Wednesday, March 10, 2010

A Night at the Souk

Last night we (meaning me, Jon, and 4 of his co-workers) went to the old souk to have a look around and grab some dinner. For those of you who have been reading for a while, you might have an idea of what the souk is being that we've been to Qatar 4 times now. But for my newer readers, the souk is otherwise known as the market. This is where vendors come to sell their goods; such as souvenirs, clothing, scarves, fabric, foods, pottery, wooden sculptures, jewelry, spices, and so on and so fourth.

We had a little look around but were more interested in what to have for dinner and with Jon's advice we stopped to eat at a Moroccan restaurant. Jon and I had been to this restaurant on a previous visit to Qatar and we remembered the Moroccan tea was amazing, so we had to have it again. The restaurant is really beautiful, with a balcony overlooking the souk, and a projector screen playing traditional Qatar music. The weather was perfect so we took the opportunity to sit outside. Here are a couple of shots from the evening.

The restaurant from balcony

The view from the restaurant balcony

We all ordered traditional Moroccan food. I had the mixed grill, which consisted of chicken, lamb and beef kebabs and some sausage. And of course my husband who always has to try something different, went with CAMEL!

Jon's camel!

Trying some traditional Qatar Shisha
It was grape flavored! Yum!

Before we knew it was after 10 and Jon and his co-workers had to be up by 5, so we headed back to the hotel and crashed for the night. I always love going to the souk! Hopefully we'll get another go at it before we leave next week.

Wishing you a happy Wednesday all the way from Qatar!

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Audio Books Rock!

Does anyone else find laying out kind of boring? Sorry... I know, I know, maybe I'm a little A.D.D... but I mean come on... when you're laying out by yourself, can't it be soooo boring sometimes? That's why I downloaded several audio books and they are really doing the trick. I don't pay attention to the fact that I am dying of a heat stroke, sweating profusely, and sticky from sunscreen... I'm just totally enthralled in the books. So to you audio books... "I THANK YOU! You're going to get this white Irish girl some sun!" (and then I'll burn, peel, and be white again.)

But don't get me wrong, at least I'm getting to enjoy the sun, I can NOT complain. I am more than happy to be some place warm!! I only get so many days here so I am going to enjoy every minute!

I mentioned this yesterday in my post, but I am listening to the Janet Evanovich audio books. I listened to "One for the Money" yesterday, and started "Two for the Dough" today.


They're awesome! I am going to go ahead and buy the series (there are 16 books as of now) and I think they'll definitely be a series I could read again. You should check em out.

Wishing you a GREAT Tuesday from Qatar!

Monday, March 8, 2010

Back in Qatar

We arrived safely to Qatar. Actually, arrived Sunday morning at 4 a.m. Ya that's right 4:00 a.m. It all started with a snow storm and a plane delay in Frankfurt, a 1 and 1/2 hour flight delay in which we sat on the plane. Sadly, because of this flight delay we missed our connecting flight in Bahrain. And Sadly, because of the missed flight we spent 6 LOVELY HOURS waiting to catch another plane to Qatar. AWESOME!

Before we left Germany we stopped to grab a couple of coffees past the security check in one of the airport shops. There were ran into a couple of pilots buying loads of beer. After joking around with them a bit, come to find out they were actually our pilots. They assured us they'd wait until after the flight to partake in the booze fest ;) I told them we'd love to join them! Later we saw them walking to the gate and one of them asked our seat numbers. We were pleasantly surprised when after the flight took off a bottle of champagne was brought to us compliments of the First Pilot.

We totally felt like first class passengers
(sitting in coach of course.)

Everyone kept staring and wondering why were were given this awesome bottle of champagne. My husband had to dingy idea to tell everyone were on our honeymoon. I mean because who wouldn't want to spend their honeymoon in Qatar!! No offense Qatar, you really are pretty cool. We thoroughly enjoyed the entire bottle of champagne whilst watching Up in the Air. Great flick, we highly recommend it.

After arriving in Bahrain and our ridiculously long layover, our flight didn't take off until 1:40 a.m. By the time we got to our hotel, we were exhausted, but thankful to have arrived safely. The hotel is actually very nice. This is the nicest room we have stayed at in Qatar.

Of course I took pictures!

Poor Jon had to work yesterday after only getting about 3 hours of sleep. In Qatar they work Sunday through Thursday and have Friday and Saturday off for the weekend. Sunday night after Jon got back to the hotel from work, we did absolutely nothing. We ordered room service and watched Animal Planet, as happy as little larks.

Today I spent some much needed time in the sun by the pool. The weather is lovely here!! So much better thank snow and 30 degrees like it is in Germany. I have been so looking forward to spending some time soaking in the vitamin D and reading my Janet Evanovich books that my mom's been trying to get me to read since I can remember.



This Irish girl needs a tan like BAD. Of course, I only spent about 2 hours out there in fear of burning like I did the last time I was in Qatar...

Last May... OUCH
This time I am prepared with over 4 different bottles of sunscreen all with different SPF's. Let's see if I can go without getting burnt this time.

I hope you all have a wonderful week! I'll be back with more pictures from our Adventures in Qatar!

Friday, March 5, 2010

Off To Warmer Climates

Hello lovely friends, family, and blogging buddies!

Jon and I are off to Qatar tomorrow morning bright and early.

Trekking the Sand Dunes in Qatar.

Jon has another business trip there, so we'll be heading out for a little Middle Eastern adventure. I am so happy that I get to travel with him! I look forward to catching some rays, catching up on some reading, and catching some American flicks! Oh and not to mention eat some yummy American food... HELLLLLOOO Chili's and Macaroni Grill, here I come ;) But I must say the traditional food in Qatar is mighty tasty as well. I am mostly looking forward to the warmth and the sun!! This Okie girl needs some major Vitamin D.

I look forward to finally catching up with my blog reading... I am SOOOOO far behind, I don't even know whats happening in blogland!

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!
I'll definitely be posting some pictures and stories from our trip.
So stop by and check out our Adventures in Qatar.

Monday, March 1, 2010

Lovin' Me Some Photographs

I have been dying to have photographs taken of Jon and me in Germany, just for the heck of it! and this weekend we finally got the chance. Our lovely friend Jessica came to our home on Saturday morning, worked her magic, and captured some fantastic memories for us. I was so happy she had suggested taking some photographs in our house and around some of the downtown area, because I always want to be able to remember "the time we lived in Europe." I couldn't be happier with the way they turned out. She is so talented and I think she did a fantastic job! I thought I'd share a few on the ole' blog!

Which ones are your favorites?

To see the rest of the photographs click here!