The Bridge to Nowhere

Abu Dhabi is short on tracks. Abu Dhabi Striders, the local running group, often does its speed session in parking lots (last Sunday night, at least two people were felled by curbs). There's the formula 1 track, open most Tuesday nights for runners and bikers. If it's not Tuesday or Sunday, there's always a good old standby right out our front door, the Corniche.

And then there's the bridge to nowhere. Until recently, though, we stopped when we got to nowhere -- the island on the other side of the bridge. 

Big mistake. 

It turns out that nowhere is a really lovely place to be. 

The sand is firm enough for running, homicidal Ferraris are scarce, the scrub is lovely, and the views -- they are sensational. 

The birds love the island, too. 

 Including these distant flamingos.

And (Nick promises it's true) sometimes dolphins, too.

Art Galleries Abu Dhabi

It rained this year for the annual Art Fair, and the tents that the emirate had planned to use for the art displays proved too leaky. We weren't planning to go anyway - the whole thing sounded so small, especially in a city where both the Louvre and the Guggenheim (below) are growing closer to opening every day.


But as we look at the slow-moving construction sites on Saadiyat Island, we realize that an art fair might have been a nice thing to write into our calendars, leaky tents or no. We have seen precious few representations here not featuring falcons, Emirati leaders, horses, or combinations of the three. (Our apartment excluded, of course, where Kazhia Kolb reigns supreme.)

So we were glad to discover Art Hub, a gallery/cafe/studio space where the art on display is various and interesting. And for sale....at pretty exorbitant prices. They can afford to be -- they are pretty much the only show in town.



Art Hub is in Mussafeh Industrial Area, where Margaret has been lost twice....alone, and traumatically. Expat circles speak of finding places in Mussafeh in hushed tones, and advise that anyone venturing there bring a buddy - not because it's dangerous, but because street signs are inscrutable, roads end suddenly, and pedestrians hop in and out of the highways with reckless abandon, sometimes wielding bicycles. So we were glad to find Art Hub after being lost only once.


We saw shadow puppets....

....many rooms full of big oils.....



...and some curiously appealing paintings of sky scrapers, despite (or perhaps because of?) their eerie colors.