The Big Bus Tour

View from Sky Tower

Shark boat above, Gail Chillin Grande Mosque

on the upper deck

Gail and I have been waiting all week to hop on the big bus tour. We scheduled it perfectly (on accident), just enough time to buy our tickets and run up to Starbucks for a coffee. We sat upstairs in the open air under the section covered with some tarp like substance. Yes it was hot. Yes it was sandy. And, yes it was very windy. But what the heck, we're tourists today!

There are several stops along the way where you can jump off and be a tourist, then jump back on the next bus that comes along.....in an hour. Because it's summer they don't do the half hour runs. An hour in 110 degree heat with sand whipping up off the desert is no fun, so we stayed on and took in the sites for the first hour. They provide earphones and a running dialog about the sites and history of Abu Dhabi.

At the Marina Mall they park for 45 minutes. We jumped out and headed for Sky Tower. After the ride up we snapped a few pics then rode back down. The view was not as good as it could be due to the humidity and the sand blowing in. Still pretty cool though. On our trip out we saw the kewlest thing ever. It was a jet ski type unit that had a waterproof cockpit shaped like a friggin' shark! When you punched the gas it submerged so that only the dorsal fin and tail stuck out of the water. Then it would come flying out of the water and get almost completely airborne! I want it.

Things kinda went south after the Marina Mall. Next stop was the Emirates Palace, which is unbelievably beautiful. The driver stopped and we jumped out to spend an hour touring. The nice man at the gate informed me that we couldn't go in because I was wearing shorts! I didn't think of that! But he says if we hurry we can catch the bus as it looped around to head to the next location....what are the chance we caught the bus? Zero! But we thought, no worries, there is a hotel down the road that looks pretty cool. We'll hoof it down there and have a cool one as we had an hour to burn. What are the chances that this hotel had no alcohol? 100%

That's where things went south a little. We managed to burn an hour and get the next bus. We did get to go to the Grande Mosque, but as there is no tours after noon, it wasn't worth getting out. We also got to see some new areas of the island. The East Corniche is pretty cool and will be a great place for a ride/run in the winter.

As for work, week two is in the books. I'm starting to feel like I understand my role in the company, and I'm learning a lot. The people have been extraordinary! Friendly and helpful.

Gail and I are in our new home and I love it! The neighborhood is a little less busy than where we were staying, but there are still a lot of places to explore. Shipping is here, so I need to go put a couple of bikes back together.

Blog atcha later....Mark