ABU DHABI: 40th anniversary of the UAE

One of the most amazing events I have ever seen in my life was the 40th anniversary of the UAE. The Sheikh announced a few days in advance that there will be a bank holiday that week. This shows already how life works in the UAE.
If Sheikhs decide something, it’s final and is done as soon as possible. Most of the cars were ridiculous; decorated head-to-toe in the colours of the flag (white, green, black and red), many with pictures of the forefathers of the UAE. People went crazy, there were 40’s everywhere, even on the huge buildings, they put lights on everything, hung up pictures of their president and “father” Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Vice President and Prime Minister Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum. At the actual evening there was a firework display planned at the Corniche, but no clear time was announced.

People were walking down the Corniche with silly spray and spray snow in their hands spraying it at each other. Everyone seemed so peaceful, excited and happy. No music was on the streets, but the atmosphere was still unbelievable. The streets were packed with cars, hooting and backfiring to make as much noise as possible.

Everyone in the country was very polite and helpful, and the crime rate in general is very low. The Sheikhs aim is it to have satisfied and happy citizens which is why they have raised their income in 2011, particularly those jobs in the public sector. All in all it was a very exciting holiday with lots of experiences. Definitely worth a visit, but if you are looking for a serious cultural dipping, I would choose another destination.

ABU DHABI: Gold to eat

The next day we wanted to see the skyline of the Corniche and go first for a coffee in one of the most expensive hotels in Abu Dhabi, The Emirates Palace. Luckily we made an appointment first, so they let us in, otherwise we would have only seen the hotel from the outside.


We had one of the most expensive cappuccinos, the Emirates Palace Cappuccino; rich espresso topped with frothy fresh milk and 24 carat gold flakes!

Everywhere you looked in the hotel there was gold. Afterwards, we crossed the street and went to the beach. Some of them are free, but then you risk local Indian workers standing and staring at you. It was very windy at the beach and very few people went for a swim.

ABU DHABI: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

It is one of the most stunning mosques I have ever seen in my life. The ones I have already seen in Istanbul are amazing, but this one is huge, the second biggest in the world, and so beautiful. Everything was white and gold.
You can hear and see the prayer. Women have to wear hijab, which covers the head and must cover the wrists and ankles. In the entrance women hand out the black shawls for women. Men just need to wear smart clothes and cover their legs.

The majority of the Arab locals wear their traditional dress. The men, usually, a white outfit with a headscarf, called a keffiyeh, and the women the black hijab. We wondered if different levels of society wore different dress, however we were told this was not the case, and the Sheikh’s will wear the same as a man who is not royal.

However, the men’s headscarves may vary depending on the situation. They can chose any keffiyeh they want, but generally men from the UAE will wear a white keffiyeh at a business meeting, wheras the Palestinians will wear a red keffiyeh in a similar situation.

The lady’s outfits look very similar but there are subtle differences; some have different jewelry sewn on, others with different coloured stitching along the edges and many are made by famous brands. Women still love fashion and commonly dress quite extravagantly underneath. They love heels and long hair, which are the only parts you can see when they are wearing their hijab, so they make sure those parts look particularly good. However, it shows they care for themselves and symbolizes that they care for their family.

ABU DHABI: Enjoying the silence in the desert

In Abu Dhabi we went on a Desert Safari. We were picked up by bus and drove for about 1.5 hours until we got to the open desert. We were first given an Arabic coffee. They were explaining to us that if someone gives you a half filled cup it means that you are welcome but if you are given a full cup you are not welcome. Next we rode on a horse and a camel. This was all very nice, but the highlight of the day was definitely the quad biking on the sand dunes. You could drive up them at high speed but this meant it was a faster drop on the other side!! The quad bikes, however, were just a warm up for what came next.

We experienced the same but in a 4x4. A driver drives 4 people in a Jeep up and down the sand dunes at high speeds to crazy House music and your whole body is thrown about the car. The safari ended with a very nice buffet dinner and traditional tea. We then all sat together in the night’s sky around a fire and inhaled parfum of aood wood, which is a very rare and expensive wood, which when burnt the smoke is used as a natural deodorant and perfume.

ABU DHABI: Driving to Father of Gazelle

Next stop the capital of the United Arab Emirates, Abu Dhabi, which, in Arabic, means Father of Gazelle. It is a 1.5 hour drive by car. Getting there you cross some impressive bridges including Mussafa, al-Maqtaa and the Sheikh-Zayed bridge. The latter being one of the most expensive arch bridges in the world. It is 842 meters long and it is forbidden to take pictures of it.

DUBAI: Hop-on, Hop-off

We wanted to make sure that we saw everything in Dubai, which is why we booked a big bus tour for a day. We could jump off at any predetermined stop, look around and hop on the next one to see the other sights. This is actually a very good concept, but unfortunately they do not go into much detail about everything you see.

Dubai Creek, in the old part of Dubai, was interesting because they were still using old wooden boats to cross the river and get to the other side. The Jumeirah Mosque was unfortunately closed when we got there.

The Gold Souk was not what we expected. First of all there was no clear sign telling us where it was and as soon as we got there we got bombarded by street salesmen trying to sell us fake bags and watches. The most amazing part was seeing the largest gold ring in the world; it was 63.856 kg of 21-carat gold.

Jumeirah Park and Public Beach were quite nice. We had to pay a little entrance fee, but it was worth it. The beach was very empty, but clean and we had a lovely view of the skyline and the Burj Al Arab.

At the end of the tour we passed the Emirates towers which are, at 350 and 305 meters, stunning office and hotel towers.

DUBAI: The giant Burj Khalifa

The next day we went to the top of the Burj Khalifa which, at 828 meters high, the tallest building in the world. As it is next to the Dubai mall we had a look in there first. It was similar to those in the states, with the usual designer brands, but also some more local designers, as well as an aquarium, a zoo and an ice rink. Every visitor to the Burj Khalifa can go to 124th floor, which in the lift, takes only around 20 seconds from the ground floor! The view was absolutely amazing. At the top there is a gift shop and a vending machine which offers real “Gold to go”. We were there for the sunset, but unfortunately it was too cloudy to see it, however when night fell the view was even more spectacular. 

DUBAI: A huge aquarium in a hotel

We had our first dinner at the Atlantis hotel, which is on the Palm Islands, with a beautiful aquarium in it, and is very luxurious. This part was just artificially built up with mountains of sand dumped into the sea, but when you are on it, it does not seem like that at all. We had a lebanese meal, and chose some of the different Mezzeh dishes. It was an expensive meal, but worth it.

DUBAI: Story of a taxi driver

Some of the taxi drivers were very chatty and talked about the beauty of the city and tried to promote it. One of the taxi drivers we met was telling us about his life. He was 29 and was soon to marry but did not even know his future wife! His parents had chosen her. When I asked him about why he does not look for a girl himself, he said that he had no time and he didn’t ever go out. He was very excited to meet her and to get to know her. For us, growing up in a European country, it seemed very weird that he first has to marry her before he can get to know her properly. A marriage is a commitment for life so for us it is more a matter of choosing the right partner.

DUBAI: Traffic & public transport

We found out very quickly that Dubai was built for the car, and you can’t really get around town by foot. There are a distinct lack of pedestrian crossings and pavements, many of which just ended for no reason at all! We were walking in circles and finally decided to get a taxi to get back to the hotel. Taxis are cheap compared with other countries, but having to use them every day can start be quite expensive.
You can also use the metro in Dubai, but we didn’t get a chance to use it and the taxis were more convenient anyway.

Probably nothing in comparison to before the economic crash, but there was still a lot of buildings under construction. You always saw the workers arriving and leaving in big white buses. We commonly saw window cleaners abseiling down the huge buildings; it must be an exciting job as long as you are not scared of heights! Some of the buildings looked dirty as a result of the desert sand. You can find areas of just sand where there hasn’t been any construction, and it reminds you that this whole city used to be just that! This makes it hard to believe how quickly this city was created.

As-salam alaykum Dubai!

I spent my last holiday this year in the United Arab Emirates. I was always interested in finding out how people live over there and how the current economic situation is affecting the country. There are so many documentaries about the impressive hotels, but seeing everything with your own eyes is always more valuable.

Arrival at Dubai airport. Toilets in different countries are always an interesting discovery. The first thing you see after closing the door is a shower head next to the toilet. First you ask yourself if this is actually to have a shower, but very soon you realise what it is for...!

We quickly realised that a lot of Indians live in Dubai, and so our first meal happened to be in an Indian restaurant, although we didn’t know it at the time. We had a spicy side dish with some oily bread, and a cup of very sweet tea. Some Indians came and asked us several times if we liked the dish, and observed us watching it. It seemed as if they wanted to convince us that Indian food is the best food in the world, or maybe they were just surprised that tourists were eating there, as we were not staying in a very touristy part of Dubai.

We headed into the city to admire all the tall skyscrapers, the beautiful skyline of the Business Bay and of course the tallest building in the world, the Burj Khalifa. The city is quite spectacular, however my admiration was quite short lived, as after seeing the tall buildings and tourist attractions there is not really any historical culture to experience due to the relative youth of the city, as well as the speed at which it was built.

Servus Munich!

The huge building in the middle is the BMW tower.

I spent six months of my life in Munich and I had a great time, found new friends, tasted the fresh, dry Bavarian air, was comforted by the safety and cleanliness of the city, with its laid-back citizens. Bavarians often use the words "passt scho" which means that's alright, and love sociability with friends and colleges. Having a beer in a cosy beer garden after work is very common as well as walking through the city in traditional dress "dirndl" or "Lederhosen" through the city.
The tap water in Munich is very good quality because it comes directly from the Alps. All in all the quality of life is very high, people love eating healthily and working out, and having a walk in one of the beautiful parks, such as the English Garden or the Nymphenburger Park.

Food & Drinks in Munich

During my time in Bavaria, I tried out several restaurants, bars and clubs, so here is a short summary of what I can recommend, if you are there one time:

One of my favourite streets is close to the U-Bahn station "Universität", named Türkenstraße. If you want to have a nice breakfast or brunch, I recommend Café Puck. You will get a typical Bavarian breakfast with white sausages, sweet mustard and a pretzel, but you can just get a simple breakfast, like an omelet or croissant. Not far from here is the best ice-cream at Bellabeni, but during summer the queue is incredible long. There is not a large range of flavours, but each sort tastes unbelievable good. Another very good ice cream store is at the U-Bahn station "Rotekreuzplatz", Scarletti with a huge variety of home-made ice cream.

The fountain at Stachus.

If you fancy a simple drink or a small dish, I recommend Café Zeitgeist, also on the Türkenstraße. In the same are is one of the best Italians with the most delicious pizza and wine, "Bei Mario", Adalbertstraße 15.
Another very nice Italian is "LaBaracca", at Maximiliansplatz. It is well known for its inner architecture and the way you have to order...through an iPad! "Seerose" is another very good place for Italian food, at Feilitzschstraße 32, close to the English garden. This restaurant has just a few dishes on the menu, but all of  them are very good and not too expensive. A reservation is needed for most of the restaurants I have mentioned.


One of the best Indian restaurants I tried was "Sangeet", at Briennerstraße 10. The menu is large with an indication of how hot each dish is. A very good Thai restaurant is "YUM" at Utzschneiderstraße 6. If you drop by Leopoldstraße, you will find a lot of other very nice restaurants. This street is always busy and beautiful as it is between the "Münchner Freiheit" and "Odeonsplatz".

After a long day at work, it is time for a drink. If you love good cocktails, I mean really good cocktails, made by passionate mixers, then you should definitely go to "Pusser's" or "Negroni". If you feel more like a relaxed evening and want to sit in a nice lounge, I can recommend the "Bayerischer Hof" which has one of the nicest bars in Munich. If you have enough money in your wallet, you could go for a very good dinner as well in this five star hotel.

The World Looks At Munich

The Oktoberfest is one of the most well known events in Munich. This year it ran from 17th September to 3rd October. The first and last weekend is always the highlight, as there are fireworks and everyone is excited to start or end the event. People from all over the world come to Munich, sometimes even just for 2 days, from as far away as the United States. Bavarians usually dress up traditionally, but nowadays a lot of tourists come in traditional dress as well, so it gets hard to differentiate them from the locals. Every beer garden owner has their own tent at the Oktoberfest and they are always overloaded. Between all the tents are roller coasters and little stands with food, games, like at a funfair.

In most of the tents you can only buy beer for 10 Euros, but in a few you can get Radler which is a mix of beer and lemon or a simple Spezi which is a mix of lemon and coke.
The meals consist, of course traditional Bavarian dishes like Bretzl, dumpling "Knödel", Schweinshax, Hendl "chicken" or Kaiserschmarrn. Most people get into the tents early, so that they get a table. Usually the rule is to drink enough to withstand the atmosphere and the smell of drunk and sweaty people. Traditional music is played by the chapel and everyone sings along to the songs. Each year they play the same songs like "Ein Prosit", "Hände zum Himmel" or "Hey baby" so that the citizens and all others who often come to the event, know them off by heart.


The worst part about Oktoberfest is getting to the restroom.
This picture shows how long it can take to get your turn. All in all the event is one of the most exciting things to do in Munich. Everyone is friendly to each other, everyone loves each other and all the usual social barriers seem to disappear for three weeks. You meet people randomly on the streets and everything seems so normal and easy. It is like a loud, international and joyful parade for three weeks. This excitement disappears as fast as it comes once everyone gets back into their daily routine, but everyone keeps the images in their mind, looking forward to next year, and another three weeks of happiness.

Beach Hopping

We went to Lake Mir. Mir means peace in Croatian and you really feel like you’re in a peaceful area.

This place is famous for its salt-water lake. It is mainly rocky.
The main reason tourists visit here is to take part in the tradition to build a chimney with stones. It symbolizes luck. I collected some stones and this is the result:

We kept on travelling. Next stop: Zman. Here we ate delicious Gavuni fish, very popular on the island. It is a must to eat fish if you are in Long Island. After lunch we headed to Sali which is the largest village on the island. We walked along the bay and had a swim in the clear sea.

The last stop of my journey in Croatia was Bibinje where we stayed at a very lovely Croatian family, at Ana Dumančić's house. We headed back to the airport in Zagreb. It was a short, but very impressive and fascinating journey. I had the chance to see lots of places in a short period of time, many thanks as well to the Croatian TV-Star Tomislav. I can recommend Croatia as a great holiday destination for the amazing nature, food and hospitable Croatians.

Nature’s Paradise

After 1.5 hours by ferry we reached the seventh largest island, Dugi Otok, which is well known for its beautiful nature and cliffs. Sali is the largest town on the east side, next to Božava, Dragove, Soline, Brbinj, Luka, Polje, Verona, Savar, Veli Rat, Zaglav, and Žman.

We tried to see as much as possible in the few days we had. So we started with the port village Zaglav, next to Luka. The restaurant Roko is a very good place for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We were travelling by scooter, so we could move easily between locations.

One of the beaches I liked was the Brbinjscica beach which is a rocky beach with stone terraces and cliffs; the other was the Saharun beach, a beach with sand and beautiful turquoise sea water, which is very rare in Croatia. It is a very calm place surrounded by pine woods. Dugi Otok is the perfect place for any outdoor sport.
For cliff diving fans it is one the best places to jump from very high cliffs into the sea. The lighthouse “Punta Bjanka” in Veli rat has one of the biggest lanterns and placed in a wonderful quiet location, close to a church.
Next we went to the nature park in Telašćica which is full of wildlife and sea creatures. A perfect place for diving. This location is calm and surrounded by a forest of pine, olive and fig trees. I didn’t see any exotic animals, except the sea cucumber!
I saw a sea cucumber for the first time. It is a rare water animal, but we were lucky enough to have found one. They resemble the shape of a cucumber, and feel very slippery. A Croatian told me that they clean the sea bed by eating the dirt off the stones. Croatians don't eat these animals, but in Asia they do.

Cliff Diving At Dragon’s Eye In Rogoznica

Next we went to one of the popular summer holiday destinations, Rogoznica which is between Split and Šibenik. The most visited part is the Dragon’s Eye, Zmajevo oko.

The colour of the lake is azure. A lot of youngsters come to this place to dive from very high rocks into the saltwater. Nearby are a lot of areas to swim in the sea.

The Sea Organ Allures People

The next morning we went to the seaport Zadar.

At the bay there are two attractions; the sea organ, a stone wall that produces a sound when the sea waves hit it. The device was created by the architect Nikola Bašić. Another is the monument to the Sun. The solar plates absorb solar energy in daytime and transform it into light effects during the night. We went on the ferry to Dugi Otok (Long Island).

After 1.5 hours by ferry we reached the seventh largest island, Dugi Otok. Sali is the largest town on the east side, next to Božava, Dragove, Soline, Brbinj, Luka, Polje, Verona, Savar, Veli Rat, Zaglav, and Žman.

Feel The Power Of The Seven Waterfalls

The next stop was at the National parc in Slapovi Krke.

You can reach the attraction via bus, which are scheduled frequently. A lot of tourists come to see the seven waterfalls of the Krka river surrounded by beautiful landscape and wildlife.

There is more than one path to reach the big waterfalls and you can jump into the river to cool down, but it’s forbidden to swim very close to the waterfalls.

Faithless Concert In Split

After having had a nice swim we headed to the second biggest city, Split. The Diocletian's Palace, Dioklecijanova palača, in the heart of Split tells the history of the area and is a place to meet and sit and look up at the stars. The Cathedral of St. Duje is beautiful.

This picture shows the bridge where people do bungee jump.

The actual reason for coming was to see the Faithless concert. So many people from all over the world came just to enjoy the rhythm and dance to the beat. We had the pleasure to get on the Heineken booth and had a perfect view of the whole crowd. At midnight we could admire a wonderful fireworks display in all its glory.

Summer Festival, Terraneo, Under A Clear Night Sky

Thursday evening we headed from Zagreb to Tribunj, had a Croatian mocha and went to Šibenik, to get to the Terraneo Festival. Croatia is a coffee country, and mocha is very well known as an influence from the Ottoman Empire. The little village was very quiet and the summer houses seemed large from the outside, but were very small on the inside. In front of many of the houses were fig trees. Most Croatians trust their neighbours and don’t need to worry about crime. We actually experimented by leaving a bag in front of a house and after 30 minutes it was still there. One of the most exciting bands at the open-air festival was Nouvelle Vague, they were fascinating with their charming performance.