Where Abu Dhabi Started, The Qasr Al Hosn

There's a nice museum right in the center of downtown Abu Dhabi that used to be an old fort and a palace for the city. The place has been restored and is full of informative exhibits on old Abu Dhabi and palace life.

The fort architecture is classic and is a nice juxtaposition to the tall glass towers of the modern city. Good on the government in saving the complex and doing a nice restoration.

Inside, a meandering procession of exhibits, including handicrafts, colorful textiles and other artifacts.

Another view of the impressive grounds and the big city in the background. Times change, time stays the same.

Old palace digs, kind of classy, kind of humble. Just give me a big wood bed and some fancy chests. No wine fridge?

Big wood door and curious school kids.

Seeing The Past At The Emirates Heritage Village

Kind of the Williamsburg of the UAE. The Heritage Village is a quasi reconstruction of a typical, old Middle Eastern desert village. At least that's the layout.

C'mon in, check out the mud buildings, artisans, history.

There's a small museum that's devoted to handicrafts and old industries. Diving for pearls was a thing. Old sorting baskets.

A section of the museum is devoted to old, traditional dress and grooming. Long beard and head covering. Solemn.

Feet, left bare. Might want to go get a toe touch up. Women, of course, must cover up, at least with a cool, intricate leather mask of sorts.

In another part of the village, a group of artisans still practice classic traditional crafts. The master wood carver.

Learning About UAE's Founder At The Zayed Heritage Center

Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan was the founding father of the UAE, a royal Emirati who, in 1971, united seven regions into the modern country it is today. There's a quasi museum, memorabilia, artifact repository devoted to his life and stuff.

Anything and everything. His blue Mercedes limo, some big game taxidermy and a giant portrait of the Sheikh, made from local stamps.

Important phones. Important bagpipes. The British were in the area for years, developing the petroleum industry.

Military training and the royal rifle.

Oil! Its discovery, in miniature. So cute, little trucks and oil rig. Golden drill bits. Maybe silver for placing?

Everyone loves men in uniforms. A gallery devoted to the police academy. Sure.

Going Back In Time At The Abu Dhabi History Museum

It's not all brand new Louvre bling in Abu Dhabi. There's a funky, old history museum (and aquarium, weird mashup) in a park, a place filled with dioramas that depict the history of the area. Visitors take a tram through the exhibit, tripping forward in time to modern Abu Dhabi.

Let's start with ye old desert days. Camels, tents, and women huffing heavy stuff while the men chat.

The fish merchant and his hanging stock at the beach.

Mining arrives, the dirty, sweaty business of refining sulfur, copper, bronze.

Small-time miner. Oil arrives and suddenly it's all modern classrooms for the next generations. So says the progression at the museum.

Rig work. Drill it.

The Glowing Night At Masdar City

Cool places can look just as cool at night as during the day. Masdar city, with its striking architecture, stays alive when the sun goes down.

Buildings with screens for daytime sun protection pop when the lights start showing through at night.

Angles against the sky and the wind tower, looming.

The curves of a terracotta apartment building.

The local shopping mall with lit up construction cranes across the street. More construction, a bit quieter and mysterious in the dark.

Welcome! The glowing sign leaves no doubt on your arrival at the pseudo future.

Desolation Around Abu Dhabi

Maybe it's the desert environment. Maybe new development. A feeling of empty space, desolation can be found everywhere in and around the UAE capital.

Downtown Abu Dhabi, open space.

Out in the residential neighborhoods and new commercial developments, big, empty expanses.

At the Sheikh Zayed museum, rows of seating, no sitters.

Highway truck parking, quiet. A camel racecourse, silent.

A street has been completed. Going someplace? Not sure.

Wandering Masdar City, A Sustainable Community

Abu Dhabi leans into the future with the pre-planned mini town of Masdar City. It's billed as a green, sustainable, renewable, carless, future, woke, cool, transformative, environmental, and any other forward, kind, neutral words one can use to describe a city that treads lightly or not at all on Mother Earth. Something like that.

Sustainable or not (right now, not is winning), the architecture is great. Signature, unique buildings dominate. You want to live and work there, just to enjoy the building eye candy.

Views of a wavy apartment building. Little blue, electric troll-y trams are supposed to move the peeps around.

The angles and textures are lovely and varied.

One of the signature elements of the city, the tall wind tower. Through natural convection, the tower sucks up hot air from the plaza, cooling the area. Looking up the core of the wind tower. Small dogs have been known to get sucked up and flown six stories in the air. Seriously. Seriously kidding. Watch your hat.

The place is still expanding, the dream ongoing.

Gawking At The Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque In Abu Dhabi

So grand. Sheikh Zayed, named after the first president of the country, is a massive mosque in Abu Dhabi and the largest mosque in the UAE. A giant, white marble structure, complete with parking garages, an underground shopping mall, grocery store, and, yes, no kidding, a McDonald's. Come to pray (the place can hold 40,000+), stay for a halal burger.

Big. Marble inlaid bling. Gorgeous.

The atrium for the underground shopping mall. McDonald's sign toward the back. To get to the mosque, there's a serpentine, subterranean path that includes many moving sidewalks and sternly-labeled sections for carts. Keep the faithful moving.

Gawk time.

Details. Funky gold column capitals that suggest palm trees. The fancy call to prayer times clock. And security camera.

Another look at the main courtyard, with the broom crew, always keeping the marble shiny.