Brussels, Day 1

One day on a yacht out on the blue, blue sea in the beautiful sunshine - the next... arriving early morning into a rainy and windy Brussels..! I guess it's the contrasts that make life so beautiful!

Still having Spring Break for another week, I didn't want to just hang out the at home and be bored so I decided it was time to go exploring! With Nathan working, and Lucas exam-prepping, it ended up being a girls trip!
Why Brussels? Why not? A new city to discover!

Our hotel was perfectly situated, only about 2 minutes walk from the Central Station where we got in with the train from the airport; and about the same distance from the Grand Place/Grote Markt:

Pretty even in the rain!
We had kept an eye on the weather report so we knew what to expect, and had packed all our warm gear and our umbrellas, we were ready!

The first day we felt a bit mushy after the night flight since we didn't get to check in straight away. We went for a bit of a walk, had some brunch, and then finally got to check in to our hotel come mid-afternoon.
We then went literally next door, to the Horta Gallery, where I had seen they advertised an immersive Frida Kahlo experience. I expected it to be a bit like the Van Gogh-one Linda and I saw in Dubai, so we tried it out:

It unfortunately had nothing on the Infinity des Lumières-show. It was all but just ok, although Frida Kahlo and her story is fascinating no matter what, luckily.

We found a shop for Nathan where we ended up buying some gifts and souvenirs later in the week:

It's a boy!

We were invited out on the sea last weekend, for our very first baby reveal party! This wasn't a big thing when we had our two, but now it seems to be quite a common thing. 

The massive yacht decorated with blue and pink all over, took us out from the Saadiyat Marina. Absolutely perfect day on the water, with a slight breeze as to not make it too hot, even when we were moored to swim or played with the jet ski.

 

 

My guy - so handsome!

Andrea - the most glam mama-to-be I have ever seen:

Very exciting, the only person on the boat knowing the secret was the best friend who had been in charge of organising it all. It wasn't until they finally got to open the box of balloons we all found out - it's a boy!

Cutting the cake, to make sure:

Yup, that too was blue! Stephan got his wish!

And we all got treated to an amazing sunset before returning to dock:

The Hidden Café

Our final stop on our little road trip, was a place I had seen on Instagram, called the Hidden Café. My plan was to do a bit of a pit stop there before we drove back to Abu Dhabi. Unfortunately it wasn't open yet when we turned up, but I managed to convince the rest of the family to take a little wander in the dunes for a bit, while we waited. It had been a while since we had experienced a desert sunset, so why not.

As every time we do this, we wonder - why don't we do this more often? Just look at this!

So, so pretty!

The Hidden Café is this place in the middle of the desert, built up as a small camp and with this reflective cube as a stunning centerpiece:

We had one of the most expensive 'fika' ever, but I guess you pay to enjoy the surroundings, location, location, location!

And just like everyone else, we did a group photo in the reflection of the cube:

A really unique, pretty and surprising place, and what a nice way to end the day!

On the way home we had to stop so I could photograph this stone wall. The symbol is inspired by a gesture coined by Sheikh Al Maktoum which is representing "Win, Victory and Love", and being a symbol for the UAE.

The Love Lake and Al Qudra Lakes

Another place on my list of places I have been wanting to discover for a while, is the Love Lake in Dubai. Opened in 2018, this Love Lake is designed to look like two interlocked hearts, but I guess you would've had to have had a drone to be able to see that better - from above.

We had brought a picnic but considering it was the first day of Ramadan, we didn't feel comfortable setting up and eating out here in the open.

So we just went for a little stroll along the walkway, looked at all the romantic little details in the area surrounding the lake, and then set off to find a better spot for our picnic.

Instead we drove just a few minutes down the road, and found the Al Qudra Lakes, which also are man made lakes. We had our picnic at the back of the truck, out of sight for anyone else but with a lovely view of the lakes.

There are no restaurants of cafés here, but a lot of bird life. We really enjoyed our little picnic listening to the bird noises and soaking up the greenery.

Al Madam Ghost Town

Yesterday we went on a road trip with the truck to explore a few things I have had on my bucket list for a while. We started by aiming for the Al Madam Ghost Town, about two hours from Abu Dhabi out in the desert of Sharjah. We put the truck to good use driving across the sand dunes to get there, saw a few friends on the way:

This is an abandoned and buried village that has been taken over completely by the sand dunes.

Not much is known about its history but it is believed to have been constructed in the 1970s or 1980s.  According to one theory this village was part of the Sha'bi housing project which was initiated to provide the Bedouins with a permanent settlement, and inhabited by the Al Kutbi tribe. Somehow, it didn't go to plan here, and the inhabitants abandoned their houses, maybe because of the lack of infrastructure and electricity.

It was quite an eerie place to visit, the silence is striking. I wouldn't go as far as to say it was scary, but certainly rather spooky and with a very special atmosphere.

Some locals believe that the reason the village got abandoned was that it was haunted by 'jinns', a supernatural creature that Muslims believe exist in a parallel world to ours, not visible to humans.

Others seem to believe there is something special with the sand in this area. The desert has certainly pushed through and consumed much of the houses, every building is filled with sand, some have even been engulfed completely.

The houses have stayed just as they were back then, some with beautiful decorative details and some even had pieces of furniture left in them. Unfortunately many are now covered in more modern graffiti, as this place has become a popular spot to visit.

1st April 2022 Covid status

It's not really something worth celebrating obviously, it's more a remark that on the 11th of March it was two years since the WHO declaring Covid-19 a pandemic.
In a way I'm glad we didn't know back then, how long this was going to be, that we had two years (plus!) of restrictions ahead of us.

Here are today's Covid numbers here in the UAE:
* 288 new cases, from 295,915 tests.
* Only 1 person died from Covid in the month of March, total death toll 2302.
* 98.29% of the population is fully vaccinated.

I thought today, I would also mention a few numbers from a wider perspective. For example:
* 6 143 000+ people have died from Covid-19 worldwide
* 18 365 people have died in Sweden - compared to the 2302 that have died (to date) here in the UAE
* 488 500 000+ people have been reported to have had Covid-19 so far, but since many countries (Sweden included f.e) are not testing any more, this number in reality is much, much higher.

There hasn't been a lot of change in restrictions here the past month, other than small things. We still need to test every 14 days to keep our Al Hosn status green, which we need to enter our work places, schools, malls, restaurants etc; and wear masks inside. These are the things that affect us most in our day-to-day life.