Saturday, April 1st, 2023 Queen Victoria, Abu Dhabi, UAE
Updated: Jul 3, 2023
We’ve had a very relaxing 8 sea days from Singapore to Abu Dhabi; our worst fears were unfounded – we did not go insane. The seas have been calm, the weather hot, and the gin bar an oasis. Many interesting lectures from the guest speakers helped with the sanity. Having completed an uneventful passage through the Straits of Hormuz and into the Arabian Sea, today we docked in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the seven emirates that comprise the UAE. Today we took a ships shore excursion to the Yas Marina formula one racetrack – our first visit to a proper F1 circuit, if you exclude the street circuit at Monaco. During the bus ride our guide gave us some background about the UAE and Abu Dhabi – some of which we’d heard before on a visit to Dubai, but nevertheless still interesting. The changes and growth in the UAE since the discovery of oil in the early 1950s are simply astounding, but this needs to be contrasted against the social system that has been implemented. The UAE is not a democratic country; there are a small number of families (tribes) that rule the seven emirates and the sheik of Abu Dhabi is the always president of the country, followed by the sheik of Dubai who is always prime minister. The ruling families own all of the land in the country and all of the resources beneath the ground. Only 15% of the population are in fact native UAE citizens, the rest being imported workers – these workers are definitely lower in the hierarchy; they can’t own property or ever become citizens. So long as the money continues to pour in, the system appears to work. The formula one circuit is located on a large island that has been designated for leisure activities – we saw a couple of theme parks, including Warner Brothers World and of course Ferrari World theme park is immediately adjacent to the F1 circuit. There was no event scheduled for today and the F1 facility was practically deserted – it felt very strange, I think during our entire visit we only saw a couple of workers. We started off in a building that housed the gift shop and also the collection of cars that could be hired for a drive around the track. The upper level of this building had a great terrace overlooking the hairpin bend, with views down the main straight. I find there is something exciting about visiting a place that you’ve seen on TV, we’ve watched numerous F1 races at this track and it was great to finally see it up close. There is a feeling of order and design about the Yas Marina Circuit; everything seems to have been really well thought out – from the track design to the placement of the grandstands and even the large hotel that straddles the circuit. Many of the main buildings are covered with gigantic fabric awnings reminiscent of Bedouin tents, anywhere else this would be weird - but in Abu Dhabi it seems to fit right in. In response to citizens holding impromptu drag races on the streets, the benevolent sheik installed a drag strip within the F1 circuit and “encouraged” the locals to stop the street races. As we approached the drag strip we could hear the roar of a dragster engine – a few mechanics were working on a car under a tent, an unexpected treat! The grandstand at the apex of the hairpin bend was very impressive, the place was deserted, and our guide just seemed to find an open door to let us in. The stand wraps around the bend affording every seat a great view of the cars as they would enter from the left, tear around the bend, and then accelerate away down the main straight. Following a short ride in the bus we visited the pit lane; this is also the end of the track where you can get a great view of the W Hotel and its marina. Behind the pit garages there is a row of team villas – one is assigned to each team for the duration of the race, the highest placed team getting the villa closest to the pit entry. The team villas and the pit garage building create a short street, this location is heavily used by the media groups and is often seen on the TV coverage. An open garage door offered us access to the pit lane and the front of the pit garages, again there were no employees present – we just wandered in. All of the other pit garages were closed but we wandered down the pit lane marveling at the tire tracks and imagining the chaotic scenes that often take place in this location during an F1 race. Opposite the pit garages there were several raised concrete plinths that house the team “pit walls” during a race, and these overlooked the start / finish straight – we looked over and could see the starting locations for the cars marked on the track. The small officials’ box, where the race starter stands, was also open and we climbed the stairs for a great view. Finally we visited the podium and got to stand on the top step – what a treat. Following the bus ride back to the ship and a quick freshen up in the cabin we took the Cunard shuttle bus to the Marina Mall, about a 20-minute trip. By Dubai standards the Marina Mall was quite small, but still very impressive with a large cloth covered dome in the center. There was some evidence of post-pandemic recovery with several large stores “coming soon”, but most of the major luxury brands were present. Before arriving in Abu Dhabi we had wondered about the impact of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, which had just started. During Ramadan, Muslims are not allowed to eat or drink between sunrise and sunset. A small number of the cafes and restaurants in the mall were closed, but most were open – but with few patrons. We found a nice French café and enjoyed a light lunch. By now it was late afternoon, but the ship was not leaving until 8:30PM, so we took an Uber to the Louvre Museum. The Abu Dhabi Louvre is located on Saadiyat Island which has been designated for cultural development; the Louvre is part of a $27B investment that will include a new National Museum, a Guggenheim, and a performing arts center amongst others. Abu Dhabi reportedly paid France close to $500M for the rights to use the Louvre name and receive a selection of artworks on loan. Approaching the Louvre you immediately get a sense of a well-planned facility – the parking lot position, the walkways, and the layout of the low-rise concrete buildings with the immense “flying saucer” roof, and the creative use of waterways under and around some of the buildings. There was no queue at the ticket counter, and we were soon off on our exploration – a young assistant pointed us in the right direction, told us to just keep going from room to room, and assured us that we could see all of the “permanent exhibit” in about 1 ½ hours. The Abu Dhabi Louvre, having been created from scratch, is infinitely easy to navigate than its more famous predecessor in Paris. The collection is of course relatively small compared to the original, but the exhibits are superbly presented – the progression from room to room roughly follows a chronological sequence. There is a particularly interesting display of Egyptian artifacts – I especially enjoyed the piece of mummy wrapping inscribed with excerpts from the book of the dead. The museum has a goal of bridging the middle eastern / Asian and western worlds and as such there are some excellent eastern artifacts. Although relatively short on paintings, the museum does include the superb “John the Baptist” by da Vinci. Eventually we exited the exhibits and entered the gigantic vestibule; this is a place where you are directly under the huge flying saucer-like roof – it is truly amazing! Abu Dhabi Louvre – well worth a visit.
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