Most things glitter and is really gold in Abu Dhabi

The Atrium Dome, inside the Emirates Palace

"Oh, everything in Abu Dhabi is gold," laughs our cousin Jam. We had spent the better part of the afternoon gaping at the many luxury cars that seemed to be commonplace on highways, and the many luxury hotels that studded the coast like rhinestones, "they have gold in their teeth, on their fingers, in their hair, under their deserts...it's like gold is just another decorating material!" She brought us inside the Emirates Palace, a seven star hotel where a night could cost up to fifteen thousand pounds, and everything is trimmed in gold, where the topmost floor is out of bounds for anybody who isn't an Arabian Royal. We looked up at the ceiling, our heads dizzy from all the vacuous chaos of luxury. The child in me wondered if once upon a time in the desert, someone had found a jinni and had asked for boundless prosperity, and the jinni, ever wise, gave him oil saying "this gold will have you prosper," and that was how all of this came to be.