Abu Dhabi is full of parks, there are 20 large and maintained ones, along with countless small ones many of those bordering mosques. The parks are part of a commitment from the ruling family to green the city. They are beautiful and I love seeing them everyday. At least once a week I take "my little angel" (the boy I tutor) to one. Sometimes we meet ladies from my small group at church and their friends and children. I love going alone and just taking in all the sights.
What is really great about the parks is how much people use them. Other than the three months each summer of unbearable heat they are used on a daily basis. And on weekends, holidays, and evenings the crowds come out. It reminds me of central Park in New York City, with the exception of the smoke from all the charcoal grills! They don't pack the typical cold food in a picnic basket. They come with bags and bags of food, folding chairs, folding tables, and make feasts in the park. And they stay for hours and hours and sit in circles and chat while the children run about (often with their Filipino nanny) on all the wonderful play equipment.
This is Khaladia Park, one of the family parks. Barry and I went on Tuesday, Dec. 10th with our folding chairs, a big blanket, a couple of books, and our sketch books to enjoy a beautiful day. We had mid 70's with sunshine and no clouds! I think we ended up staying four or five hours.
Several families were cooking with their grills all at the same time. It smelled yummy!
On weekends and Holidays many of the parks have huge inflatable slides, mazes, and etc. for entertainment. All of the family parks have many play structures all through out, with lots of trees for shade.
It is so nice to see how many people really use the parks! This was one Of the Eid days but it was no exception. This is pretty much what the park looks like on any given evening or weekend.
This really made barry and I laugh. They are huge mechanical animals that give children rides along with making noise! They had a panda, elephant, tiger, along with a few others.
Here's a little one going for a tiger ride!!
We could easily here the roaring from where we were sitting.
On weekends and Holidays there are horse and carriage rides during the cool season. They had two horses that were taking turns with the carriage. At one point when we were at the park the tethered horse got away and ran through the park. It was very amusing to see all these little children freeze in their tracks and start pointing at laughing at the runaway mare. After about ten minutes and arousing everyones attention the horse was finally tied back up again. It was a really enjoyable way to spend the day!
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