Abu Dhabi. Surreal in the desert.

It's easy to write of the success of the UAE by calling it 'oil money'. But the truth is many countries have oil money. Norway has harnessed its natural resources in a prudent long term development fashion, Nigeria failed to be a wise and strategic.

Abu Dhabi, often considered Dubai's older wiser and more conservative brother is a surprising place. Opulent, massive and towering. Architecturally it is stunning but stark in its modernity. It leaves a visitor wondering if, like the golden Trump Tower from the 1980s in Manhattan, that time will treat Abu Dhabi's business district with a fashionable award or the scorn of so many post-modern places?