The Five Senses

The theme for this blog post came to me as I was walking down the street toward the Corniche this weekend. It was a perfect (winter) day. The sun was shining, the sea breeze was blowing, and as I made my way to Beach Pilates, I couldn't help but think of how many sights and sounds were bombarding me. I have grown somewhat accustomed to the sensations associated with living in the UAE, and here is what I hope is a fair assessment.
Sight:

Abu Dhabi is a melting pot, second perhaps only to the United States. Workers from all over the Middle East, the Philippines, Europe, the U.S., India, the UK, Pakistan, you name it-live in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.



Walking around Abu Dhabi, you see the normal apartment buildings, malls, and gas stations. However, there are as many buildings influenced by Arab architecture as there are Western. Abu Dhabi is much different than Dubai in that there is a mosque on almost every street.




Abu Dhabi is also home to the Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan Grand Mosque:



The UAE is also notorious for its avante garde buildings and love of spontaneous, around-the-clock construction of all things new.

This is the "Gateway to Abu Dhabi."



The tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa