Saturday, December 18, 2010

Luxury tree

I think our Christmas tree cost something like $150. I could be overestimating, I'm not sure.

In Abu Dhabi, they don't mess around. They have a tree worth $11 million. It comes with gold ornaments and gem-studded bows. You'll find it at the Emirates Palace hotel, which boasts a vending machine that pops out small gold bars.

The 13 metre (43 foot) fake fir tree has 131 ornaments that include gold and precious stones such as diamonds and sapphires.

This could be the new world's most expensive Christmas tree. In case this seems odd, in fact Christmas spirit is not rare in the United Arab Emirates, which although it is officially Muslim, it hosts a huge foreign population. Malls are full of carollers, Santas and piped-in yuletide songs. Needless to say, the more conventional rulers of the land aren't that cozy to this display of Western tradition.

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