Yas Island and Ferrari World

This weekend we headed into Abu Dhabi to spend the weekend on Yas Island at Yas Island Hotel.  This is a 5-star hotel, which was quite apparent from the moment we arrived!!  This is the first hotel ever to be built over a Formula One race circuit.  Everything inside is futuristic looking and designed to be ergonomic (although that doesn't always work out to mean comfortable or convenient!)  I decided as long as it looked modernistic, they didn't care if it was functional or not.

Hotel lobby

Hotel at night

Looking down on the hotel--you can see the marina in the bottom left, and the race track running through and around the hotel.

Hotel room

Everything was very futuristic

Marina view from our balcony

Marina view at night--you can see the turn of the raceway--we could watch this from our balcony.....but it was NOISY!!!  Fortunately, they stopped running the cars around 10:00!!

We got there early on Thursday so we could spend some quality pool time to chill down from the work week.  Then, we ate at Amici, an Italian restaurant, which was pretty good.

Amici--Italian cuisine--Thursday night (S.H.I.T--Sure Happy It's Thursday!!)

We then headed outside to Origins so we could have a drink as we watched the cars running laps around the hotel.

Watching cars on the Formula 1 race track that circles the hotel and marina

Then we went up to the top floor to the SkyLite to end the evening.

Fun end to an evening!

The next day was full-on pool day!  We got there early and stayed late.  There's an indoor infinity pool, but we enjoyed the outdoor deck pool.

Looking back at the main part of the outdoor pool.  At the end, it cascades down a wall into a smaller children's pool.

Soaking up some rays....the temperature reached 111 on Sunday!

Looking up from my chair at the planes flying into Abu Dhabi.....Every time I got in the pool, the HUGE airplanes would fly over.  When I got out of the pool and had my camera, here came the smaller planes.  It got to be quite a joke!!  Because of the extreme heat, we didn't stay out of the pool for too long!

Heading out to eat on Friday night....We decided to "share" the scarf--ha-ha!!

We ate that night at Kazu, a Japanese restaurant, where apparently we were celebrating my birthday....who knew!!  Birthday surprise!  I was singing "Happy Birthday" to Heather, then they brought the cake to me....Aren't Cory and Kim so funny?!!  We also had Green Tea Ice Cream--it was actually quite tasty.

Sushi....

Heading back to our room through the "StarTrek" corridors:  Live Long and Prosper!

Then, Saturday morning, more pool time before heading to Ferrari World.  We were ready to ride a thrill coaster!  The whole theme park is built around the Ferrari car motif......thus, "Ferrari World"....duh, right?

Cory and Kim decide to get oriented ~ Men....and their directions!!

Double-wide trucks

Scuderia Challenge:  racing simulators
Cory came in first, Kim was second, Heather was third, I was fifth (out of 8 racers).  I crashed head first into a wall at 200 kph, so my recovery time set me back--ha-ha!!

G-Force:  launched 62 meters into the sky 

Fiorano GT Challenge:  roller coaster in a F430 Spider, with each coaster racing to the finish line

This is right before take-off on the Formula Rossa, world's fastest roller coaster.  It travels 240 kilometers per hour and goes from 1 to 100 km in 2 seconds!

Take off!

What a WILD ride!  Cory had money in his button-down pocket; Kim had our 4 entry tickets in his button-down pocket; Heather had her hair pulled back with a hair tie; I had on a t-shirt.....When the ride ended, Cory's and Kim's pockets were empty, Heather's hair was loose, and my shirt was half-way down my arm!  NEVER experienced anything quite that fast!!

Little cars for the tykes

Because there aren't very many "thrill" rides, I'm not sure I would ever go back to Ferrari World, but it was definitely worth a visit!  After Ferrari World, it was time to head home to get ready for another work week....heavy sigh.....