Trip Of A Lifetime....Wrap Up

I'm sure you are all getting sick of my travel logs, but a)we are almost finished, b)I am going into such detail because my memory is terrible and I want to really remember this trip, c) I figure that if you hate it, you certainly don't have to read it, and finally, d) how else am I supposed to fill up 30 posts in a month if I don't draw it out like this??!!?!

Our final day of the trip was spent taking a road trip to Abu Dhabi.  It is the capital of UAE and was only about a 45 minute drive.  Nate said we should go because they have one of the world largest mosques there.  It had recently been finished and was open for tourists and non-Muslims. 

Wow! This place was HUGE!  It was so white, so massive, and so beautiful!

I could not believe the detail work that went into this mosque.  It was absolutely amazing.  The whole mosque had a flower or garden theme and so there were flowers interpreted EVERYWHERE.

There was a huge outdoor courtyard where people could pray if the inside was full.  It had a beautiful floral tile floor, and even though it was pushing 100 degrees, it was cool to the touch because the tiles were cut smaller to reflect heat...how cool is that (no pun intended)?

You can see the flower design carved on the side of the mosque.  I was so impressed with this place, and I hadn't even been inside yet!

This is the outer room that leads to all of the prayer rooms.  I LOVED the chandelier and the marble flowers on the walls!

It's hard to fully appreciate the details by looking at the pictures, but these are marble flowers placed ON the wall.  They were sticking out and there were so many different types and colors of marble.

This is the ceiling of the women's prayer room (women are separated from the men).  It was so beautiful and when I looked down at the beautiful carpet, I realized it was a reflection of the ceiling!

If you look at the carpet, you can see lines running down it...these are the prayer lines, so Muslims can line up in the right spot.

This is the chandelier in the men's prayer room.  It is the largest chandelier IN THE WORLD!  The whole thing couldn't have fit in my family room!  I loved it, but thought that the red and green balls at the bottom were almost "Christmasy" and didn't seem to fit, but I know I'm being a little picky....it was stunning!

On the pillars around the room, they had inlaid Mother of Pearl inside a marble pillar...we were told this is very hard to do...so pretty.

On our way back to Dubai, we saw another crazy shaped building.

Ryan has known Nate since grade school.  We are so glad to be friends with him and Carolynn.  They have wonderful children and we had a great time!  Thanks so much for putting up with us!!

So, that's my trip put into eight long blog posts!!  Words cannot describe how much we loved both cities.  We have definitely caught the traveling bug and can't wait to go on another adventure!