The Sheraton gets full points for its breakfast spread. No fewer than five different freshly squeezed juices were on offer this morning, along with the usual vast array of breakfast items. Surprising treats were bowls of baked yoghurt and strawberry smoothies. So, as you can see, we’re really going without our creature comforts over here.
We retrieved our car and drove around town, looking for a carpet shop mentioned in our guide book. In spite of locating the correct street corner, we couldn’t find the shop, so we dialled the number in the book and received directions to its new location.
Upon our arrival somewhere close to the shop’s new location, however, we found ourselves in front of another Persion carpet shop, and decided to visit that one first.
Well, this shop contained quite simply the most impressive collection of Persian carpets that either Sarah or I had ever seen; and we’ve seen quite a few, especially on this trip. Consequently, we never made it to the shop we’d originally been searching for.
Expansive, pure silk carpets hung from all the walls. Some of them were 5 m x 3 m or greater, which is larger than most shops back home (and a good few here) can even display.
One side of the shop was adorned with photos of foreign heads of state and similar VIPs, purchasing their carpets in the shop. Clearly, we had come to a high-end supplier.
The woman who assisted us was Iranian and very helpful. She gave us a full tour of the shop, which was spread across three floors, and showed us carpets more beautiful and detailed than anything you can imagine.
She explained to us the reputation of the shop, that it deals purely in Persian carpets (no Afghan or Indian, etc.), that it was the first such shop to be established in Abu Dhabi some thirty years ago, and so on. Her family runs it.
The time came to commence the enjoyable and somewhat fatiguing process of looking through the shop’s stock. We had in mind a nice replacement for the living room rug that we purchased from IKEA a year ago.
That sad old thing is looking tired and stained now, as if it has suffered repeated and unrestrained attacks from a rampant baby. Funny, that.
Anyway, to cut a long story short, we found a nice 3 m x 2 m carpet with an extremely original and striking geometrical motif, yet still very traditional in overall appearance. I loved it at first sight. It was made in Tabriz in north-western Iran.
Some time later, we finally left the shop with the carpet rolled up and packed in plastic, our wallet much the worse for wear.
A nice, long walk along the corniche was called for, in order to cogitate on our purchase and allow Eloïse to sleep. We parked the car along Sheik Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum Street (commonly known as Airport Road or Second Street — are you surprised?) and then walked up to the corniche and along it, stopping periodically for snaps of the impressive skyline. A strong wind had kicked up and made for a very breezy stroll.
On the way back to the car, we stopped off for a spot of lunch and then headed over to the Marina Mall to purchase a cheap suitcase in which to haul our carpet back to Amsterdam. We managed to find a decent-enough one on sale and were pleased to find that its dimensions were just large enough to accommodate the carpet.
Afterwards, we took some more photos of the Abu Dhabi skyline, but this time from the breakwater near the mall. We then drove all the way along the corniche to the carpet market, but it just wasn’t in the same league as the shop we had been in that morning, so we left immediately.
Back at the hotel, we took Eloïse down to the paddling pool and then relaxed while she played on the slide.
We haven’t done all that much in Abu Dhabi, but I must say that I have enjoyed my time in the UAE’s capital. I look forward to returning.
There is a reported $100bn of construction going on here at the moment. The city’s skyline is set to change drastically over the next five years, with all manner of cultural institutions, hotels, apartment complexes, restaurants and so on being built.
The plan is apparently to turn Abu Dhabi into a major global destination, in much the same way that London, Paris and New York have enjoyed being for as long as any of us can remember.
I think they’ll achieve it, too. No other country in the world has the resources, either financial or physical, to take on the development projects that this country has contracted. The world’s most famous architects have been commissioned and are building modern feats of engineering that will put Abu Dhabi on the world’s map.
It remains to be seen whether the UAE’s capital city can compete in this regard with Dubai, which is the world’s fastest growing city and home to development projects, such as the palm islands, whose scope takes one’s breath away.
Tomorrow, we head north and exit the UAE for a three night stay in the geographically isolated Omani province of Musandam, along the Strait of Hormuz. There’s not a tonne of infrastructure there, so I doubt we’ll have access to the Internet during our stay.
One thing’s for sure: it’ll be a stark contrast with the metropolis of Abu Dhabi.