Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

Hello from the UAE.  I was able to take another trip recently, this time to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi.  It is a beautiful place, and it's the eighth largest mosque in the world.  It cost $545M dollars to build, but when I asked them on the tour they told me there was no final price tag due to upkeep and maintenance... which I suppose is true.  When we were there all the women had to wear the traditional black garb, called an abaya.  Most of the females in my group complained about how hot it was.  I didn't blame them.  I think it was around 115 that day, and it was humid.  The Grand Mosque is home to the world's largest one piece hand made carpet.  The Grand Mosque can hold up to 40,000 worshipers at a time, and is the burial place of Sheikh Zayed who united all of the Emirates to form the United Arab Emirates.  He's considered the father of the UAE.  Here are some pictures I took while I was there:

After we walked around outside, we got to go inside which was nice.  It was really hot outside and the sun bouncing off the white marble floor didn't help.  Thank goodness for AC!

This is a 12 ton chandelier that was made in Germany.  Its' made of Swarovski crystal and other precious materials.

Here's a picture I took directly underneath it.

Here's one of the better pictures I took inside.  It was hard to capture the size of this place.  It's pretty amazing.

Here's a decent view of the largest hand made one piece carpet in the world.  After we were done at the Grand Mosque we had lunch at the Armed Forces Officers Club, also known as the AFOC.  This is a club owned by the Emiratis, but anyone who's military can go there.  This place is almost as impressive as the Grand Mosque, and I've heard it cost more to build.  It's as big as a shopping mall, has an olympic size swimming pool, a shooting range, a bowling alley, shops, and restaurants.  The food at the AFOC is some of the best I've had since I've been here.  The Emiratis definitely spared no expense on this place.  If the US military had officer/enlisted clubs like this, I think the US taxpayers might have a problem with it.  Here are a few pictures I took when I was there.

This is the entrance to the AFOC, with the Grand Mosque in the background.

This is the view as you enter.

These are portraits of all of the UAE leaders.  Sheikh Zayed is on the far left (he's no longer alive), but the other three are the top guys in the UAE.

Relaxing in the hookah lounge.

Another shot of the hookah lounge.  I should have taken more pictures when I was here, but hopefully this will give you a good idea of what the place is like.  I should be home in less than a month.  Even with all the fun things to do and the cool places to see here, I can't wait to get back to Brooke and my boys.