Further exploring Abu Dhabi

Today we further explored Abu Dhabi, visiting the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque, the teamLab Phenomena experience, and the Abu Dhabi Louvre.

We started the day with a quick coffee from our hotel(we had both Arabic coffee and a latte!) before heading immediately to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque to get an early start and beat the crowds. Chelsea had done a ton of research beforehand on what to wear, but was unfortunately denied entry on our arrival and told that her shirt was “see through”. As such we ended up buying more conservative garb from the underground mall that serves as an entrance to the mosque(there was everything down here, including tons of American fast food chains).

Once Chelsea’s outfit was sorted, we headed into the mosque. The building was beyond impressive, with such a huge mass of marble being used for it that it was a bit hard to comprehend. There is a beautiful facade around the entire exterior, and water features lining the building. Inside is even more opulent, with glass and mosaic design everywhere. We were really hot at the mosque(it was a 12 UV!) so we were excited for indoor activities the rest of the day.

Next we headed to lunch at a local Syrian spot that had fantastic food at a very affordable price. We got to try a number of new dishes, such as lamb cooked in yogurt.

After lunch we made our way to the teamLab Phenomena experience, which is a sensory experience put on by a Japanese company who opened their first exhibit in Tokyo. The exhibit was comprised of many different rooms with different themes, many incorporating lights and sound. For half the exhibits we removed our shoes and socks and walked through water. In one room we stood on a metal mesh while images were projected above and below us. In another room we walked through a projected forest of light. In yet another room we were surrounded by hundreds of balloons with fans turned on at high speed so you felt as though you were swimming through balloons. It was AWESOME!!! Both of us loved it, and want to go again in a new city(the exhibitions different in every city)

After teamLab we headed to the Abu Dhabi Louvre. This is a beautifully architected museum, and the UAE paid for the naming rights to call it the Louvre. The art here was very cool, and a mix of ancient art, armor, weapons, etc.

Finally, we called it a night, and went back to the hotel as we have a very early flight tomorrow to Athens.Read more