I've been in Abu Dhabi for two days now. I'm proud to say that I'm on the correct sleep cycle for the time zone, but I fully attribute that to my being a relatively youthful age, and the fact that I slept for a total of 15 minutes on the flights over here.

Today we visited Emirates Palace. Talk about fancy! Just in case you didn't already know, it's a huge hotel that looks like a palace. 

No joke. This is for real. A real hotel. 

This is a totally private beach, we were only allowed to walk to the end of the paved stuff, the security guard was eyeing us as we got near the sand. 

We ate GOLD at the Emirates Palace. 

Here is a photo of the Hot Chocolate sprinkled with gold flakes. 

And of course, here is a photo of my sister (jasmin) and her three boys (davey, charlie, and the un-born boy). 

I have taken lots more photos but I'll save explanation and posting for another day - because it's night time for me, most likely not for you. 

sidenote: if you ever find yourself flying somewhere in this region, I highly suggest Turkish Airlines and Etihad. Nice seats, little foot rests, large individual television screens with a vast number of movies to choose from, and pretty decent food (as long as you're not allergic to nuts (like I am) you'll love it).