UAE hotel Erects 11-million-dollar Christmas Tree

ABU DHABI (AFP) – Christmas came in extravagant fashion to the Muslim desert emirate of Abu Dhabi as a glitzy hotel unveiled a bejewelled Christmas tree valued at more than 11 million dollars on Wednesday. The 13-metre (40-foot) faux evergreen, located in the gold leaf-bedecked rotunda of the hotel, is decorated with silver and gold bows, ball-shaped ornaments and small white lights.

But the necklaces, earrings and other jewellery draped around the tree's branches are what give it a record value.

It holds a total of 181 diamonds, pearls, emeralds, sapphires and other precious stones, said Khalifa Khouri, owner of Style Gallery, which provided the jewellery. The tree itself is about 10,000 dollars," Olbertz said. "The jewellery has a value of over 11 million dollars -- I think 11.4, 11.5."

Asked if the tree might offend religious sensibilities in the United Arab Emirates, where the vast majority of the local population is Muslim, Olbertz said he did not think it would. "It's a very liberal country," he said

Now that gas is $3.19 a gallon where I live, and many people are out of jobs and won't have much of a Christmas dinner, this kind of story warms my heart.

The next time I buy gas, I will remember that my money goes to fund this sickening display of over-the-top opulence...

Really?


news.yahoo.com...

Already discussed here:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

reply to post by BlackPoison94


Thanks, I did a search,
but it didn't come up-

No problemo

Oh and it's mentioned here:

www.abovetopsecret.com...

The search feature here is akin to a reverse lottery.

If you win, you find posts from 2007 that don't match anything.

If you lose, it tells you no matches found.

One thing needs to be really really really fixed.. THE SEARCH feature.

Oo