Abu Dhabi

In transit from Joburg to Mumbai I happened to have a layover in Abu Dhabi- an 18 hour layover.  I was excited at first, I'd have the entire day to tour around the city, but then after not sleeping a wink on the 8hour flight in I became a bit more hesitant.  Thankfully I ran into another American who had just spent 12 hours in the airport, regretting his decision to not leave the airport.  He gave me tips I needed about transport, how much things should cost, and explained a few things I could do in town.  I caught a bus into the city and finally fell asleep! Great, yet I missed my stop so I got off at the end of the line and just started walking around.  It was so beautiful- mosques around every corner, clean streets, glass skyscrapers, and parks.  The men would step off the curb to give me space as I passed.  There were meter maids.  The skyscrapers had a green tint to them, so it legit looked like the Emerald City.  The park had hundreds of kids playing and no trash to be found. Amazing city.  To top it all off, after spending about an hour hanging out on the beach, watching speed boats race around in circles, I asked a man where to catch the bus back to the airport.  Turns out he was headed that way, delivering food from his restaurant- offered me a ride.  We ran in to the restaurant to pick up an order and I left with hummus, chicken masala, and oh so much garlic butter nan.  Even though I still had about 10 hours to wait at the airport, I had a full, happy belly the whole time.  Abu Dhabi was amazing!