The oppressive heat in the mall parking garage made enduring the speech from our tour guide a matter of survival. The garage was sucking all the water from my body like a leech. He was ensuring we understood how women were expected to act in a mosque.
My hydration wasn’t helped by the fact that I had to be covered from head to toe, excluding my face and hands. No degree of see-through clothes were permitted. Even the white blouse you own would have denied you entry.
Gestures and loud talking of any kind were frowned upon. I had to keep reminding myself not to make peace signs in my pictures. Or not to laugh loudly for that matter.
After his spiel, we began the ten minute trek through the mall to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. I was grateful the journey was air conditioned, so I could try and absorb my sweat like a resourceful sponge.
Once above ground, the mosque towered with white stone against the sun. Sunbeams would attack your eyeballs if you didn’t squint and blink enough.
For some reason, I never have my sunglasses when I need them. Classic Hannah. Forgetting stuff all over the place.
The perimeter was lined with a pool mirroring the light blues in the sky. Engraved flowers cascaded along the mosque walls, complimenting the gold accents on the columned arches and domes.
A courtyard had earth-toned florals adorning the floor. They even crawled up the columns along the edges!
If you know me, you can probably picture how excited I was that floral designs were everywhere. I’m such a Virgo.
The courtyard was designed to provide overflow space during worship times. Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque can accommodate around 55,000 worshippers. Wowza. It’s the largest mosque in the UAE.
Shades of pink and yellow flowers adorned the green vines decorating the interior of the mosque.
The prayer hall had a green patterned carpet against a tall sunlit ceiling, from which hung a colorful chandelier.
I was in awe of the modern Islamic architecture. I couldn’t stop staring at it through my squinting eyeballs. A breathtaking building, the mosque’s serene silence was only interrupted by melodic prayers.
A short drive away, we pulled up to Qasr al Watan, the presidential palace of Abu Dhabi. Not residential, the palace is used for conferences or banquets.
Gobsmacked, I absorbed the fanciest building I’ve seen. The lobby had an intricate layering of gold and blue designs across each square inch. Sparkles danced across the space with the sun sneaking in from the outside courtyard.
The exterior pavement was covered with geometric designs to match the inside. White arches led your eye to the decorative gold patterns atop an incline of domes.
Luxurious in nature, the scale of Abu Dhabi was hard to grasp. The marvel of the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque and Qasr al Watan is something you have to experience for yourself.
Hannah Lou Lifestyle 
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