Abu Dhabi Culture in every sense.
One of the many things I admire about Abu Dhabi is its dedication to keep developing the city and keeping up to speed with the quickly modernizing society while still managing to keep rooted in its culture.
It is amazing to see that through the UAE's aspiration for modernity, a lot of their cultural heritage has been preserved. This building of the <a Abu Dhabi Cultural Foundation is but one example. They have managed to reach out to the future without losing grasp of their past.
We have recently visited the Souk Al Mina, located next to Zayed Port, Abu Dhabi. Despite living here in the city for almost 18 years, it was our first time going there.
We drove past the Mina Fish Market and the Mina Plant Market before we reached the Souk Al Mina.
Souk literally means "market" in Arabic and Souk Al Mina is not like those big malls and modern shops that are now present in the city, but instead a line of small shops with different merchandise from textiles to oudh, to bicycles, and tasty food.
The old buildings of the souk was given a face lift to provide the residents (and tourists) of the city a new family destination to experience the traditional Emirati heritage while still keeping abreast with the modern trends.
It is given a tag line, "a souk hub to relive the times gone by". True enough, that is the vibe that the place gives. It is free from the buzz of the city centre and when here, it is best to just immense oneself in what the place has to offer.
The pathways are lined with patterned tiles and the perfect arches and pillars are noteworthy as traditional Arabic architectural elements.
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Apart from local shops, there are seafood restaurants and coffee shops present at the Souk Al Mina. They still have outdoor seating set up to take advantage of the still fairly good weather.
There are several date palm trees boxed around by benches where people can sit and just admire the surroundings and nearby port.
Coffee shops and restaurants have their chairs and table set up facing the port. We still have a few weeks to enjoy this outdoor setup before summer kicks in an it becomes unbearably hot.
The back of Souk Al Mina, just facing the port is a wide space for community activities such as the Weekend events currently ongoing until the end of April.
Weekend Events
We came here on a Friday just before we head to the Abu Dhabi Children's Library. It was past noon but the weather was nice and cool, we could afford to bask under the sun and check out the cool booths and play areas.
The community weekend event happens every Friday to Sunday this month of March until the end of April. It opens from 4:00 pm to 10:00 pm but apart from the booths, the kids enjoyed practically every facilities there.
There's a giant tic-tac-toe, snakes and ladders, 4-in-a-row, and football soccer arcade table, and a bouncy castle which we were able to play with freely. The advantage? We practically had the whole place to ourselves apart from another family.
Of course, there are special events happening when this opens like face painting, balloon twisting, and puppet shows, but the kids preferred going to the library than waiting for it.
There are also some other activities that focus on traditional Arab culture like henna painting, cooking, and exhibits.
Playground
The kids also tried out this new playground just next to the activity centre. There were slides and a mini obstacle course that my kids tried once but they did not stay here for long.
The playground is more suitable to small children, perhaps 6 years and below.
The ground is sandy and would be best enjoyed if bare-foot, maybe? But since we had somewehere else to go, that was not an option for us.
All in all, we enjoyed our side trip to Souk Al Mina. The parking, I forgot to mention earlier is free. Other ways to get there are through taxi and public bus number 56.
I would have loved to eat in one of the sea food restaurants here, but the kids are not very enthusiastic sea food eaters. Maybe next time, I can come back with the husband and try them out.
