Steve had this week off of work and for my Valentine's and Birthday gifts he planned a week of memories for me. Each day we went out and did something fun or different. I'd say he did a great job, even though not everything turned out the way he planned. But it's Doha, you can't expect everything to go as planned.
Last Saturday (the 16th) started our week of memories. There is a greenhouse northwest of the city where we went a few months ago to get plants. We went again with the kids and got more plants, partly because we wanted more flowering plants, and partly because I killed the bonsai we had. :( I'm still trying to get a green thumb. We got some flowering plants for the kitchen window sill, a plumeria tree that will hopefully leaf and blossom next week, and some aloe vera. We were only going to get one aloe vera, but they didn't have 10 riyals ($2.74) for change and since the aloe was cheap at only 10 riyals, we got another. It was either that or flowers that wouldn't last through the summer, but aloe is a desert plant, it'll survive.
While we were out that way, we went to the Sheikh (pronounced 'shake') Faisal Bin Qassim Al-Thani Museum. It is basically his personal collection of things. It's very eclectic. There's old weapons, which I thought was pretty cool. They were all from around the middle east and were very different from western and european weapons. Much more decorated and curved. Almost all of the swords were curved as were the stockes of the rifles.
This museum also had old classic cars, including a steam engine car built in 1889.
There was a small plane inside as well as a couple of dhows. There was a working well, and also matchboxes and what looked like school notebooks, and a tupperware of rocks. It was a strange mix of things, but fun to see. We didn't even see all of it. I saw a room on the way to take Big E to the restroom that was labeled dinosaur bones, and another manuscripts. So we'll have to go back sometime and see the rest.
We went home for lunch and nap and a bit of grocery shopping before heading out again for Souq Waqif. There's a spring festival going on so we went down to see. And yes, my birthday is now in the spring, didn't you know? The traffic around the souq was as bad as we expected so it wasn't stressful this time. Steve dropped the kids and me off and went to find a parking spot. While we waited for Steve, we saw a parade of people on stilts and some playing horns. They were all dressed as if they were in a circus, but the music was things like "Baby Elephant Walk" or Sousa's "Stars and Strips". I recognized all that they played. One of the stilt walkers tried to give Big E a high-five. But he was too nervous, and it made Miss A cry.
We followed the parade down a ways to where they stopped and performed for a while. The Souq is set up to be all pedestrian, though it looks like a street with shops and restaurants that line it. This was the first time we brought the kids to the souq and Big E was not okay with it at first. I stopped off to the side to wait for Steve and he kept saying "Please can you move over, Mom? Move over." He was jittery and kept looking around. Poor guy. Miss A was fine as long as no one came up to her and she was strapped in the stroller. But people here sometimes come up to the kids and touch their heads or cheeks and talk to them. And then they move on.
We ate a small, out of the way restaurant where a stray/feral kitten wandered around the tables (we dined sort of outside, the restaurant was not on the main walk through, it was in the covered part, but we weren't in the shop, if that makes any sense.). Big E thought that was great and the more quite location helped him be calm. He doesn't really like big crowds or really loud things.
During dinner we kept hearing a really loud fan turn on and off, so we went to investigate. It was a big fan where you stand on top of it and when it's on you slowly turn yourself so that you are perpendicular to the air flow and you float. We also saw a human cannon, which wasn't as impressive as I had hoped. The announcer talked way too much and almost lost my attention. Big E was really nervous about that one too.
We found the pet section of the souq and saw crazy colored chicks, and baby bunnies, and parakeets.
The bunnies are on top of the cage of colored chicks. I guess a yellow chick isn't as cute as a hot pink one.
We also went to the falcon souq to see the falcons.
Last Saturday (the 16th) started our week of memories. There is a greenhouse northwest of the city where we went a few months ago to get plants. We went again with the kids and got more plants, partly because we wanted more flowering plants, and partly because I killed the bonsai we had. :( I'm still trying to get a green thumb. We got some flowering plants for the kitchen window sill, a plumeria tree that will hopefully leaf and blossom next week, and some aloe vera. We were only going to get one aloe vera, but they didn't have 10 riyals ($2.74) for change and since the aloe was cheap at only 10 riyals, we got another. It was either that or flowers that wouldn't last through the summer, but aloe is a desert plant, it'll survive.
While we were out that way, we went to the Sheikh (pronounced 'shake') Faisal Bin Qassim Al-Thani Museum. It is basically his personal collection of things. It's very eclectic. There's old weapons, which I thought was pretty cool. They were all from around the middle east and were very different from western and european weapons. Much more decorated and curved. Almost all of the swords were curved as were the stockes of the rifles.
This museum also had old classic cars, including a steam engine car built in 1889.
There was a small plane inside as well as a couple of dhows. There was a working well, and also matchboxes and what looked like school notebooks, and a tupperware of rocks. It was a strange mix of things, but fun to see. We didn't even see all of it. I saw a room on the way to take Big E to the restroom that was labeled dinosaur bones, and another manuscripts. So we'll have to go back sometime and see the rest.
We went home for lunch and nap and a bit of grocery shopping before heading out again for Souq Waqif. There's a spring festival going on so we went down to see. And yes, my birthday is now in the spring, didn't you know? The traffic around the souq was as bad as we expected so it wasn't stressful this time. Steve dropped the kids and me off and went to find a parking spot. While we waited for Steve, we saw a parade of people on stilts and some playing horns. They were all dressed as if they were in a circus, but the music was things like "Baby Elephant Walk" or Sousa's "Stars and Strips". I recognized all that they played. One of the stilt walkers tried to give Big E a high-five. But he was too nervous, and it made Miss A cry.
We followed the parade down a ways to where they stopped and performed for a while. The Souq is set up to be all pedestrian, though it looks like a street with shops and restaurants that line it. This was the first time we brought the kids to the souq and Big E was not okay with it at first. I stopped off to the side to wait for Steve and he kept saying "Please can you move over, Mom? Move over." He was jittery and kept looking around. Poor guy. Miss A was fine as long as no one came up to her and she was strapped in the stroller. But people here sometimes come up to the kids and touch their heads or cheeks and talk to them. And then they move on.
We ate a small, out of the way restaurant where a stray/feral kitten wandered around the tables (we dined sort of outside, the restaurant was not on the main walk through, it was in the covered part, but we weren't in the shop, if that makes any sense.). Big E thought that was great and the more quite location helped him be calm. He doesn't really like big crowds or really loud things.
During dinner we kept hearing a really loud fan turn on and off, so we went to investigate. It was a big fan where you stand on top of it and when it's on you slowly turn yourself so that you are perpendicular to the air flow and you float. We also saw a human cannon, which wasn't as impressive as I had hoped. The announcer talked way too much and almost lost my attention. Big E was really nervous about that one too.
We found the pet section of the souq and saw crazy colored chicks, and baby bunnies, and parakeets.
The bunnies are on top of the cage of colored chicks. I guess a yellow chick isn't as cute as a hot pink one.
We also went to the falcon souq to see the falcons.
After all that excitement, we walked the few blocks to the car and went home exhausted.
2 comments:
The museum sounds like the kunstkammera museum in St. Petersburg. It's basically whatever Peter the Great thought was cool. I don't know what your housing is like (do you have your own yard area or shed?) but if it's practical, you should totally get chicks one spring. My girls really loved it, and I'd imagine that you wouldn't have trouble giving them away once they're grown (if you don't mind them ending up in a soup pot)
Congratulations on your spring birthday! And your plumeria tree - I love, love, love plumeria!
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