A thing that I really appreciated on this cruise was the cafeteria always being there for us. There are several restaurants on the boat too, but being able to just pop down to the cafeteria for breakfast before leaving for an adventure was very convenient and reassuring. Especially when you're traveling with a big man with a big appetite for melon slices.
Our first port of call was Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
I've been to Abu Dhabi a couple few times but there's still plenty of stuff I've yet to see. Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is a beast. It is the country's largest mosque, covering an area of over 30 acres.
We got in line to enter and Lydia was immediately denied as her sinful hair was showing. Believe it or not there were lots of nearby stores selling hair coverings.
I can't get enough camel milk chocolate.
Ern found plenty of stuff to play around with in the shops as well.
With Lydia's sin temporarily extinguished, we were granted entry.
I was impressed by all of the stone inlayed all over the place.
"It features 82 domes, more than 1,000 columns, 24-carat-gold gilded chandeliers and the world's largest hand-knotted carpet."
Yas Mall is a fantastic name for a mall.
Al-Fanar Restaurant was kind of like an Emirati Applebees.
I pretty much order shakshooka ever time I see it on a menu. It's "egg in a sauce of tomatoes, chili, pepper topped with basil leaver, served with freshly baked bread."
The hockey puck looking things in the middle are:
"Fish Kofta
Deep fried crumbled emperor fish infused with onion, coriander, and our special spices"
Then I think the plate closest to Big Ern is:
"Emirati Chicken Tikka
chargrilled boneless chicken cubes marinated in yogurt. Served with white rice, bread"
Lydia needed some time to finish eating so us boys found a photo booth and made some beautiful memories.
Lastly we visited Emirates Park Zoo.
The main thing that I'll never forget about this zoo was that they sold bundles of plants that you could feed to many of the animals. I'm accustomed to zoos being pretty boring about guests handing out snackies so this was very fun.
Our day in Abu Dhabi being thoroughly mastered, we headed back to our floating skyscraper.
