Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and leaving Abu Dhabi

09:30 : We were tired and bleary eyed after our day touring Dubai. We made an extra conscious effort to ensure we were dressed appropriately;, arms, legs, shoulders, chest and neck were all covered. We caught a taxi from the Sheraton Hotel - a minute walk from Dave and Tigi's apartment. We just made it in time for the 11:00am tour. We walked around and queued to enter. We were next in line for inspection. A man's hand indicated that I stop, "no entry. Cover hair, need scarf". I was told to leave the queue. This was the only day I had left the apartment without my trusty pashmina. I was gutted. I tried fashioning a headscarf out of one of two vest tops I was wearing. This resulted in Blair laughing at me and saying I looked ridiculous.
We had been informed that abayas were provided for non Muslims. When we found out where they were available, we were too late for the tour. We had missed the last one of the morning.
The plan had been to do the tour, and then make our way to Yas Island and go to Ferrari world where the worlds fastest rollercoaster awaited, catapulting you to a speed of 240km/h. If you want to the effect of such a force on the human face, YouTube Alonso and Massa at Ferrari world. Now our plans were scuppered. The next tour for the Mosque wasn't until 16:30. We had to be back at the apartment and ready for 18:30, Dave and Tigi were taking us out for dinner. We had no time to do both Ferrari World and the Mosque. There was no contest for either of us. We flagged down a taxi and returned to the flat. There we stayed and relaxed until it was time to return to the Mosque for the second time, this time though, I clutched my pashmina ready for the tour.
Before I entered, I wrapped the pashmina around my head, covering all my hair and shoulders.
Our tour guide was a local man, unusually tall and wide in comparison to the typical Arab. His name was Abdula, and was a Civil Engineering student. He was funny, charismatic and spoke wonderful English: the ideal tour guide. For the following hour, he inundated us with the astounding facts of the Mosque. I'm not going to even attempt to describe what it was like standing in the main foyer, or the walkways, prayer rooms or centre square; I'll let Blair's photos show you.

The white pillars of the mosque were Greek white marble covered in beautiful floral decor. There were 18 panels on each pillar, and over 1,000 pillars in total. Each panel was hand made and unique. The flowers were made from semiprecious gems: rubies, amethyst, mother of pearl.

Abdula explained how the late Sheikh Zayed - founder of the UAE - had the vision of building a Mosque back in the 90's as a gift to the world and visitors of Abu Dhabi; A tolerant mosque that welcomes non-Muslims, and blends all cultures. A demonstration of this was the design of the Mosque - a lengthy ten year process - being split to represent the hemispheres, so we had entered the southern hemisphere, and were going to work our way into the centre and into the Northern hemisphere where the main prayer rooms were situated.
To indicate these splits, the floral decor on the pillars were flowers indigenous to the southern hemisphere. The flowers creeping the pillars would transform to the appropriate hemisphere.
The mosque was surrounded by shallow pools whose purpose was to reflect the subtly lit Mosque at night. The light system was described as an "automatic system controlled by the moon". Abdula paused after this short sentence and soaked up the groups confusion. He smiled and repeated the line again. The lights are in sync with the lunar cycle, so the angle and colour will change every night just as the moon does!
We moved to the centre, a huge open air space which can hold thousands of worshipers once the indoor prayer rooms are filled. The floor was tiled with huge slabs of white marble, again decorated with flowers.

Abdula knelt and showed us that the white marble was fragmented, appearing up close as finely mosaicked. The reason behind this was that even in the height of summer the fierce suns heat is diffracted, resulting in a continuously cool floor. I had noticed on the floors and in between the huge slabs of marble gaps of around 2cms wide and deep. My first thought was that they had forgotten to do the grouting....what a fool! They worked as a drainage system when the floor is cleaned.
We walked into the Northern hemisphere, removed our shoes and through the enormous glass doors and in to the entrance hall leading into the main prayer room.

Above us was a chandelier, it glistened high above us and it was huge. Everyone was mesmerized by it. Abdul joked for us not to bother paying any attention to the smallest chandelier of the Mosque, we were about to see the daddy of all chandeliers.
Weighing two tonnes and covered in over a million multicoloured swarovski crystals, the largest chandelier dangled above the main prayer room through the next set of Italian glass doors. There are around forty million swarovski crystals embedded throughout the Mosque. Beyond the chandelier was the detailed inner dome of 32 metres in diameter, in a Moroccan style.

The outer domes have been noted as resembling the domes of India's Taj Mahal, or even St. Paul's Cathedral; this is exactly what Sheikh Zayed had wished to evoke. These reactions also demonstrated the great success of the Mosque to capture global influences and cultures and the Sheikh Zayed's motto: "open door, open minds".
For me the masterpiece of the prayer room was the carpet. Handmade in Iran and took two years to make, it is the single largest carpet in the world. Its vibrant colours are all from the dye of spices; saffron, cumin, making the carpet entirely natural.

The materials used to create this artwork weighed in at a monumental forty seven tonnes. Once the carpet had reached a certain weight it was brought over and laid in the mosque and then completed. The final step was the shaving of the carpet. This left two inch bands, a metre apart, that ran the entire width of the room. During Fridays - the Holy day for Muslims - worshipers had an easy and organised system to follow and line up. Men and women can not pray in the same line, but are allowed in the same room. Each person must stand with their feet at hips width apart, with feet and shoulders touching your neighbour - hence why women and men cannot stand together. In front is a white wall with Allah's name written in gold in 99 different styles of Arabic calligraphy . This also signifies the direction of prayer, towards Mecca.

There are several methods employed to discover the direction, varying from hotels placing arrows on the ceilings or tables to the more modern iprayer app. Praying is essential to Muslims, an act of worship in which they partake in five times a day.
The tour came to an end and question time came around. The first and obvious question was about the cost of building of the Mosque. Abdula told us we could easily find an estimated value on wikipedia or Google, but officially its true value unknown. The Mosque was the Sheikh's gift to the world and his personal gift to God, revealing its cost was not relevant or even important.

We snapped a few last photos as the call of pray or 'Azan' sang through the Mosque. We were ushered out so Muslims could make their way in to pray. The sun was setting and the minarets glowed a deep orange. This visit will have a lasting impression on the both of us, and for me the highlight of Abu Dhabi.

We went for dinner in the British Club that Dave and Tigi were members of. We had a lovely meal, and I took advantage of the fact that this was the last steak I was going to have in a while!
It was a great last day and it was good to spend time and catch up with Dave and Tigi.

Our last day in Abu Dhabi and the holy day of the week. We had a chill out day and packed our bags.
At around 15:00 Tigi had laid out lunch, a traditional meal with Desda and Tigi, with salad, Arabic sausages and rice. Then we were treated to an Ethiopian coffee ceremony. Everything is laid on a mat on the floor and surrounded by greenery,- typically grass is used, but picking grass or flowers is forbidden here, so improvisation called for sprigs of coriander. Coffee beans are roasted on burning charcoal and put aside to later ground for the next ceremony. A traditional pot of water is then placed upon the glowing charcoal. Small parts of the charcoal are also rotated to light the incense. Espresso sized cups are filled with the delicious smelling coffee.

 It is typical to drink 3 cups during the ceremony, so not wanting to shy away from traditional experiences, we both had three. I had been warned it was strong, but the strength of my coffee back home is known by my family to be ridiculous, so I was ready for the caffeine hit. Oh. My. Lord. An hour or so later I felt like a Duracell bunny on a mission. It was without doubt responsible for me staying awake for roughly twenty four hours until we arrived in Mumbai.
Our final visit was down to the harbour where Dave's boat was moored. Further on were some enormous yachts, a few were named after the last and current Sheiks. Tigi mentioned they may well belong to local Sheiks.
Tigi took us for a quick drink before we left for the airport. I tried my first avocado juice, drizzled with honey; it was a meal within itself.
We said our goodbyes and thanked profusely for their hospitality.
The first six days had flown by. We were now leaving our first destination and looking forward to what our second had in store. Bring on Mumbai