Day 14 (2023) Abu Dhabi: Three Churches & Culture at the Louvre

18th April 2023

Day 14

Visited highlights: Abrahamic Family House, Louvre Abu Dhabi

Today, we wanted to go to the Aquaventure Water Park at Atlantis the Palm in Dubai. Unfortunately, the weather is relatively cool for a water park with only +27 degrees, so we spontaneously decide to visit the 'Three Churches', the Abrahamic Family House.

Admission is free, but you have to book a tour in advance (and we don't know if we have to do the tour or if we can also visit the churches by ourselves?). We try to book a tour at 10:40, but fail with the booking system, which kicks us out every time we try to book via smartphone. Okay, then we'll just go there and see what happens.

The Abrahamic Family House has its own parking garage with security. At the entrance, our bags are checked and we have to go through a body scanner - almost like at the airport.

At a check-in terminal, we have to register and can then enter the reception building without booking a tour. We are immediately greeted by a friendly staff member who explains everything to us. For the visit to the mosque, we need appropriate clothing again and actually have a bandana, scarf, and jacket with us, but when the lady offers us to borrow a fancy garment for free, we don't say no.

So my daughter and I go to the mosque dressed in black robes. Son and husband find our outfits very "interesting".

The mosque is quite impressive, but what impresses us even more is the Baptistry Church with its striking wooden structure under the roof, which is located a few meters away. We reach the Baptistry Church via the rooftop terrace, which offers a nice panoramic view of all 3 churches and the Louvre, including the construction project on Saadiyat Island.

The huge sail-like structure of the future Museum of Natural History is particularly eye-catching. Impressive!

The last of the 3 churches is the synagogue. I really like the exterior structure here again, which looks like a small maze with its poles and pillars.

Next stop: Louvre Abu Dhabi!

We have been here a few years ago and always wanted to come back, but it never fit into our schedule (yes, always this "theme park" stress 😊). Also, the last 2 times we were here, it was simply too hot with over +40 degrees to enjoy the Louvre.

We're making up for that today. The wind is blowing at a maximum of +27 degrees. Really unusually "cool" for the end of April, but perfect for sightseeing and outdoor activities!

First, we head straight to the museum café and have lunch. Not a cheap pleasure, but our 4 main courses (noodles, burger & rice dish) are really delicious.

We start by visiting the special exhibition "Bollywood". Whether you like this type of music or not - the exhibition is great! We are particularly excited about the "interactive version" in front of the green screen, which transports you directly into a Bollywood movie and invites you to dance along. Lots of fun! The huge bean bags distributed in front of the big screens in the room also invite you to relax while the highlights of the last 10 years of Bollywood history are displayed on the screen.

We stroll through the children's exhibition and interactive exhibition to the main exhibitions of the Louvre. From sculptures to paintings from all possible eras, mummies and sarcophagi, and exhibits from all countries and various eras. It's nice to be able to walk through the Louvre in a relaxed manner this time. Last time we were quite rushed and only visited a small part of the exhibition.

New are also the sea turtles in the area in front of the museum café. There are various turtles of all sizes in a large seawater pool. At first, we wonder why turtles are suddenly being kept here in the Louvre, but then we read that they are rescued animals that are either no longer viable in nature due to injuries or are being rehabilitated and will be released back into the wild. On closer inspection, we notice that some turtles are missing limbs. Most of the time, it is a missing front or hind leg. We just catch the end of the feeding, then we sit on the large stone steps for a while and watch the turtles.

In the afternoon, we drive a short distance to the promenade at Soul Beach, past the construction site for the world's largest Guggenheim Museum. We park in the parking garage of Carrefour supermarket, get some ice cream, and sit down on the promenade overlooking Soul Beach, where there is no wind today and all the umbrellas are open. Hopefully, we will have the same luck tomorrow as we plan to spend a day at Soul Beach.

In the evening, I go to Yas Mall with my cousin. Tomorrow my daughter will turn 19 - we want to celebrate that and quickly buy a birthday cake. She has no idea that tomorrow we will surprise her with a decorated birthday table and a cake.

And she will have another very special surprise tomorrow - oh, I hope she won't suspect anything and be surprised. At least I'm already very excited 🥰