Culture overload

We have had long awaited guests this weekend, our Danish friends Lars and Dorte. I had been looking forward to hosting them here, as we have visited them in Kolding several times during the summers lately; and I also really enjoy visitors who come to the UAE for the first time.

They arrived late on Wednesday night and Thursday it was straight into sightseeing mode, as I had an already booked External Tour in Swedish at the museum. Perfect timing, as they could tag along!

The tour was of the new Cartier exhibit.

It was my first proper tour of the exhibition, and it went really well! This exhibition covers so many different aspects, all from the Islamic art and motifs that inspired the designers, to the many different jewellery techniques, materials and gemmology information; not to forget the famous owners of some of these pieces, and the historical context in which they were originally commissioned and worn. It is a really enjoyable tour to deliver.

After the tour we had lunch and continued the visit in the galleries and the rest of the spaces.

Showing them the Danish contribution to the galleries, the wood bowls by Merete Larsen:

Lars and Dorte only had three full days with us so we had a hectic schedule planned. We continued our afternoon in the city. I wanted them to learn about the beginnings of Abu Dhabi so I took them to Qasr al Hosn.

We even managed to join the Bait Al Gahwa ceremony and get to taste some traditional Arabic coffee:

Dorte enjoyed the visit to the Handicraft Center:

As we were on a roll, we then decided to end the day by visiting the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque too; but those photos will fill a post on their own, stay tuned!