7 Stars in the Neighborhood

As I've mentioned before, there are no addresses in Abu Dhabi. Giving directions is often like playing Pictionary or Charades and usually includes landmarks such as "turn right at the little coffee shop where all the taxi drivers hang out and smoke shisha..." Luckily for us, we live just down the street from the world's most expensive hotel. All we have to say is "take a left at the 3.8 billion dollar palace where Vladimir Putin is staying this week." There is usually no confusion about what we mean.

How did this palace come to be built? Here was the problem...where to put visiting dignitaries and Justin Timberlake when they come to visit to capital while taking some of the wind out of Dubai's sail at the same time. The solution, build a bigger, better palace. This is the way they "keep up with the Joneses" here in the United Arab Emirates.