My colleague Breeanne and I just landed in Chennai, India. On the way, we had a 15-hour layover in Abu Dhabi, so we left the airport, found a hotel, and then trekked to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque before heading back to the airport. It is one of the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever seen, and it reminded me of the LDS temples, where I worship.
Here is the mosque.
And here are the random Chinese tourists who grabbed us for a group picture. What fun!
I wish I could have spent more time in Abu Dhabi. I’ll keep you all updated with pictures and stories of India over the next few weeks!
The Bookshelf of Emily J. 
Wow ! What a coincidence,just few hours ago I had uploaded a pic of this very beautiful mosque 🙂 … Love ur pics
How funny. My friend Breeanne took the pictures, so I should give her credit!
Great !! 🙂
A beautiful mosque indeed!
Gorgeous!
You’re having quite an adventure!
Yes! Today’s adventure was cockroaches…
Yikes! Of course, here in Austin we see them all the time, but I don’t like them.
What fun to travel vicariously through your posts. The photos are gorgeous.
Thank you!
My home!!! I miss it! Thank you for sharing the pictures of Sheikh Zayed Mosque. So beautiful!
You are welcome. What a beautiful place. You are lucky to come from there.
So nice ! I am expecting your photos from India…:)
I will post some soon!
So beautiful! Thanks for sharing your adventures. 🙂
You’re welcome! 🙂
Wow, you’re jetting off to exotic places! I’m excited for you and looking forward to hearing more about your trip. 🙂
I hope you don’t think this is a rude question, but I’m curious about why you and your colleague are wearing long black robes and the Chinese tourists aren’t. I know wearing a head covering/hijab is the cultural norm for women there — are the robes to show cultural respect too?
The robes were given to us when we entered the temple grounds. We had on long sleeves and long dresses, which should have been fine with a scarf, but they handed them to us so we put them on, mostly because we were confused and didn’t know if that meant what we were wearing was enough cover. The Chinese tourists likely decided to go with the long sleeves and pants they were wearing instead of putting on the robe. Good question.
How wonderful for you, Emily! And I’m happy to enjoy your travels vicariously. What an amazing architectural work! Thank you for sharing, and I agree with Grace about the robes and hijabs. Though I think it is amazing if you did that to be respectful. 🙂
Yes, definitely to be respectful. The mosque requires it so we made sure to conform as much as we could.
So glad you made it safely,Namaste 🙏🏽
Thank you!
I was born and raised in Abu dhabi – yet I only visited the mosque for the first time one week ago. Mesmerizing I must say..
Yes, it is gorgeous!
I’m glad you could visit the Grand Mosque! If you are ever able, you should visit Dubai, there is SO much there as well ❤
I would love that! So many destinations and so little time!