Doha Esphahan is for Lovers!
Happy Valentine’s Day, Here There and Everywhere readers!
Today, we are still in Doha, Qatar, and I have saved a very special restaurant to share with the, the Esphahan, in the heart of the restored Souk Waqif. It was so special that a friend took me there because she knew it would delight me, and it delighted me so much I had to take AdventureMan, so I got to eat here twice in the same trip. 🙂
Doha legend has it that the Amir of Qatar walked into this restaurant (somewhere? in Esphahan?) and said “I want this restaurant in Qatar!” It’s a wonderful thing to be the Amir of a country with all the natural gas resources in the world, and, as if by magic, this fairy-tale restaurant appeared in Doha. How cool is that? Like he could have had the dining room reproduced in his own palace, he could, he can do just about anything. But he choose to enhance this wonderful restored market, the Souk Waqif, and make this restaurant one of the cornerstones, one of the delights of the market. You gotta love noblesse like that. He shares.
From entry to exit, it is a treat. The food is fabulous, the service friendly, skilled and attentive, they bake their own bread and the decor is WAAAAYYYYYYY over the top. Oh, what fun.
It starts at the entry, which is on the main walking street in the restaurant area of the restored Souk Waqif:
It might be too gaudy for you, but it thrills the little-girl-who-lives-in-my-heart, all those mirrors, all that interconnected design, the tableaux – maybe over the top, but I love it.
They also have great music, none of this Hotel California stuff.
See! It really is a Valentine's Day restaurant!
The Amir's private dining room can be entirely closed off for private dinners.
The truth is, the Esphahan is also for families, including very large families. There are large divided sections where families or groups can sit on the floor, traditional style, or there are dining rooms upstairs which can comfortably serve couples, small families, large families and extended families for your special occasion.
The food was fabulous. Most of the dishes are dishes you can order at almost any Iranian restaurant, only bumped up a notch. They were delicious. Service was so attentive that I could never take any photos of the food without being really, really obvious, and we were also surrounded by a lot of traditional families, and I am careful about pulling out my camera in those situations. (Sorry Purg, I know you like the food photos.)
Don’t take my word for it. Go. 🙂 See – and taste – for yourself.
I wonder (random musing here) if Americans had more exposure to Iranian food, if our countries would be better friends? I want to go to Iran so badly. AdventureMan, too. We wonder if we will ever get the opportunity. We are SO near – and yet so far . . .
Romantic Getaway in Doha
AdventureMan whisked me away to Doha for a weekend, to visit friends and the new Islamic Museum. There is a new boutique hotel in the restored market area, the Hotel Souk Waqif – and this area is THE place to be at night. The hotel is only 17 exquisite rooms, beautifully furnished, great customer service, and has promotional rates going right now at the best time of the year to visit. It is surrounded by great restaurants, and has great views in three directions. The rooms are lush and richly furnished.
Update: The website for the Souk Waqif Hotel is up and running here: Hotel Souq Waqif
View from hotel 1
View 3 from hotel
This sign always cracks me up – in a parking lot near Electricity Street (Sharaa Kharaba)
Sunrise and Weep
This morning’s sunrise was unspectacular in that it is uniformly spectacular. Most sunrises here are spectacular; spectacular gets to be the standard (for sunrises) in Kuwait.
The translucent cloudy effect is not the fault of the sunrise, it is the result of the rain spots on my window.
Now, for my friends in Germany, in England, in Seattle and across the Winter Zone, here is what our week in Kuwait will look like – again, uniformly spectacular. The weather I love, light sweater weather, weather that makes you want to get outside and walk or run or drive!
If you have ever wanted to visit Kuwait, February is the month. 🙂
Frequent Traveller
“We’ll be checking in late,” explains AdventureMan, “and we want to be sure you will hold the room for us.”
Pause.
Pause.
Pause. (you can hear frantic clicking in the background)
“Sir, what is your name again?”
“AdventureMan! (He actually gives his real name) A – D – V – E – N – T – U – R – E – M – A – N!” He spells it out.
Pause
Pause
More Pause
“Uh, sir, we can’t find your reservation! When did you make it?”
“The office made it.”
Pause
Pause
Pause
This is not looking good.
“Sir, we do not have a reservation for you. I am so sorry sir!”
“But I am sure the office made a reservation! I have the confirmation number! And, I am one of (your hotel name) SPECIAL CLUB MEMBERS!”
“Uh, yes sir, but this is (a totally different hotel)”
LLLOOOLLL, Adventureman.
“I am SO sorry.” He hangs up. He calls the right hotel, and he is assured they have our room ready for us.
AdventureMan looks at me and we both start giggling.
“I would have hung up,” he begins, but we are both convulsing with laughter.”I would have hung up, but I gave them my NAME!” and we are both dying laughing. He does stay at this other hotel from time to time.
“Next time I call, I will have to identify myself as STUPID-MAN!” he barks, and we are weak and helpless, we are laughing so hard.
“Mister, Take Picture!”
My friend, Q8Dutchie asked if we were truly allowed to take photos in the souks, and I answered “Carefully.” I added that if you are photographing a person, to ask, and especially if it is a woman. There is usually no problem photographing vegetables, fruits, hardware. clothing, food, etc. If I have any doubt, I ask, and if they say “no,” I don’t photograph.
Yousef, from Some Contrast answered slightly differently, saying most of the people working in the souks are not Kuwaiti, and most don’t mind a photo.
Actually, we often have the experience that when people in the souks see my camera, they say “Mister! Mister! Take photo!” (yes, they call me mister sometimes, mostly madame, but sometimes they get confused.)
Here are some recent examples:
Have fun, Q8Dutchie!
Kuwait Airport Radar Malfunction
Airport radar malfunction
Published Date: January 08, 2009
From the Kuwait Times
KUWAIT: The radar at Kuwait International Airport malfunctioned on Tuesday, but this did not affect air traffic in any way, said the Directorate General of Civil Aviation yesterday.
The directorate’s Acting Director of Aviation Equipment Department Sami Al-Hulaibi said the malfunction occurred at 11:30 pm.
All necessary procedures were taken and the emergency standby radar was used, he added, noting that technicians, in cooperation with the manufacturer of the radar, were working to fix the device so that it may render service once again. — KUNA
11:30 pm is like one of the busiest times at Kuwait Airport. Many of the long international flights are taking off, crowds are coming in from India and the far east, and the radar is malfunctioning?? I wonder how long it took before the back-up radar was in place? Will they let us know when the front-line system is operational again?
Qurain Fest – Information Where?
Here is what bugs me. There is this perfectly wonderful festival going on. I only know because the newspapers print photos and stories – after each event. I cannot figure out WHERE the event is taking place, WHAT TIME an event will take place . . . these are perfect opportunities to go and learn something, to experience the culture, and we have no idea – in advance – where to go, how to find these things.
I would love to see this dancing!
So, if it is cultural, music and dancing are allowed? 🙂 Is it always just men dancing, or do women dance, too?
Isn’t this camel racing season? When are the camels raced? Where?
From Al Watan
Kuwaiti folk dancing troupe entertains audience
KUWAIT: As part of the Qurain Cultural Festival”s festivities, the Red Palace group, a folk dancing troupe, performed in Jahra on Sunday.
The performance, which was attended by Deputy Director of the festival Mohammed AlÙ€Asousi, lasted for two hours. The dancers presented a wide spectrum of national and patriotic themes much to the enjoyment of the audience.
Head of the folklore group, Nasser Suleiman AlÙ€Faraj explained that their participation in the event came as a result of the group”s strong belief in reviving an old heritage and folklore. He stressed that the past would always be relevant in the present.
Last updated on Tuesday 30/12/2008
The Coventry Carole
In the midst of this miraculous birth, a tragedy. The wise men warn the family that they must flee, and King Herod issues an edict that all babies 2 and under will be slain. Mary tries to keep her baby quiet and hidden as they escape to Egypt:
“I’ll be home for Christmas – if only in my dreams”
This is a nightmare year for people trying to get home for Christmas in the United States – weeks of storms have caused snarled schedules and cancelled trains and planes, stranding passengers eager to be home with family for Christmas.
Worse – my friends tell me – many groceries have not been resupplied, but that’s OK because many of their customers can’t get to the stores anyway. It’s hit merchants hard in what is already thought to be one of the most dismal selling seasons in a long, long time.
Here’s a write up from National Public Radio:
Winter Storms Frustrate Holiday Travel Nationwide
by Scott Neuman
NPR.org, December 23, 2008 · Bitter cold temperatures and snow have placed the northern half of the nation in a deep freeze, affecting travel in planes, trains and automobiles just as the holiday season gets under way.
Some of the worst winter storms on record have cut a swath from the Pacific Northwest to New England. Across the country, tens of thousands of people are without power after freezing rain and strong winds caused transmission lines to come down.
Heavy snowfall in western Oregon has caused traffic to come to a near standstill along Interstate 5, and state highways through the northern edge of the Coast Range are closed.
Amtrak’s Cascades passenger train service between Eugene, Ore., and Vancouver, British Columbia, was halted, but officials said they expected it to resume on Tuesday. Greyhound bus service in Portland and Seattle was also shut down.
At the Seattle-Tacoma airport, thousands of people have been waiting in hours-long lines to re-book canceled flights.
“There’s no flights going into [Las] Vegas that has any available seating,” Air Force Airman Alex James told NPR’s Morning Edition.
James said he and three other Air Force buddies hope to avoid driving from Seattle to Las Vegas, where their families are preparing for the holidays.
“We leave on our deployment on the first of January,” James said. “So, however long it takes us to get back from here is how much reduced our time at home is.”
Alaska and Horizon airlines, the West Coast’s principal carriers, resumed limited service Monday and the carriers said they hoped to resume near-normal schedules Tuesday at Seattle-Tacoma and have things normal flights by Wednesday.
In the East, the town of Eustis, Maine, got nearly 3 1/2 feet of snow. Snow and sleet — but no additional accumulation — are expected Tuesday in the Northeast.
In the nation’s midsection, the situation is just as bad.
In Illinois, which has experienced subzero conditions and wind chills as low as minus 35 degrees in recent days, temperatures are expected to rise into the 20s Tuesday. But with the reprieve will come several inches of snow, according to the forecast.
More snow is expected across the upper Midwest. Michigan could get as much as a foot of snow, while ice, snow and sleet are in the forecast for Indiana, where many people have been without electricity.
Travelers have been stranded in airports as they wait for flights to resume so they can make their way to friends and families for the holidays. Routes to much of the Pacific Northwest have been canceled, and flights to the East Coast, including New York and New Jersey, have been delayed by hours.
You can read the entire article by clicking HERE.
“Generation of Spoiled Idiots”
I have a dear friend who sends me the most amazing things. This started my day with a howl of laughter:
I am embarrassed to tell you – I remember rotary phones. I even remember party lines, where you had to wait for your neighbor to finish his call before you could make your own, and you never knew who might be listening to your conversation. I remember planes that had large, beautiful lady’s lounges, with a seating area for nursing mothers. I remember when living in Germany was a huge problem to many young people who ran up huge phone bills, calling their families when they were lonely – no internet, no VOIP. I remember transistor radios, and Walkmen! LLLOOOLLLL!
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Early Voting in Florida
