A Day in Abu Dhabi

Wow what a city. You're kind of expecting desert when you get here but it's full of high rise buildings and is surprisingly green- maybe something to do with using 250 000 gallons of water each day- 97% of which comes from the ocean- their desal plant!

The second thing I learn is that everyone is so nice and helpful! From the air hostesses to the bus driver to passers by. It may be because one of the 5 principals of their religion is to help someone less fortunate if they can afford to. The other principals being: pray 5 x per day, fast for ramadan, and I can't recall the others... Anyway I got on the bus and only had a note which the driver wouldn't let me use and a girl sitting on the bus pulled out some coins and paid for my fare! Then I went to a hotel to see if I could leave my bag there for the day and not only did he open the door for me and welcome me like I was a guest in his very fancy hotel (I was wearing baggy pants and a singlet!) but he let me leave my bag there for free! 

And everyone speaks English- even to each other, and their English has an Australian- sounding accent. 

I set off at the start of the day (having arrived at 6.15am at the airport) with a dodgy map. I walk down some streets for about 20mins (which were full of construction sites) and sweat and quickly decide this is not fun. I'm not prepared for 34 degrees so I head back and take the hop on/hop off bus tour instead. Only then do I realise I was also heading in the complete wrong direction before.. 

Basically there are 12 stops all over the city (impossible to walk to) and you can hop and off as you please as buses arrive at the stops every 30 mins. Along the way you listen to headphones with information about the city and each landmark. I see a beach that is divided into male section and the women/children section and you have to pay to sit on the beach! I visit a "traditional town" which has been staged so out of context in an outer part of the city. The greatest is the mosque. It is white and enormous and so so white and inside there are gems and pearls and diamonds on the walls imported from all over the world. There is a chandelier. We have to cover ourselves from head to toe in a black gown- so hot! And we take a tour of the mosque. It is magnificent and the most expensive thing I have ever seen. After a long long long day of sightseeing I have dinner at the top of a tower with a panoramic view of the city and finally head back to the airport for home! Home sweet home.  

Lido Di Ostia

My next stop was Lido di Ostia for my last night in Europe. It was about half an hour by train from Rome and it was a lovely beach town- though very quiet and somewhat neglected at this time of the year. I was feeling hot and bothered and achey from all my trudging and carrying ridiculous amounts of kilos and I almost fainted on the train. Half a dozen old Italian ladies offered their seat for me and insisted I ate some of their lunch and biscotti- so sweet! When I arrived at the hostel I collapsed in bed and then called mummy and cried to her on the phone. At some hour of the evening someone joined me in my room but I couldn't even wake to introduce myself. In the morning we made friends and he ended up walking me to the chemist to get some drugs for my flight and then walking me to the bus later on to go to the airport, so sweet. 

Tivoli

Day 2 in Roma I went with Cisi to Tivoli. It's such a sweet little town exactly how you would imagine a small Italian town- little winding streets with tall houses, a town square being the town centre. The main attraction was Villa D'Este - a cardinal's house with a magnificent garden of fountains. It was designed by two well known architects which is the reason Cisi wanted to go as she is an architect.

There were so so so so so many fountains- some large, some hidden in caves, rocks, one was a statue of water pouring from multiple nipples. One of the most famous is the organ fountain- the water causes the music to play every two hours- it's fantastic! But my fav was a little system of fountains all flowing into each other with a little boat and it seemed to tell a little story.

I filled the camera card, soaked up the sun and was soothed by the sound of running water. Cisi suggested maybe we were calmed by the sound because there was a time when running water was very welcome to a traveller and a sign of life for them.

We had delicious freshly made pumpkin-filled pasta in a creamy tomato sugo and tirimisu for lunch.

That night my Italian cooked us all pasta for dinner for free and we drank a litre of Eu 2.50 vino rosso (the good stuff!) between the 2 of us. Being quite chirpy after this I headed out with the boisterous group of Spanish students whom spoke little English- it was entertaining!

My last day in Roma- I woke up very early because I wanted to see the Trevi with absolutely no one around it so I jogged there (slowly as I was nursing a hangover) and got my empty Trevi at about 7.30 am. I was able to admire the magnificence of the actual fountain and have it all to myself. But I think it's charm is mostly having all the people around it- picnicking, making wishes and photographing.

I then jogged through a lovely park. More gelati, more piazza people watching and then back to the hostel to pack. My Italian had a bowel of pasta for my last lunch waiting for me. He did not want to see me go.

As I carted my oversized Crush and 2 extra suposedly carry-on sized bags to the station, I was stopped by a blonde, blue- eyed dreamy Italian man. He had a suit slung over one shoulder and was strolling confidently. He stopped me and asked if I needed help, then went on to tell my I had lovely eyes and he would like to take me out to lunch before I left if I had time! Ha ha what a fairytale! I politely declined and trudged on most inelegantly in comparison to the station.