"You go home for a month's vacation and when you return you cannot recognise the area you were living," is the common saying. While that may be an exaggeration, there are some places you will not recognise today from a few years ago.

The face of Abu Dhabi Corniche has changed as the emirate becomes the art and culture centre of the region. Recently the Corniche was dotted with giant sculptures, showing how taste in art has changed over the years.

Abu Dhabi airport looks a lot different today and passengers recently took a trip into the past when they had a look at the skeleton of a huge 23-metre long Brontosaurus weighing 4.5 tonnes at the arrivals hall in Terminal 1. The skeleton of Einstein, the 140 million year old dinosaur was then auctioned later on.

A look at the street scene of Abu Dhabi looks quite calm compared to today's stressful traffic situation.

With the growth in the number of cars, residents also find it very difficult finding parking space in the capital.

The confiscation of bicycles still continues in Dubai today.