Cultural Connections – Around the World by Luxury Private Jet – Abu Dhabi & Dubai, UAE and Alexandria, EGYPT

OCTOBER 23 – 26 ABU DHABI & DUBAI, UAE and ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT

We dined in style during the four hour flight from Agra to Abu Dhabi, arriving in the early evening.  We settled into our ‘palace’ property with ease and much comfort.  It is indeed a marvel of the world in terms of hotel.  None of us have stayed in quite such sumptuous and ‘OTT’ (‘over the top’) accommodations.  One of our clients commented that he always thought Burj Al Arab in Dubai to be the most significant hotel stay of his life…now this was topped by our Emirates Palace.  Such a happy arrival.

Abu Dhabi is the largest and wealthiest of seven United Arab Emirates, including Dubai.  Once a small Bedouin fishing village on the Gulf of Arabia, thanks to the discovery of massive oil reserves it is today a modern city of shimmering skyscrapers, extraordinary architecture, extravagant villas and modern palaces. The ‘Corniche’ highway along the seafront makes for an excellent viewing of this modern marvel new city.

Our time in Abu Dhabi included a visit to the Sheik Zayed Mosque…among the largest mosques in the world today and certainly the newest ‘wonder’ of the Islam world.  This mosque is built entirely of pristine white marble (with cooled floors), inlay of semi-precious stones, the largest Persian carpet in the world (all woven from New Zealand wool), as well as the most magnificent Swarovski crystal chandeliers of which the central one is the largest crystal chandelier in the world.   This Mosque – a gift from Sheik Zayed (the former king) to the world – is a testament of global cultural connection in terms of religion and understanding.  Our group was entirely “wow’d” with our time spent at the mosque.  Many of us left with new understandings in regard to the religion of Islam.

That evening we enjoyed an exclusive modern yacht cruise on the Arabian Gulf with gorgeous  sunset views across the dramatic golden glistening sky-scrapers city skyline of Abu Dhabi – all the while enjoying a cocktail reception with selections of local canapés.

Other visits during our days in Abu Dhabi included a full day tour over to the neighboring Emirate State of Dubai – world renowned as the tourism center of the Emirates.  This day included a boat cruise along the Dubai River with views of the city, as well as a special ‘private access’ luncheon at the greatest man-made ‘sail’ in the world, the Burj Al Arab Hotel.  As usual for our group,  any sightseeing day would not be complete without a shopping opportunity, hence the mandatory shopping visit to Dubai’s Gold Souk’.

For several of our guests who had already visited Dubai, we had an intensely interesting half-day visit to the Abu Dhabi Falcon Hospital.  Falconry to the Emirates is akin to polo to the English.  But, interestingly, falconry has existed in the Bedouin culture for centuries…using these magnificent fast birds of prey to hunt food for the desert living people…hunting small gazelles, rabbits, and other fowl.  To a Bedouin, their falcons were as important as a son or daughter.  Today, falconry (like polo) is more of an elitist hobby.  At the falconry center a few of us were fortunate enough to experience ‘close & personal’ interaction with these beautiful birds.

Our grand finale was a late afternoon desert safari in 4-wheel drive safari vehicles – with tires slightly deflated to allow them to traverse over towering sand dunes (without getting stuck!), arriving just before sunset at a carpeted sunset champagne cocktails reception with falconry flight display. In hunting these birds can exceed speeds of 150mph – almost miraculous.  Just a short drive over the sand dunes we came upon our Bedouin tented camp…for gala desert dinner under the stars.  We were entertained by an excellent Arabic music trio, as well as a surprise birthday belly dancer performance for one of our guests.  All in all this was one of the most memorable nights to remember along our unique journey.

Our departure from Abu Dhabi was, as our arrival, through the ‘Royal Flight’ private terminal – a huge “PLUS” with the majority of our flight entries and exits being a private jet flight and entirely non-commercial.  In no time we were winging our way westward with our beautiful Icelandic ‘sky goddesses’ taking exemplary care of our every needs.

Today, our private jet proved (yet again!) its exceptional prowess.  As we head from the Arabian peninsula toward beautiful Biarritz (in France), we are able to “pop in” to Alexandria in northern Egypt on the Mediterranean Sea…a city of exceptional global cultural importance.  From the time of the ancient Egyptians, through Ptolemy, Alexander the Great, Caesar, and Cleopatra this seaside port has been of veritable importance, crisscrossing in culture from African to Greek to Roman to European…an axis of our ancient and modern world.  Over the centuries establishing several hundred years of the largest most learned library of knowledge.  And we were able to ‘touch down’ to experience this marvel, albeit a quick visit but a most notable one.

And we jet onward to Biarritz…to the magnificent Hotel du Palais built by Emperor Napoleon’s wife, Eugenie, as a grand holiday retreat at the beach for she and her friends.  A wonder of the world in its own historic right.  There’s a card game underway in our ‘sky lounge’…and we’re about to enjoy a most delicious early evening dinner of seafood specialties, veal medallions, and a ‘delic’ dessert of Arabian delight.  Farewell Arabia, Welcome France!!

Click here to view more photos of Abu Dhabi & Dubai in the Emirates photo gallery.

Follow our Private Jet journey to our next destination,  Biarritz, France and San Sebastian, Spain.