Yesterday Seabourn docked at Port Zayed of Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.

Taking an organized tour “the Best of Abu Dhabi”, we never fail to be surprised at the rapid development of this metropole of 2.9 million.

We saw a number of high-rise buildings, housing headquarters of numerous oil companies and embassies. The city also features large gardens and parks, green boulevards, lining all the streets and roads, international luxury hotel chains and opulent shopping malls and Abu Dhabi’s Formula 1 track with the Ferrari World theme park and new Louvre Museum.

Abu Dhabi, meaning Father of Gazelle because of the many gazelles that used to roam the place, is clean and well planned. The magnificent Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque is the third largest in the world, having the largest carpet and adorning with seven chandeliers, made by a German company and incorporate millions of Swarovski crystals. The mosque is very impressive.