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Showing posts from November, 2023

Desalination

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  Pictured above is Dubai’s Jebel Ali desalination plant, the world’s largest, converting over 550 million gallons of seawater to fresh water every day. It is one of 70 major desalination plants in the UAE, which account for 14% of the world’s desalination production. This is how we can live in a desert. The facility uses a reverse osmosis (RO) process where water molecules are pushed through filters at very high pressure.  The salt molecules are too big to fit and don’t go through.  It’s the same process we use at our Maine house only on a much grander scale.  This water filtration uses an incredibly amount of power.  So, it makes sense that the Dubai plant sits next to the world largest gas-fired power plant, producing 8.6 Gigawatts of energy . . .  I wonder how many DeLoreans that would power? Below is an image of the entire complex from the water

Yacht Rock Dubai

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Afternoon on the water this past weekend  We chartered this beauty for 4 hours, cruising around the Dubai Marina and the Palm Jumeirah for the afternoon.  This is a 50ft Azimut, an Italian brand. Below is a view of Dubai Harbour.  The building in the center with the wing-like roof is the yacht club   Got some great views from the water.  Below you can see the Dubai Marina, the Address Hotel (with the hole in the middle), and the Ain Dubai on the right  The Royal Atlantis, one of the newest luxury hotels in Dubai.  They hired BeyoncĂ© to perform when it opened last spring . . .  The Atlantis.  Same company as the one in the Bahamas. Also, similar architecture (maybe the same?) We got some great close up views of the Burj Al Arab that we had seen earlier in the week from the beach.  The Jumeirah Beach Hotel can be seen in the background.  The sheik’s yacht. Apparently out enjoying the afternoon as well Distant view of the downtown Duba...

The Palatial Day - Abu Dhabi

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The Sheik Zayed Mosque. The first of our amazing architectural wonders (stats in an earlier post).  Spent the day in Abu Dhabi. Although Dubai is a center for business and tourism, Abu Dhabi is the capital of the UAE. They are the two most known of the seven emirates that comprise the country.  The perfect “vanishing point” perspective . . .   Aerial view of the Rixos hotel Aerial view of the presidential palace, formerly known as Qasr Al Watan A truly amazing  place where no one actually lives. It is used for state visits and otherwise administrative functions of government, much like the US capitol building (minus that democracy thing). One of the largest doors in the world . . .  Library . . . . View of the Abu Dhabi skyline outside of the presidential palace Aerial view of the Emirates Palace (hotel) with the presidential palace in the background A closer view of the Emirates Palace. Julie and I stayed here for a long weekend last January Stopped inside...