At the Netball tournament we played under the shadow of the ground that Ronaldo and Bale were soon to grace
But before that football match I had a match to play myself and a few runs to fit in.
Karen had her daily workout in the CrossFit Yas outside gym while I jogged around the marina
The luxury yachts dotted around the place are hard not to stop and admire. This is my excuse for snail pace times on my runs.
while the owners sat and dined on-board or watched from balconies from the Viceroy Hotel, Formula 1 cars raced practice laps with other high performance motors.
I tried different views around the track, and from inside the Hotel
Fantastic hotel, amazing marina and 23 Degs sunshine to run in at 08:30 in the morning is a tad better than the conditions in UK or Spain this week. 
A few personal bests on the jogs show the good living with Karen and Tommy (steaks, red wine, salmon, single malts, Stars ‘n’ Bars beer nights) is not doing any harm.
Loosened up in the mornings, sightseeing days and I’m good for more evening sport. Football on the semi-synthetic grass that lets you wear normal studded boots is superb. Some of the players are a little younger than me (ok, lots younger) but no quarter given once we kick-off. A great 90 mins and then three hours with a beer talking about what the passes and shots should have been.
A morning recovery run past the biggest yacht at Yas Island happened to be when the garage was open.
A cross deck gantry inside is used to move its power boat out either side for launch, what a boys toy this boat is!
The longest boat fitting inside the Marina is twice the length of my first Royal Navy Warship (HMS Hubberston)
I thought I would wear the Commodore polo shirt I’d earned from 2 years leading the Gloucester Yacht Club as I’m around boaters.
An appropriate rig to escort my sister to our drinks in the Stratos satellite revolving tower. She was organising a special brother/sister adiós, or celebrating my room eviction?
Timed for sunset, we watched Abu Dhabi rooftops as we circled with ‘sundowners’ of whisky sours, then a few merlot’s before the Whiskology tasting event
Tommy gave a call to ask if we were staying up the tower with the whisky flowing, or meeting him to watch the World Club Match.
His pictures were good, Ronaldo and Gareth Bale both scored, so a shame to miss the game, but eviction night drinks were going down well🤷🏻♂️ queues were long to get in – easy choice
My packed bags wait for the lift to Downtown, where the Emirates Airways free shuttle will drive me to Dubai. My Airbus 800 experience will be repeated, as will the Madrid satellite terminal to T4 dash, then T4 to T3 to get the T1,2,3 car park bus and start the 5 hour drive south,
Geriatric Gap Years 
Had a great 2 weeks , packed in loads! Xx
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