Bahrain by plane costs less than a car to Al Ain

It's my first official blog entry!  Woohoo!  OK, celebration over, let's move on.

I recently took a day trip to Bahrain.  Where the heck is Bahrain, you ask?  It's here:

The next logical question is WHY?  Perfectly rational - if you live here.  If you look down the page, you will see our adventure to Oman.  This is the continuation of the story.  Since then, it has been debated back and forth the immediate neccesity of the attestation of my marriage license.  This is validation of authenticity which is neither proved by the raised seal, nor by a notary public.  Basically, you have to stand on your head, jump through hoops, pay a fee, and get the President himself to declare your marriage legal - without it, I am a wanton trollop illegally living with my lover.  I think all they need to do is spend a few hours in my home to figure out my status here, because it ain't THAT.  While all this is going on, we accrue fines.  I am beginning to understand why they do not have taxes here.  The alternative is a "visa run" - a quick over the border trip for the purpose of obtaining a visa stamp, buying you another month of trying to prove you were invited.  We tried it with Oman, failed, and figured an airport would be more adept.

As it turns out, it was a brilliant idea. Not only do I have a shiny new stamp in my passport, but I spent several hours reading uninterrupted, had a lovely lunch no one begged me to share, did some unharried duty free shopping, and got in a nap.  That's a good day for me!! LOL

There were quite a few interresting things along the way that I found to share.

This is the Abu Dhabi Airport.  It is quite beautiful.  In the center hub is this enormous scupture which runs through both levels and encompasses the floor and ceilings.  It is made of blue and green tile and is very striking.  I happened to be sitting in an area with a large group of Indian or Pakistani women who were all dressed in traditional style.  There are many women of this culture here, and they are very striking, especially in numbers like this.  The fabrics they wear are full of rich color and silky textures.  Many have metallic thread or jewels woven into the design - even at the mall, they make one feel very under dressed! The Pashmina that they wear is a sort of all purpose garment.  If Muslim, they drape it over their head for a covering.  In the Catholic church, too, they bring it up over the head during Mass much like we would wear a veil or mantilla.  Some do so just out of cultural habit, or come use it as a scarf or a shawl.  However they drape it, this style of dressing totally appeals to me.  It just looks so comfortable and much better looking than sweatpants!

Off we go!  Good-bye Abu Dhabi!!  Hard to see here, but I was able to find several of my favorite spots by air - like my park by the beach, and my favorite mall!

This is pretty much all I got to see of Bahrain.  I got off the plane, went through immigration, wandered past baggage to the car rentals,

and walked back upstairs to the airline desks and checked back in.  Then I went out to take this picture.  Maybe someday I will come back to visit for real.

Duty Free shopping anyone?  This airport has quite a little Duty Free mall going on - separate stores for toys, jewelery, gifts, clothing, and some very expensive designer handbags.  This area was completely decked out for Christmas with several trees and this strange little display.

My luxury meal.  Prawn salad and lemonade with fresh mint.  Yummy.  I had a nice view of the planes taking off and no one spilled anything on me, threw up on my table, or interrupted me to take them to the bathroom.  We even had a special guest!

This is the old Air Force One that took off during my lunch.  Hillary Clinton was, evidently, on board.  Yeah, I wasn't that impressed either.

I took a nap on the way back, so I didn't get any pictures.  :)

This is the cab that brought me home, though, and if I had to mention Hillary, this definitely deserves a mention.  Here in Abu Dhabi there are approximately 10 "Ladies Only" taxis.  There are many cultures here, including the locals, where women traveling alone would possibly be uncomfortable being driven around by a strange man.  Also, women looking for employment may be  put off by the idea of picking up strange men off the side of the road.  This is their answer.  They are driven by women, and used by only women alone or with their small children.  They are distinguishable by the pink and purple flowers and butterflies on them, and that their roof signs are pink instead of yellow.

So that was my trip.  By 7:00, I was at home in a comfy chair with a glass of wine and I even made it home before the kids did!