Friday, January 6, 2012

Volvo Ocean Races

The Volvo Ocean Races is an annual event and this year they had a stop in Abu Dhabi.  It is an event that I wasn’t familiar with, but there was a bunch of stuff going on up at the Corniche so we took Cameron up to check it all out (the big kids were off at a friend’s house.).

 

       P1000357     P1000358

There was a souk set-up when we first walked in and since I’ve been out and about quite a bit, there wasn’t much there that I hadn’t seen somewhere before.

The name of the area was “Abu Dhabi Destination Village”.  I think it’s like when there is an Olympic Village.  There are lots of things to see and do about the event, hands on activities and more.

           P1000361       P1000362

           Cameron was excited to find someone making balloon swords!             Brian tried out “the ride”, a simulation of the ocean races

           P1000395     P1000363

We checked out a 3d movie about the ocean races.  Wow!  It’s incredible.  People train for an entire year and it’s a lengthy process building the best boat.  There are teams representing several different countries (although none from the US – at least not this year).  The conditions are harsh and they are at sea for several months, with stops along the way.   It’s very physical and amazing to see a film about.

                                   P1000368           P1000369

There were things to see everywhere.  Including a cool video screen tower and different simulations.

         P1000379     P1000372     P1000387

You could try and drive a ball out to the hole that was floating on the water.  This was art of a marketing thing set-up for the upcoming HSBC Golf Tournament.  If you made a hole in one you had the chance to win something.  Brian made it to the green, I landed in the water, pretty close to where I teed off.

          P1000374          P1000376

Cameron had fun playing too.  There was a little race track area for kids his age and he played on a tractor and road a car around the tracks.

       P1000392       P1000394

They even had different lounges and restaurants that were erected just for the event.  You could also sign up for boat rides and other activities too.  We did as much as we could handle in one day and it was lots of fun and wonderful weather for it!

No comments: