Abu Dhabi Update #2

Greetings from Abu Dhabi! We are having a great time - it feels like we have been here forever. On Monday we went to Dubai. Shan's friend had to go there for work so we only had to pay for 1 taxi which is great. You have to take taxis everywhere because they can only use the driver for work stuff. She lives close to a main road so it's normally pretty easy to catch unless its during the call for prayer which happens 5 times a day because all of the cabbies are at the mosque. We have to take 2 taxis everywhere because there are 5 of us which can get annoying. Shan has one driver who the normally call to come and get them named Gul and hes let us all squeeze in a few times but you can tell he doesn't like it. He is so funny - he speaks some english and always says 'Too much drink? You have whiskey and too much drink?' He thinks whiskey is alcohol in general so we are always drinking whisky. The hotel was AMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZING!!!! So nice - you should definitely try to go sometime Mom and Dad! We were ushered upstairs as soon as we arrived to a private check in. The room was huge and really nice - exactly the same as the pictures online. And did you know that with a suite the mini-bar is complimentary? We may have asked them to restock it when we went to the pool. The pools were amazing - I think they had the most comfortable We chaise lounges I've ever slept on, they were like actuall mattresses. It was a little expensive - pools charge for people not staying at the hotel and since we had to say 2 people weren't staying we had to pay 500 durham so around $170 for the 5 of us to use the pool but it was worth it. That night one of Shan's friends came and got us and we went out to dinner in this gorgreous mall/resort right by the Bege (the sailboat building). After dinner we have the 'traditional Dubai drink' or so we were told and then Rich brought us around Palm Island - it was really cool! In the morning we got tickets and did one of the hop on hop off tours all day. We didn't get to get off much because some people were worried about time but it was still a great way to see Dubai! We did get to see Ski Dubai but no one else really wanted to do it so I lost out on that one. We were lucky enough to find a van cab to bring us back to Abu Dhabi - it cost around $100 so that wasn't too bad and it was a nice car that the Hyatt arranged for us. When we got back, Shans roommates had people over for Saint Patricks day. We went out to the bars and had yet another long night of being up until 5AM - not enough sleep for sure! Today we relaxed by the pool for a little while and then went touristy shopping. When we got back her roommate and friend had put together a big bbq for us and made us dinner. The meat tastes so strange but it was still pretty good and very nice of the guys! Its now 9pm and we're just going to shower and relax tonight. We are headed to the Grand Mosque tomorrow morning and from Shan's pictures it's AMAZING! You have to wear the traditional garb and can't wear shoes so it will be interesting. After that we are heading to the Mall of the Emirates which is supposed to be really nice and has some great views of Abu Dhabi. Tomorrow night we are going to get dressed up and go to these 2 really nice places for drinks and appetizers (apparently its super expensive to eat there) so that should be fun.