I’ve just spent a couple of days on a whistle-stop tour to Abu Dhabi. It was a free trip through my good lady, flying Virgin Upper Class and staying in a swanky hotel. I wasn’t going to say no was I?!
I’ve flown Virgin Upper Class before (when I went to Australia in late 2006) and it’s a fantastic service. From the limo pickup and drop off to the individual ‘pods’ on the plane that fold into flat beds (very comfortable) to the amazing lounge in London, to the food in the lounge and on the plane – it’s top drawer and well worth paying for if you’re flying long haul. So I didn’t really mind where we were going – I was just happy to fly with them again.
When we arrived in Dubai and started the drive to Abu Dhabi I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. There was building going on in every direction, but on a scale I could never have imagined. They weren’t building one thing at a time, they were building whole towns at a time. Cranes as far as the eye could see and brand new shiny buildings surrounded by identical skyscrapers at various stages of construction. The scale of it all was mind-blowing. Although with the temperature in the high 30’s (Celsius that is) I wouldn’t want to have been one of the workers.
We were staying in the Rotana Beach hotel, Abu Dhabi and it was fantastic, complete with loads of fine restaurants, a beach and a shopping mall. The room was great too. Everything you need really! Anyway, enough rambling, I took a few photos along the way:
You flew to Oz on Virgin Upper Class? Lucky!! I’ve flown there 4 times and each time… Coach!
Let’s just say I’m very envious of you and leave it at that. 😉
Heh heh, I’m very lucky for sure! Not the sort of thing I get to do very often but makes the flight home a lot less miserable!
Just want to give you a heads up on a city a couple of hours from there, Dubai. Go there mate, I live there and there is no place on earth like Dubai.