Fuwayrit

On Thursday we decided to explore a location about an hour away. We drove up the highway and got off when we saw the sign for Fuwayrit. There was a very small set of homes and beyond them we could see this long beach. After winding around, we were able to find an access road where we parked the car and had a picnic lunch.

The water was shallow and warm. There was a variety of shells that we collected along the beach.

A video

Enjoying some Christmas baking

Having all of the ingredients available this year, I decided to make a traditional Christmas cake (fruitcake). Yes it is solid, yes it has hard royal icing, yes it is moist, and yes my family likes it.

We also had a go at some coconut cookies with maraschino cherries. I didn't want to use Crisco and used coconut oil instead, but they had much too much of a coconut taste. They look festive and the children were happy to eat them anyway.

Christmas Day

Christmas day started with breakfast on the roof... with the weather in the mid-70's.

Then it was time to open stockings....

and also open gifts.

By mid-afternoon we were ready for lunch.

Christmas Eve

After spending the afternoon with friends, it was time to settle in for the evening. Notes were prepared for Santa along with some Baileys and a mince pie.

Santa came in the night and delivered lots of goodies.....

Arab Games Equestrian Event

We took advantage of seeing some Arab Games while we're here for the break. On the 23rd we went to see some horse jumping. It was a beautiful facility with hardly anyone there.

National Day

December 18 is Qatar National Day. We didn't realize what was involved, but as the day got closer, we noticed an interesting development. More and more cars seemed be displaying images of the royal family as well as national colors. There must be some sort of big sticker shop, because people had their cars turned into flags, photos of the royal family were covering the windows, some had small stickers of hearts and flags. It was certainly a show of patriotism that I have not seen elsewhere. We were in town for the eve of National Day and people were hanging out of their cars, playing music, blowing horns, and waving swords.

These are two nationally dressed boys who have the sweetest faces.

20th Wedding Anniversary

For our 20th Wedding Anniversary we went to the Four Season's Hotel in Doha. It has been 20 years since we've last been to a Four Seasons, so it was a real treat.

Our room had a cake and fondue ready for us upon arrival.

One of the best attributes to this hotel is the spa. There are indoor and outdoor pools, hot tubs, therapy pools, hot and cold dip pools, and hot rocks. It was a great place to relax and be pampered.

The view of the marina from our room.

This place is all about luxury and we enjoyed every minute of it.

A Desert Drive

Christmas In The Desert

On the first day of our winter vacation, we headed out to the inland sea with a group. This route was more adventurous than we had done before - riding the ridges of the dunes and great views of the water below.

At one point we were told to drive over the edge without being able to see the path beneath us. It provided a short thrill.

The desert is beginning to bloom with these winter flowers.

When we got to the beach, a Christmas tree was set up and decorated and the paella was put on the bbq. It was a great opportunity to catch up with friends and enjoy the views.

The water was cool (probably comparable to the Puget Sound in summer), but no-one wanted to go in.

The kids made a bunker.

Arab Games Gymnastics

For about three weeks, the Arab Games are taking place in Doha. On the weekend I went and bought some tickets to see artistic gymnastics. The tickets only cost about $2.50 each so I thought it would be some inexpensive entertainment.

Although it wasn't easy to get out on a school night, we headed into town. When we arrived at the venue, they didn't bother checking our tickets. I think they were just appreciative of having an audience. There must have only been a couple of hundred spectators at the most. So we sat where we wanted and had a great view. These athletes are by no means Olympic contenders, but it was interesting to see.

Our ride to the stadium....

Lots of empty seats...

The 'torch' which has a rotating restaurant at the top, a hotel and not sure what else??

Succumbed to an artificial tree

In the last two countries we have lived in, we have always had access to a living Christmas tree. At times we have paid too much, or gotten something a little bit scrawny, but we've appreciated the smell of pine in our house. Now that December has rolled around, we thought we should think about decorating the house for Christmas.


So we put up our advent calendar...
Hung up the stockings.....


Set up the winter village... (still searching for batting to make a snowy landscape)...

But we understood that there were no live trees in Doha. So on Thursday evening we went searching for an artificial tree. We have not had an artificial tree that I can remember (although I think we may have had one at one point in Beijing, China). There is one store that we have found with some Christmas decorations and that's where we found our tree.. It actually has a Sears label on it and comes with lights. My hunch is that these trees are the floor models from last year (some trees even had remnants of tinsel on them). It was discounted from the Sears price tag, but not a great deal. We have since decorated it and I'm happy not to have any needles to sweep or watering to do, but I do miss the pine smell. This one seems to have a bit of a musty smell. I have since been on the search for anything pine scented. The closest thing I could find was a toilet bowl freshner, so I have it hanging on one of the branches near then center post. It doesn't make a difference. I have been looking for pine sprays, but haven't found them yet. I will keep looking.

Singing Sand Dunes

On Friday we decided to go and find something known as the singing sand dunes. These are located about 45 minutes away and apparently they 'hum'.

On the way, we had to stop for a goat herd that was crossing the road.

We parked at the bottom of a dune, hiked to the top and had a view of sand for miles..

The kids tried 'sledding' on plastic trays.. It didn't work so well, they just seemed to be plowing in the sand..

If you were actually sliding down the slope, you could feel a vibration and hear a hum.. this was the 'singing' we suppose..

Somehow Madeline lost one flip flop in the sand. It got buried as she was climbing up and in spite of getting all of her friends to help her look, we never recovered it.

We built a fire and when the sun went down, we cooked a meal and watched the embers burn.

It does rain in the desert

Apparently we have had an unseasonably cold start to our winter... we've actually had a few rain showers and after the sun goes down it is slightly cool. Others have talked about taking out their oil heaters, but we compromise by actually closing our windows.