversation Larry has to have.  I am ignored.)  It also requires something like 15 or 16 signatures of all parties (me included this time.)  That said, unlike other countries in the region, if I were working I would be able to have my own account.

Once we figured out what we wanted to do, and where we wanted to live, we went to get a post office box.  It was surprisingly easy to put my name on it.  I really expected a banker style discussion, but none was forthcoming.  We opted to use a smaller local post office instead of the main PO downtown.  So many people we have spoken with have had issues getting mail there.  Our rationale was that a smaller office, with fewer employees affords us the chance to get to know them personally, and by doing so perhaps have a better chance at really good service.  To date that has proven to be true.  We do not have long waiting lines, and Larry is always greeted with huge smiles.  I went by myself today for the first time, and was happily surprised to have been greeted with almost as much enthusiasm.  One of the guards had his 3 year old son there with him, who was providing entertainment for the 6 employees that work there.  It is a very nice experience, and I think a really good decision.  Hopefully this move will alleviate the issues we have had to this point with mail in general.  To date, we have used our apartment building address.  We have gotten exactly one piece of mail here.  We were sent 6 that we know of.  1 was returned.  The others have been lost in a black hole somewhere.  I suspect they are in a drawer somewhere here at the doorman’s desk.  They have absolutely no process by which to get it to us.  When we have asked they have gone through drawers, pulling out piles of stuff and going through each piece.  No rhyme or reason to it.

Healthcare here is an interesting exercise.  Like so many other places, they get some of it right, and some of it… not so much.  The system is much like that in the US.  You have health insurance.  Some places and providers are in network, others are not.  That changes regularly.  If you have company provided insurance, you can opt to buy up to a higher benefit plan, the top of which has -0- deductible and is good anywhere in the world.  (Not surprisingly that one comes at a hefty price!)  On the plus side in a huge way, when you have a doctor appointment, you are actually seen almost right on the dot of the scheduled time.  Can you imagine that?  That is with waiting rooms that are as busy, if not busier, than what I have noticed in the US.  Doctors here all appear to be hospital based.   That means that their offices are within hospitals, not free standing.  So to go see the doc, you go to the hospital.  The one where our doctors are based is a private hospital called Burjeel that is quite nice.  There is a harp and piano duet playing in the lobby during busy afternoon hours and a great restaurant inside.

To the down side, there is nothing like HIPAA here.  The providers can chat about you to anybody they wish to, and apparently do.  My insurance is under my husband’s name, so when I went in for a checkup, they called him with my results.  That wouldn’t happen in the US.  It would also be different if I were working and/or had my own insurance.  (I think.)

In the category of frustrating comes dealing with medications.  One example is that Larry arrived taking one naturally derived medication that was working very well for him.  Unfortunately the medication is not legal here for religious reasons, so he was forced to switch to a synthetic product.  In another instance I was very recently prescribed a medication that was not available in the hospital pharmacy.  Pharmacies that dispense prescription meds appear to be hospital based.  The free standing ones can dispense everything else.  (And a lot of things that require a prescription in the US do not here – or just about anywhere else in the world).  I was sent to the small hospital next door.  They were also out, ostensibly due to the fact that doctors at Burjeel keep prescribing it, and the Burjeel pharmacy never seems to stock it, causing the closest pharmacy to regularly run out.  The pharmacist there suggested I got to a third hospital, and thus began my adventure.  I was astounded to learn the number of hospitals there are in Abu Dhabi, and how close together they are.  Prior to my adventure, I knew only of Burjeel and Cleveland Clinic.  I am now aware of and have knowledge of how to navigate, 7 additional hospitals within a 3 square mile area.  Calling the pharmacies to ask if they had the medication in stock was futile.  If they answered the phone at all, they told me I had to come to find out.  Finally the 8^th hospital informed me that they had the medication, but they would not give it to me.  I had to transfer my file to a doctor there, or open a new one and start over.  I like my doctor.  Not going to do that.  So I picked up the phone and called my doctor.  I have his mobile number – something I do not think would ever happen in the US – and he ANSWERED IT!  Another highly unlikely scenario given other experiences.  I told him quite unhappily about my trip around town in search of the meds he prescribed.  He told me where I could get them.  Ummm… why did you not tell me that sooner????  Anyway, I went where he told me to, and had everything in hand within 10 minutes.  I will know to ask next time.  Perhaps one of the most frustrating moments was when the head pharmacist at the very large public hospital that had the medication in stock, told me all that the Burjeel hospital had to do was call and ask for stock, and they would provide it.  Other hospitals regularly do so he told me.  Nice.  My opinion of their customer service dropped dramatically when I learned that.

I think I’ve indicated before that I love grocery shopping here.   One of my favorite places to go is the Fish Market.  It’s in the main port, and everything is fresh off the boats.  You negotiate to purchase by the fish or by the pound.   You can take it home as is, or take it to be cleaned and/or filleted.  If you aren’t handy in the kitchen, somebody will even cook it for you right there – grill or fry – up to you.  After 8 months of the standard grocery stores here, I have learned that if I see something I want I should get it.  Even if it isn’t on my list and I don’t really need it at that moment.  There are so many things here that I haven’t worked with, and am learning about.  The thing is, the stores do not stock the same things consistently.  This isn’t limited to just one store either.  I find a product or brand or new thing I like and go back to find it isn’t there any longer.  This isn’t the case with everything, but it is with more things than I can count.  It’s very frustrating!  I just wish that at some point one of the things they would get is some chipotle chilies in adobo.  Seriously.  Embasa brand.  Just once.  Don’t they realize how much I need those?  LOL!

Shortly after I arrived in Abu Dhabi, I asked somebody which of the downtown buildings was the tallest.  She told me this great story about the ADNOC building, whose designers had intended it to be the tallest, and for a while it was.  Then Etihad Tower 2 was built, and it was taller.
So the builder of the ADNOC structure, made an interesting modification, thereby returning his building to its former glory as the tallest building in Abu Dhabi.  That is a great story!  I love that story have retold it a number of times.  Certainly the appearance of ADNOC building lends itself wonderfully to the storyline.

Except the story isn’t true.  I only very recently found that out.  Turns out, ADNOC is still taller than its neighbor, Etihad Tower 2, but they are second and third respectively when it comes to the tallest buildings in Abu Dhabi.

The largest building in Abu Dhabi is the one that I have always thought was the tallest. It simply looks like it is!  You can see it from everywhere.  It’s the first building you see in downtown as you ride in from in the airport.  When I’d heard the story about ADNOC/Etihad, I figured there had to be some trick of the terrain.
Maybe a slight hill that the building I thought was taller had been built on that rendered it ever so slightly shorter than the rest.  But really, this IS Abu Dhabi.  There are no terrain tricks.  It’s flat as a piece of paper (which is definitely flatter than a pancake.)  No (natural) inclines, rises, hills, or bumps.  Just straight lines, all at the same (non)altitude.   I’m talking about the Residence Tower at World Trade Center (aka the Burj Muhammed bin Rashid).  It’s a beautiful building!  Built at the Souk end of the World Trade Center, it is a joy to behold.  I love the curvy build, and at night the top edge of the structure is rimmed in light, outlining the beautiful shape, and visible from the west side of town.  In some way I have to admit I’m gratified to know I had assumed correctly.  On the other hand, I am really sorry to have lost that great story to tell!  The smaller, similarly shaped building is the commercial building at t he opposite end of World Trade Center, or The Mall side, depending on who is describing the location.

One of the things about doing so much walking around town is that I get to see the smaller, less obvious structures.  Like many cities, Abu Dhabi is set up on a grid.  Each square of the grid is a miniature town system, with commercial buildings, apartment buildings, grocery stores, mom and pop businesses, cafes and restaurants, and at least one mosque located within.  I enjoy wandering through and seeing the different offerings within each little neighborhood.  I’ve found a few decent little restaurants and a couple of really bad ones too.  I have a separate blog coming up about the tiny mosques that are situated inside the towers that surround each square of the grids.  I really enjoy looking at the colors that they use to make the more plain buildings stand out.

My two favorite buildings are located close to home, and see them both just about daily.  They make me smile, and anything that makes anybody smile is a good thing.  This one was built as an event center for the Formula 1 racing crowds.  It was designed to resemble the back of an F1 car, and I guess it does.  I like it better as a falcon (the national bird) in flight.  As near as I can tell it has never been used at all.  This location is too far from Yas Island, the center of the action for Formula 1.  So the building continues to sit empty.  I have been told that it was recently purchased by a developer that plans to open within the year.

My absolute favorite though, is this apartment building, just around the corner from our building here on the east end.  It is silly and fun (at least as much as a building can be) and it makes me smile to look at it.  I include these last 2 buildings in the list of things that make my neighborhood cool.

Still, I am pretty sure the aforementioned Mr. Roark would find them all simply appalling.

Those of you who see my Facebook posts know that last Thursday and Friday were winter here in Abu Dhabi.  It got down to 53 here in the city.  Up north in the mountains of Ras al Khaimah (sounds like they are saying Rozzleheimer) there was actual snow.  RAK is the part in red on the map of the UAE.  The ambient temp went to -2.2 Celsius (about 28 Fahrenheit) and there was a pretty stiff wind.  Though it is not the first time there has ever been ‘snow’ up there, it IS highly unusual for it to be real snow.  Usually they refer to relatively annual hail and ice storms as ‘snow’.   This was really, truly snow.  That kinds of weather definitely warranted significant layers of clothing.  That said, the weather we got here in Abu Dhabi did not.  Nevertheless, anything below 65 degrees seems to require multiple layers topped by a down parka, earmuffs, and ski gloves.  (Pardon me for snickering.)  In the meantime, Larry and I are sporting short sleeves, beneath a wind breaker or lightweight shawl.  I think daytime temps in the mid 60s with bright sunlight are heavenly!

Moving on to the week that has followed our winter, we have now experienced rainy season.  Or I should specify some people did.  While I saw some clouds that could be considered ominous by local standards, I didn’t feel a drop of rain.  I do know people who did however.  They had to walk or drive through multiple drops of rain.  I am not sure any of it was measureable, and nobody was even remotely damp after braving the ‘storm.’  Though I’m told we could possibly get more, the bulk of rainy season is reportedly now over.  Wow.  I am underwhelmed, and find myself missing precipitation.  Maybe I just miss some variation on the theme of constant, glaring, unfettered, sunlight.  Or maybe I just miss the clarity of sunlight at altitude.  Maybe because the atmosphere is thinner, or perhaps because the accompanying dryness makes it difficult for ‘stuff’ to hang in the air, the light at altitude is simply more clear and crisp.  I definitely miss that.

All of this is to say that the past 10 days have encompassed the bulk of both winter and the rainy season here in the Middle East.  Today it is back up to mid-70s, and by the end of next week, we will be into the mid-80s during the day.  Fahrenheit of course, as I have yet to be used to the Celsius equivalent.  I am told I will be considered a local when I associate with Celsius temps and stop converting dirhams to dollars in my head.  (I predict that neither of those things will happen.)

Now for an update on the boat… As many of you know, we have been actively pursuing a boat in hopes of having it here by the time our lease on the apartment expires at the end of this month.  The first one we took a hard look at sold before we had our stuff together.  The second one didn’t hold up to scrutiny after we started asking questions.  But… as they say, the third time’s a charm.  We made an offer on one, and after a bit of back and forth it is looking good.  Within the next couple of weeks Larry and I will fly to Southern Europe and walk through the inspection process with the Marine Surveyor.  Barring any anomalies in the inspection we will have a boat!  I will post photos once everything is complete (I don’t want to jinx anything!)

I have many short entries written, but I don’t feel like any of them are long enough to carry an actual post.  I tried last post, but was very unhappy with the result, which was just a pinch longer than those I have saved.  So I am piecing together a few of them.  Again.  This may seem a bit disjointed, but here we go…

My Handsome Hubby and I went to a very weird movie yesterday.  That’s not the story.  The story is that here in the UAE, they really do the movie thing right in a lot of ways.  One of my favorite things is the fact that you get to choose your seat.  As you go to purchase your ticket, a map of the theater is displayed.  In some cases it’s displayed on a touch screen so you simply touch the seat(s) you want, and in other places you must verbally confirm them.  Some theaters offer 2 types of seats, and so far none of them have been exactly like the standard Harkins Theater back home.  The standard seat is very comfortable.  It rocks and/or slightly reclines, and is covered in soft cloth.  The deluxe seats are leather, and resemble in both appearance and comfort a big easy chair.  They are wide and cushy and I wouldn’t hesitate to have them in my own home.  In addition to the drink holders on the outside armrest, there is a small table where you can rest your munchies on the arm between every 2 chairs.  It makes a perfect date night chair as there is plenty of space to lean into your date and still share popcorn, or samosas, or noodles… Which brings me to the other thing I like about the theaters here.  The selection of munchies.  In reality, most places in the world do better than the typical US choices of popcorn, candy and overcooked hotdogs on stale buns.  But here, even the standard theaters have quite a selection.  Indian or Asian street food (samosas, dumplings, steamed buns, spring rolls) and full meals like noodle or rice bowls, or bowls of soup or chili are common offerings, in addition to popcorn, onion rings, french fries, etc.  There is always candy and soda, but also water and fresh juices, coffee, tea or cappuccino.  If you are in a hurry, you can order your food, and run in to the theater so you don’t miss anything.  Somebody will deliver your order right to your seat once it is ready.   There are also a couple of theaters similar to the GoldStar or iPic Cinemas in the US.  Here they have paired with a Michelin Star chef to create a menu that changes periodically.  Your seat reclines, has an adjustable foot rest, and comes with a blanket and pillow.  For about $80US you see the movie while you enjoy a gourmet 3-course meal, including mocktail and coffee or tea.  One thing they do that I really like, is that this theater is not reserved for only one particular movie.  They rotate the movie and times daily, and throughout the week.  Meaning several movies show in this upgraded theater throughout the day, AND the prime time showing is different each night of the week.  I really like that.  I have yet to actually go to this theater – I find the standard offering to be just great – but I would like to make it there eventually.  I’ll send a review when I do!

I haven’t seen a giant roadside billboard here.  I have seen
the ads on the side of a building that light up at night, but even then, only one or two.  For a city this size that seems unusual to me.  There are however, some smaller advertising sign along the city roads.  They look like this.

 

 

 

 

 

When there isn’t a paid ad, they are for the most part covered with slightly whimsical photography that incorporates the light pole they are posted on.  I saw the first one on the night I arrived.  Let me tell you that after 24 hours of travel, seeing this at a distance will mess with your head.

But once you get close you see the intention better.

Over the next few days I saw these as well.

I think they are great, and they continue to make me smile.  At night they are lit up.  They are much better than just another ad.

As the UAE is a Muslim country, pork is not readily available in all grocery stores.  A standard breakfast here will usually include beef or veal bacon, and/or beef or chicken sausage.  That said, pork products can be found.  A couple of the international grocery chains have a small back room where they hide it.  There is a sign outside the door that says ‘no Muslims’.  When you go through that door, it feels as though you are entering a dark, forbidden closet.  Inside there are cases of pork bellies, sausages, chops, etc. and of course real pork bacon.  I have found that I don’t miss it.  At all.  In just about any grocery store here there are tons of fresh protein options.  Many of these are either not readily available, or not available at all.  The Seafood section of any grocery store offers 10-20 options for freshly caught seafood.  The poultry section has chicken and turkey, but also quail, pheasant, and squab (pigeon.)  In addition to beef and veal, the butcher area also carries lamb, mutton, deer and gazelle.  The majority of the population here includes a significant amount of fruit, vegetables and grains as their primary diet.  When they choose to include meat, they have a large variety of options to choose from.  In addition, they have an amazing selection of ways to add spice and flavor with local herbs and spices.  What I am trying to say is the food here is amazing in both taste and diversity.  It’s impressive, and I have much to learn.

You’ve been there.  All of us have.  You come home after a long day at work, pour a glass of wine, and sit at the kitchen counter taking a breath or two feeling glad to be home and free of the office.  Maybe you have put on your jammies and had a seat on the comfy sofa.  Or, it’s the weekend and you’re outside on the porch swing enjoying a book.  OR, the weather outside is frightful, and the fire is so delightful.  At any rate, you really don’t want to put down your book and/or your glass of wine… and fix dinner.  You also don’t want to change out of your jammies and go anywhere to pick up takeout.

So you think to yourself, gee, I wish the sushi place delivered.  Wouldn’t it be cool if I could call for my favorite meal from my favorite restaurant (across town)?  Or maybe you are planning to have over a special person, and you aren’t horribly confident in your skills.  You’re wishing that (insert favorite high end restaurant) would send a fantastic 3-course meal for 2 to your door.

Perhaps you are in a situation where the kid’s team has just shown up at the door, and they are tired of pizza.  Wouldn’t it be great if KFC or Popeye’s delivered?

If you live in Abu Dhabi, all of those things are possible.  Everybody delivers.  EVERYBODY!  Not just the Chinese restaurants and pizza places.

Got a hankerin for crap food?  Send Mickey Ds a text and they will send that QP with cheese and large fries to your door.

In the mood for sashimi and sunomono?  Pick a sushi bar and call.  30 or so minutes later answer the door with your chopsticks ready.

Are you in the mood for a really great meal but it’s snowing outside (or a million degrees) and you don’t want to freeze (or fry) to death?  Look up the menu at a place you want to try (or already love), go online, and order that 3-course meal delivered.

They all have motorcycles like the ones pictured.  A box on the back that can keep food hot or cold.  The name of the restaurant advertised on the side of the box, along with phone and internet address.  You see these things at all times of the day and night making their way through the traffic.

I have been to or lived in places where a lot of restaurants offer deliver.  This is the first place I have lived, where (at least to date) I haven’t found any place that doesn’t deliver.  The fast food places and the 5 stars, and every place in between.

Delivery fee ranges from nothing to 5 dirhams (less than a buck and a half.)

This is one of the things I love about Abu Dhabi.

We had lots of questions at the end of the year, asking if Larry still had a job.  It’s true that we spent 4 of the last 6 weeks of 2016 vacationing.  (Yes, vacation can be a verb.)  Like most of the world outside the US copious amounts of holiday time are part of the deal with most jobs.  In Larry’s case it is a number of days, and since his work week is 4 days, the number of weeks it works out to is extended.  Also like most of the rest of the world (except the US and Japan) you are expected to take your vacation, and only a small portion can be rolled into the next year.  So yes, we vacationed.  And we enjoyed the heck out of it!  We met some really great, fun (and funny) people, and saw a beautiful part of the world, all while knocking some things off our individual and joint bucket lists.

We knew the Christmas Market cruise portion of our vacation time was going to be great when we met several of our fellow passengers in the lobby bar before the welcome party.  The next day on a tour of Prague, our guide had a very strong accent.  Some members of our little group (soon to be collectively referred to as ‘the trouble makers’) was having a small issue understanding her.  The fun part is HOW things were being interpreted.  She was discussing some of the historical architecture and the success that the forefathers had creating buildings in the Baroque style.  That’s when it started… her accent made success into ‘sexes’ and Baroque into ‘buttock’ somebody behind us questioned why we needed to know about that, and it went rapidly downhill from there.

The next day, we had a different guide with a different accent, and it was me having the issue.  Remember the accent Tim Conway used in the Mrs Wiggins sketches on the Carol Burnett show?  This woman had tremendous knowledge she was sharing but I was constantly suppressing laughter because I just kept seeing and hearing Tim Conway and Carol Burnett.  Thankfully there were many breaks in commentary between Prague and Nuremburg, and I was able to take my mind elsewhere for a while in between.

I have no prior experience with overnight river cruising, and have been looking forward to this trip since we initially booked it.  We chose AMA Waterways for our trip.  This line happens to employ a crew primarily from Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary.  They very obviously love their jobs, and each and every day they were teasing and playing with both guests and each other.  There was a ton of laughter, and it made for a wonderful feel on board.  Bottom line is that I would very highly recommend them (if you’d like to read my complete review send me a note and I will shoot you the link.)  I have always believed that a happy employee is the best possible sales tool for any company, and this was not an exception.

During one of the Cruise Director briefings, we were told of a European tradition that involves placing a shoe outside your door on St Nicholas Day or the night of the feast of St. Nicholas.  (The actual date of this varies by region from December 5 to December 19, and may be the precursor to hanging stockings out at Christmas Eve in the US.)  The shoes are placed out in hopes that St Nicholas will place coins or candy in them.  We were also told that bad children, would receive a visit from Krampus, this bizarre sort of Christmas demon.  Much time was spent describing Krampus, and the terrible things he brought.  We were asked to place a shoe outside our door if we wanted to experience this tradition.  We were also warned that Krampus occasionally visited…

So, that night before we went to sleep, we each placed a shoe outside our cabin door.  In the morning, we looked in our shoes…

I got a chocolate Santa.       

 

 

 

 

Larry on the other hand…   

As far as we were able to determine, he received the only one on our particular cruise.   We ate chocolate Santa.  I saved choclate Krampus!

Cruises down the Danube River taken in December, focus on Christkindlmarkts in the towns along the way.  The cruise portion started in Nurembur
g, and the iconic market there.  When you see pictures of German Christmas markets, there will almost always be a photo of the Nuremburg Market, with its striped stalls in the Old Town Square.

We also stopped in Regensburg, Passau, Linz, Melk, and Vienna.  After cruising past beautiful Bratislava (saved for another day) our river cruise ended in Budapest.  All in all we had access to 10 markets in 8 days.  Thankfully not all of the markets were the same.  I loved the market at Thurn and Taxis Palace in Regensburg, which had by far the most original feel with the most interesting mix of artisans.  It was my most favorite.  I also loved the shop of a fantastic glass artist at the little market in Passau.  In Vienna, there was a small market in front of Schӧnnbrun Palace that had a very festive feel, and some truly handmade local items.  The main market in Budapest had some completely different artists and types of wares, and a far more relaxed vibe.

In all of the ports there was a walking tour.  In some places we split up into separate, smaller groups and walked according to ability.  One these days I walked with the ‘fast walker’ group.  In Regensburg I was extremely grateful that I did so.  Our guide was hysterical!  He not only knew his stuff, but he had some great little side stories to share.  One of them involved a discussion of how people had been taxed in previous times.  The number of floors that a family had was an indication of wealth.  If the family living in it fell into debt they were required to take a floor (or two) off.  In some cases those owners were not happy with that conclusion, and expressed themselves in different ways.  For example, the patriarch of a family required to remove 2 floors from his home commissioned an artist to create this relief… note she is sticking her tongue out and turning her bare buttocks out.  (No it is not Baroque in style, nor was it a house of ill repute at any time.)  The second great story involves Don John of Austria (also Don John of Regensburg) the illegitimate son of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V.  He was also the half-brother of Phillip II of Spain.  He has quite a colorful history!  He was a successful military leader, appears as a villain in one of Shakespeare’s plays, is the source for 2 operas, a poem, and 2 historical novels.  History documents his military conquests quite favorably.  Apparently he was also quite the horndog.  Our guide had an impressive list of women he was associated with, and far more children than history attributes to him.  At the time in the 1500s the name Juan was given to sons of unknown paternity.  Multiple Juans appeared in his wake (as well as at least 2 daughters).  Our guide claimed that the statue of Don John has double meaning.  I will leave it to you to decide…

We had a fantastic time on our vacation.  In addition to the cruise we spent extra time in Prague at the front end, and Budapest at the back end.  Both of those are places where I would like to spend more time.  In addition, I would love to return to Regensburg.  I loved it, and one day was not nearly enough.

We have been back from our end of year escapades for a couple of weeks now.  It has taken that long to settle back into life here and overcome the train wreck that was our diet and drinking habits while on vacation (but that is what vacation is for, right?)  We were in the taxi about half way home, when Larry asked me if it feels like we are ‘home’ yet.  Because I did not answer quickly he assumed my answer was no, but in fact it really does.  Next step is setting up an actual physical place to call ‘home.’  More on that soon.

In the meantime – here are some cool photos taken along the way…

A cycle powered carousel

Random stuff stuck in walls and ceilings

And a cool cat…