Our arrival in Abu Dhabi
Our Emirates flight from Brussels to Dubai took a bit more than 6 hours and a half. We arrived early morning in Dubai airport where we took a 1h40 taxi ride to Abu Dhabi. We had arranged an early check in at the Rosewood Hotel.
We did not get a lot of sleep on the plane since dinner was served very late and breakfast very early. However, we were happy enough because the holiday had started. The hotel was exceptional and the room with a view, was huge. First thing on our agenda was the testing of the swimming pool that looked amazing from our window.
For lunch we went to the Galleria mall which was located next to our hotel. They had just opened additional stores (Vuiton, Channel, Jimmy choo, …), it felt like being in one of the Singapore malls. The only difference was that there were very few people. Maybe it was because it was a Friday since the streets were also empty.
We decided to take a little nap to recover from the flight because we were quite tired and we still wanted to go to the Louvre later in the afternoon. We were just getting ready for our visit when the door bell rang. They drove a trolly into the room while Koen asked me what I ordered. I said, me ? Nothing… It was a present from the hotel to celebrate our 50th birthdays. We got a delicious chocolate cake with fruit water. How pleasant was that ? We did not see that coming… So our trip to the museum was delayed with half an hour. We first had a piece of cake :-).
Our visit of the Louvre in Abu Dhabi
We took a taxi to the Saadiyat Island where the Louvre was located. Visiting the museum in the evening was not only picturesque but also a good choice because there were no queues whatsoever. In terms of architecture, the building was a real gem and the museum itself was also must-see material. The roof consisted of a dome with metal patterns, very impressive!
The collection of the museum consisted partly of pieces rented from the Louvre in France (and some other museums) as well as pieces that they had bought themselves.
They museum had a restaurant where we thought to have dinner, but unfortunately it was not open. In the end we went back to the mall which was much bigger than we initially had thought.
In the afternoon, we had discovered a nice restaurant ‘Bentley Bistro & Bar’ and decided to eat there. The three of us ordered the signature burger with special fries, flavoured with parmesan and truffle. We were very pleased with our choice that turned out to be super yummy! The bao buns and tacos also looked great so we had to return another time to taste them.
We were very satisfied of our first day and were looking forward to what was still to come…
