Since the weekday starts on Sunday here, everyone is off on Friday (prayer day) and Saturday. Ask anyone and they'll tell you the same thing...Thursday night's are the busiest night of the week! EVERYONE is OUT!! Restaurants are booked, club music is bumping and there's a electrifying energy in the air!
So to keep in tune with the locals, Joey and I met our friend Nadine (whom I met last time we were here...she went to school in Riyadh with Pam and Joey) and her husband Wassam (who also went to school in Riyadh, but was a few years older) for dinner. Indian fare is always a good idea in Abu Dhabi, so we opted for Indigo, just one of the 5 amazing restaurants at the Beach Rotana. So authentic and delicious!
An ubber tired Joey and I waited for our dinner guests in the main lobby of the Rotana. This is honestly one of my favorite spots. The room is HUGE and divided up into circular layers. The inner core houses cushiony chairs and couches, little tables and even a piano, in which every night at 7pm two sisters come to elegantly entertain. The outer core is filled with about 12 sets of chairs facing each other separated by a little table. Then the mantle layer offers walkway space and then a crust of full size tables and four chairs. At any given moment there may be 16 or more countries represented in these layers!
As soon as we saw Nadine and Wassam we jumped up in excitement. It had been a year and a half since we last saw her and we were always eager to meet Wassam. (He was on a project in Saudi at the time.) As we were greeting each other, Wassam realized he knew Joey! And as it turned out, they had so many connections from their childhood and even from their adult life. What a small world.
The next few hours were the most relaxing, uplifting and fun...there's nothing like good conversation and dinner with friends!
Friday (saturday in the states) was spent sleeping in, a yummy little breakfast of fruit and muesli in our lobby, me teaching myself and Joey a thorough hour and a half yoga lesson, reading by the pool, swimming, swinging by the co-operative market for a few things (detergent, labneh, milk, tomatoes, cucumbers, peanut butter and nutella), then freshening up before taking a nice long drive through and around town. Oh, and we also stopped for shawarma...our dinner! haha It's honestly the best little pita wrapped sandwich. And SO cheap! You navigate your way through a parking lot to a little whole in the wall spot...you don't get out, no, no, there are guys that will come up to your car and take your order! Then you circle around and when you come back, you're food is ready and being run over by another guy. Talk about a drive through! I'll take pictures next time!!!
Saturday.
Keep you posted!! We're off to meet Sara and Omar now at the Shangri-La.
So to keep in tune with the locals, Joey and I met our friend Nadine (whom I met last time we were here...she went to school in Riyadh with Pam and Joey) and her husband Wassam (who also went to school in Riyadh, but was a few years older) for dinner. Indian fare is always a good idea in Abu Dhabi, so we opted for Indigo, just one of the 5 amazing restaurants at the Beach Rotana. So authentic and delicious!
An ubber tired Joey and I waited for our dinner guests in the main lobby of the Rotana. This is honestly one of my favorite spots. The room is HUGE and divided up into circular layers. The inner core houses cushiony chairs and couches, little tables and even a piano, in which every night at 7pm two sisters come to elegantly entertain. The outer core is filled with about 12 sets of chairs facing each other separated by a little table. Then the mantle layer offers walkway space and then a crust of full size tables and four chairs. At any given moment there may be 16 or more countries represented in these layers!
As soon as we saw Nadine and Wassam we jumped up in excitement. It had been a year and a half since we last saw her and we were always eager to meet Wassam. (He was on a project in Saudi at the time.) As we were greeting each other, Wassam realized he knew Joey! And as it turned out, they had so many connections from their childhood and even from their adult life. What a small world.
The next few hours were the most relaxing, uplifting and fun...there's nothing like good conversation and dinner with friends!
Friday (saturday in the states) was spent sleeping in, a yummy little breakfast of fruit and muesli in our lobby, me teaching myself and Joey a thorough hour and a half yoga lesson, reading by the pool, swimming, swinging by the co-operative market for a few things (detergent, labneh, milk, tomatoes, cucumbers, peanut butter and nutella), then freshening up before taking a nice long drive through and around town. Oh, and we also stopped for shawarma...our dinner! haha It's honestly the best little pita wrapped sandwich. And SO cheap! You navigate your way through a parking lot to a little whole in the wall spot...you don't get out, no, no, there are guys that will come up to your car and take your order! Then you circle around and when you come back, you're food is ready and being run over by another guy. Talk about a drive through! I'll take pictures next time!!!
Saturday.
Keep you posted!! We're off to meet Sara and Omar now at the Shangri-La.
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