Our last day in Dubai was a day long trip to Abu Dhabi, the capital of the U.A.E. or United Arab Emirates. Interesting tidbit is that native Emirati only make up 20% of the population. If two natives marry they are given a new home and 80,000 AED (approximately $30,000 by their government. Quite different from how our government treated the natives. Abu Dhabi is one of seven states that make up the U.A.E. The ride was approximately 90 minutes from Dubai. When we arrived in Abu Dhabi the first stop was at the Presidential Palace. No, the president does not live there, he has meetings there. The palace took 10 years to built, just for meetings. Marble and 24 karat gold everywhere, including the bathrooms. Fellow Village residents will know how we are obsessed with checking out bathrooms. No comparison to what we have. Also including in this building were the Presidential gifts. My guess is that Trump has never been given anything close to what the Shiek has been given. Other rooms included the dining room that looked like something out of Downton Abbey and the meeting room that looked like something out of the United Nations.

Of course every Presidential Palace must have a gift shop. I met the sweetest young sales girl who was dressed in a burka. She thought I looked Spanish. The day before someone thought I looked Japanese. Who knew? She helped me pick out jewelry (surprise, surprise). She asked me lots of questions about my hair cut and my fairy hair. Finally someone I could ask about burkas! She did not have a veil so I asked her why some wear it and others don’t. She told me that only the most beautiful women wear veils. I told her that she definitely should be wearing a veil! She blushed and giggled. She couldn’t have been more than her early twenties. She also told me that burkas were hot which I found out several hours later was correct.

Off to the Mosque. Women had to be covered from head to toe. Our tour guide provided us with burkas and head coverings that were very beautiful. If they slipped off Security was there immediately to warn you of your transgressions. This building took almost 30 years to plan and build.

Tomorrow we will be leaving for Johannesburg and off on Safari.