Tuesday, November 10, 2009

My long way back home, Brisbane, Sydney, Abu Dhabi, Frankfurt

inside the Sydney Opera House during my stop over in Sydney
view back to the city
a very long 14 hours flight!
United Arabic Emirates, early in the morning and already nice and warm
on the way to Abu Dhabi
my taxi driver who took me on a tour through Abu Dhabi for about 4 hours
the corniche
huge building projects and a picture of one of the sheikhs
inside the national museum
a traditional tent
as well camels
was not quite sure how it would act
my taxi driver in front of a traditional house
beach at Abu Dhabi and the water was really warm!
date palms and an old building
driving up to the Emirates Palace a hotel build and owned by the Abu Dhabi Government
this is the welcome for the rich
even the outside floor is out of marble !
The hotel was opened 2005 . With about 3 billion USD it is said to be the most expensive hotel ever built!
huge dimensions inside!
this is the world largest dome over the lobby with an exterior height of 60 m!
ambitious building projects

for breakfast some flatbread
Sheikh Zayed Mosque, just opened in 2007 and is the biggest mosque in UAE.
entering through that huge door
The building is huge! The main prayer hall can accomodate 9,000 worshippers!
What looks not that big on this picture is actually the biggest chandelier in the world gold and copperplated with 10 m diameter
Another record is the world largest carpet you can see on this picture. It measures 5,627 square meters and has a weight of 47 tons!!
the prayer hall for the women
artistic
made out of white and colourful marble
standing in the courtyard
The minaret reaches 115 meters high!
A beautiful sight. The Dome is 75 m high!
drink water:)
so white!


Driving through the desert of Abu Dhabi. As soon the irrigation stops you will not see any green any more!

Abu Dhabi International Airport

Mika Häkinnen
my airplane
the endless desert
the new formula 1 track in Abu Dhabi

flying over Iraq
Anding approach in Frankfurt. Now only some more minutes and I will see my family again after a year of separation!

3 comments:

joar andré said...

Wow - Abu Dhabi looks like heaven for a photographer :-) You've got some nice pictures! How much did that taxi driver cost? Four hours is a long time... I watched a documentary on that hotel. It is really, really, really nice - and that's an understatement, lol!

Johannes said...

I paid him 350 dirham so that's about 60 Euro. But he drove me all over Abu Dhabi and we visited different places together so that I can say that it was absolutly worth it. Who knows if I will see that country again.

joar andré said...

That's definitely worth it!!