Hello Abu Dhabi!

Here is the central hall in the Abu Dhabi terminal. VERY elaborate mosaic tilework - pretty impressive.
Outside the airport waiting for our car to the hotel you can see the main Comm tower. It is hot - mid to high 90's I think - very hazy and windy. It is actually really comfortable with fairly low humidity compared to the summer or fall.
This is a view of the atrium inside the "old" side of the Rotana Beach hotel where my room is. The buffet is located here and has really good food. Eric and I had breakfast while we waited for our rooms. I had makanesh with labneh cheese and a couple slices of air cured beef. I also had an oatmeal and washed it down with carrot juice and tons of coffee.

This is the view from my room towards Reem Island - major construction going on over there!

This is Hamdan Street where we went to EHAF's (our local architect) pretty typical Abu Dhabi streetscape. The meeting was fairly uneventful. We met with the cost estimator who reported that our project increased 40% from concept design to schematic design. Our local architect claimed this was "normal" considering the labor rates and costs of steel, concrete, copper and aluminum are all through the roof. Apparently contractors can now write in a "Fluctuation Clause" in their contracts to counteract market fluctuations...unreal!