Friday Oct. 10
We're home!! Never did get a new flight from London so we took the Tube into London and spent a couple of hours at the Imperial War Museum. There is an astounding exhibit on the Holocaust. Made us reflect on what's happening today. We also found a cafe nearby so we sipped cappuccino and watched London walk and drive by us!!
We got on our British Air flight on time but were a half hour late leaving the gate. Good flight, got some sleep and decent food. Also 2 small bottles of wine each!! Arrived in Boston after a snoozy flight at 8:40 PM. We wanted to make the 9:15 bus to the Cape...the next one wasn't until 11:15! The gods were with us....we made it!!! So we were home to our house a little after 11:45. 32 hours, door to door!!k
Friday, October 10, 2014
Wednesday, October 8, 2014
Bye, Bye Bahrain!!
Wednesday Oct. 8
Pretty relaxing day! Nick was still not himself......a little feverish. Suzanne, Serena and I went to the base gym. S and S did spinning with volleyball team members and I walked laps....only 20 today! A ship was in and many young sailors were playing basketball so I didn't want to get in their way!!!
We got organized, had lunch, played "Farkle," a dice game, gabbed, napped, cooked, etc. Had our last shawarma for dinner and then Serena and Peter, Suzanne and I played a final game of Hand and Foot. Believe it or not, we decided the game was a "draw!"
We had a long and lovely "good night and goodbye" with Serena, Nick and Lucas. Serena even asked why we didn't stay and live with them!
What a fabulous trip! The Mirisolas have a beautiful situation in Bahrain. A lovely home, many good friends, a good school situation. It's great to see them thriving and enjoying learning about a different culture. The stay also gave us a new and positive insight into the Middle East. Of course, the best part was actually "living" so well with Suzanne and her family. She's a supportive wife and a great mother, involved with the Navy and Bahrain School community. They all make us very proud!
We're now at the airport in Bahrain awaiting our British airways flight which departs at 1:30 AM Thursday, Bahrain time, which is 6:30 PM. Wednesday, East Coast Time. We stop in London and are due to arrive in Boston 8 PM, Thursday. In London, we hope to get on an earlier flight....,we'll see!!
BYE BYE, BAHRAIN!!!
Pretty relaxing day! Nick was still not himself......a little feverish. Suzanne, Serena and I went to the base gym. S and S did spinning with volleyball team members and I walked laps....only 20 today! A ship was in and many young sailors were playing basketball so I didn't want to get in their way!!!
We got organized, had lunch, played "Farkle," a dice game, gabbed, napped, cooked, etc. Had our last shawarma for dinner and then Serena and Peter, Suzanne and I played a final game of Hand and Foot. Believe it or not, we decided the game was a "draw!"
We had a long and lovely "good night and goodbye" with Serena, Nick and Lucas. Serena even asked why we didn't stay and live with them!
What a fabulous trip! The Mirisolas have a beautiful situation in Bahrain. A lovely home, many good friends, a good school situation. It's great to see them thriving and enjoying learning about a different culture. The stay also gave us a new and positive insight into the Middle East. Of course, the best part was actually "living" so well with Suzanne and her family. She's a supportive wife and a great mother, involved with the Navy and Bahrain School community. They all make us very proud!
We're now at the airport in Bahrain awaiting our British airways flight which departs at 1:30 AM Thursday, Bahrain time, which is 6:30 PM. Wednesday, East Coast Time. We stop in London and are due to arrive in Boston 8 PM, Thursday. In London, we hope to get on an earlier flight....,we'll see!!
BYE BYE, BAHRAIN!!!
One Last Day in Manama
Tuesday Oct. 7
Nick was "low and slow" this morning but after we promised lunch at the mall he rallied and off we all went for a day of sightseeing. Our first stop was at a
"Living Wall." Bahrain is so devoid of natural vegetation, someone decided to have plants growing out of a 2 story wall. Quite a sight!
We then proceeded to a tour of old homes in Muharraq, the former Capitol of Bahrain, along the old Pearling Trail. The first was the
Shaikh Isa Bin Ali House built in the 1800s. A distinguishing feature is the wind tower used to funnel down air into the 2 story home. How did people subsist in this oppressive heat before AC? There are 4 sections to the house: the main house, the servants' quarters, the shaikh's quarters and the guest quarters surrounding an inner courtyard. The Kurar House has been renovated in order to have local women reproduce unique local embroidery made with silver and gold silk threads
applied to fabric (shawls, dresses).
The Abdullah Al Zayed House displays early newspaper history of Bahrain. The owner, a poet and correspondent, founded the first daily Bahrain newspaper in 1938.
Next we visited Reef Island in the middle of Manama. It showcases lush vegetation, upscale apartments and private villas all on reclaimed land. At the Seef Mall we had Lunch Paul's Maison de qualite for 125 years. It's "a taste of France all around the world."
We did some strolling and shopping in the Mall before driving to the Ritz where Peter bought a Bahrain T-shirt. At a local tailor's, Suzanne and I picked up the tunics we'd had made and, finally, we stopped at Sheema Framing and Gallery where Peter and I found a framed print of the Souq that we bought.
Back at the Mirisola villa, Nick finally succumbed and stretched out on the couch till bedtime. What a good sport! Peter played "Monster Doggy" in the pool with Serena and Lucas and then we all prepared dinner. Once Nick and Lucas were in bed, Peter and Serena, Suzanne and I finished a game of Hand and Foot begun in Oman. Pete didn't get home until after 9:30 and we were all in bed by 10.
Nick was "low and slow" this morning but after we promised lunch at the mall he rallied and off we all went for a day of sightseeing. Our first stop was at a
"Living Wall." Bahrain is so devoid of natural vegetation, someone decided to have plants growing out of a 2 story wall. Quite a sight!
We then proceeded to a tour of old homes in Muharraq, the former Capitol of Bahrain, along the old Pearling Trail. The first was the
Shaikh Isa Bin Ali House built in the 1800s. A distinguishing feature is the wind tower used to funnel down air into the 2 story home. How did people subsist in this oppressive heat before AC? There are 4 sections to the house: the main house, the servants' quarters, the shaikh's quarters and the guest quarters surrounding an inner courtyard. The Kurar House has been renovated in order to have local women reproduce unique local embroidery made with silver and gold silk threads
applied to fabric (shawls, dresses).
The Abdullah Al Zayed House displays early newspaper history of Bahrain. The owner, a poet and correspondent, founded the first daily Bahrain newspaper in 1938.
Next we visited Reef Island in the middle of Manama. It showcases lush vegetation, upscale apartments and private villas all on reclaimed land. At the Seef Mall we had Lunch Paul's Maison de qualite for 125 years. It's "a taste of France all around the world."
We did some strolling and shopping in the Mall before driving to the Ritz where Peter bought a Bahrain T-shirt. At a local tailor's, Suzanne and I picked up the tunics we'd had made and, finally, we stopped at Sheema Framing and Gallery where Peter and I found a framed print of the Souq that we bought.
Back at the Mirisola villa, Nick finally succumbed and stretched out on the couch till bedtime. What a good sport! Peter played "Monster Doggy" in the pool with Serena and Lucas and then we all prepared dinner. Once Nick and Lucas were in bed, Peter and Serena, Suzanne and I finished a game of Hand and Foot begun in Oman. Pete didn't get home until after 9:30 and we were all in bed by 10.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Prayer and Rugs
Monday Oct. 6
It's school vacation week because of the Eid celebration so we had a "pajama and TV morning!" At 10 AM the temp was 95 and felt like 103 already. Eid-al-Adha commemorates the feast of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son so their are lots of lambs sold at the meat market to use for family celebrations. Also, because of Eid, the Grand Mosque will be open today for tours to non-Muslims; that will be our goal for today! But first, Peter wanted to try ordering McDonald's to be delivered!! EVERYTHING can be delivered here!
The kids really did not want to go to the Mosque so Suzanne got a sitter for the afternoon and off we went!! Suz and I were both wearing pants and tops whose sleeves covered our elbows but we still had to put on abaya and hijab before entering. In a tent outside the mosque, Muslim ladies helped to find us an abaya and then secured a hijab for each of us. We then proceeded into the courtyard of the mosque with our guide.
She asked us to remove our shoes before going into the mosque itself. There were cubbies for the shoes! She then guided us into the main hall which was completely carpeted, domed, beautifully lit with a huge chandelier made in Belgium and accessory lighting made in France. Inside the dome are small stained glass windows, each having the word "Ala" in Arabic. There are no statues, there is no altar, there are chairs only around the edges of the enormous main prayer room for the elderly and/or infirm. The balcony can also accommodate those who are praying.
Our guide then had the men in our group stand in a line on the rug, shoulder to shoulder; the women did the same on the line behind the men. She indicated that shoulder to shoulder indicated equality and women behind provides personal modesty for the when praying on the rug. So the women are not necessarily in a separate room, they are simply behind the men to preserve their personal dignity.
Our guide has lived in Bahrain for 5 years and said she will be here indefinitely. She has also lived in Orlando FL. At the end of her tour we heard the "Call to Prayer" which is sung by a member 5 times each day in every mosque, small or grand and heard around the immediate vicinity of the mosque.
Our final tour was around the courtyard where there were easels set up with framed explanations and historical stories of Islam and Mohammad. Very interesting!! One, very convincingly, compared the tenets of Islam to the rights given in the US Declaration of Independence.
After reclaiming our shoes and returning our abaya and hijab, we visited a couple of Suzanne's favorite merchants. The first was a woodworker with whom she made arrangements to have a piece of furniture refinished and to have a table made, the top of which will look like one of the beautiful front doors on Bahraini homes. Next we went to her favorite rug dealer, Mohammad, who showed us some of his hand sewn orientals from Kashmir, Iran, Pakistan and others. He has done several "Rug Flops" at Suzanne's where he shows his rugs and friends of hers buy, hopefully! She's having another one the end of October. These were really out of our price range but he did have some small, round, silk rugs, made in India, for table decoration. We decided to think about it. As we were leaving, he presented to us, as a gift, one of the small round ones. We were completely stunned and overwhelmed!! Suzanne must be a very valued customer!!
Back home again, we prepared dinner, ate with the kids and Pete and then watched last night's Patriots' game.......GO PATS!!!
It's school vacation week because of the Eid celebration so we had a "pajama and TV morning!" At 10 AM the temp was 95 and felt like 103 already. Eid-al-Adha commemorates the feast of Abraham's willingness to sacrifice his son so their are lots of lambs sold at the meat market to use for family celebrations. Also, because of Eid, the Grand Mosque will be open today for tours to non-Muslims; that will be our goal for today! But first, Peter wanted to try ordering McDonald's to be delivered!! EVERYTHING can be delivered here!
The kids really did not want to go to the Mosque so Suzanne got a sitter for the afternoon and off we went!! Suz and I were both wearing pants and tops whose sleeves covered our elbows but we still had to put on abaya and hijab before entering. In a tent outside the mosque, Muslim ladies helped to find us an abaya and then secured a hijab for each of us. We then proceeded into the courtyard of the mosque with our guide.
She asked us to remove our shoes before going into the mosque itself. There were cubbies for the shoes! She then guided us into the main hall which was completely carpeted, domed, beautifully lit with a huge chandelier made in Belgium and accessory lighting made in France. Inside the dome are small stained glass windows, each having the word "Ala" in Arabic. There are no statues, there is no altar, there are chairs only around the edges of the enormous main prayer room for the elderly and/or infirm. The balcony can also accommodate those who are praying.
Our guide then had the men in our group stand in a line on the rug, shoulder to shoulder; the women did the same on the line behind the men. She indicated that shoulder to shoulder indicated equality and women behind provides personal modesty for the when praying on the rug. So the women are not necessarily in a separate room, they are simply behind the men to preserve their personal dignity.
Our guide has lived in Bahrain for 5 years and said she will be here indefinitely. She has also lived in Orlando FL. At the end of her tour we heard the "Call to Prayer" which is sung by a member 5 times each day in every mosque, small or grand and heard around the immediate vicinity of the mosque.
Our final tour was around the courtyard where there were easels set up with framed explanations and historical stories of Islam and Mohammad. Very interesting!! One, very convincingly, compared the tenets of Islam to the rights given in the US Declaration of Independence.
After reclaiming our shoes and returning our abaya and hijab, we visited a couple of Suzanne's favorite merchants. The first was a woodworker with whom she made arrangements to have a piece of furniture refinished and to have a table made, the top of which will look like one of the beautiful front doors on Bahraini homes. Next we went to her favorite rug dealer, Mohammad, who showed us some of his hand sewn orientals from Kashmir, Iran, Pakistan and others. He has done several "Rug Flops" at Suzanne's where he shows his rugs and friends of hers buy, hopefully! She's having another one the end of October. These were really out of our price range but he did have some small, round, silk rugs, made in India, for table decoration. We decided to think about it. As we were leaving, he presented to us, as a gift, one of the small round ones. We were completely stunned and overwhelmed!! Suzanne must be a very valued customer!!
Back home again, we prepared dinner, ate with the kids and Pete and then watched last night's Patriots' game.......GO PATS!!!
Monday, October 6, 2014
Au Revoir, Oman
Sunday Oct. 5
We awoke to another beautiful day on the GOO! But, alas, we leave at noon. I was up at 7, put on my bathing suit and went to walk on the beach to do some beach combing. Very few guests up and about! However, MANY workers were out preparing the beach, the pools, the lounges and the patio areas! The temp was 82 but felt like 91 according to the weather channel. At 8, I met Peter at the outdoor Al Waha lounge for cappuccino served by our new friend Rina from Nepal.
The Mirisolas were at the breakfast buffet about 9. I went for my last cruise down the Lazy River before breakfast. This, the Lazy River, is definitely my favorite activity here at Shangri-la! If I had the $$$, I'd build one in my back yard and spend a lot of time floating in it!!
Back at breakfast, we all ate heartily since we weren't sure about lunch.
At 11:45 we reconvened in the lobby, ready to depart. One problem!! We had hired a van and driver for the afternoon....valet had no record of it!!! Situation soon rectified and off we went toward Muscat in 2 cabs.
Oman is a beautiful, scrubbed, friendly country. The sultan who took over in 1970 started significant changes including education reforms and beautification because he knew that their oil and therefore their resources would diminish. Before 1970 there were 3 schools in all of Oman. Now the literacy rate if 86%!
Our drivers drove us into Muscat and we were quite impressed. We saw the sultan's palace and his magnificent yacht as well as some well maintained Portuguese fortifications dating from the mid 16th century when Oman was occupied by the Portuguese, beautiful landscaping with trees and shrubs and, again, ornate street lights. We stopped at the
Bait al Bair, a museum of Omani culture including elaborate exhibits of weapons, the home, clothing and jewelry, stamps, instruments and manuscripts. Outside there were an authentic Omani guest house, a miniature Omani village and many ornately painted wooden goats of different species.
After a stop at the Muscat Souq where we bargained and subsequently made some purchases, we made a Starbuck's stop for refreshment. Our last stop before the airport was at the Opera House. It's a magnificent building that cost 100 million rial to build
and contains the "best restaurant in Muscat" according to our driver. We never did get to see the Grand Mosque since it is Eid and is not open much to the public. However we did learn that it took 6 years to build and that it took 600 women 4 years to weave a circular carpet inside the mosque on which
6000 men can pray.
The rest of the day was taken up with the airport, passport control, visas, eating at DQ, flying back to Bahrain, taking cabs back to Mirisolas , unpacking and retiring for the night!
We awoke to another beautiful day on the GOO! But, alas, we leave at noon. I was up at 7, put on my bathing suit and went to walk on the beach to do some beach combing. Very few guests up and about! However, MANY workers were out preparing the beach, the pools, the lounges and the patio areas! The temp was 82 but felt like 91 according to the weather channel. At 8, I met Peter at the outdoor Al Waha lounge for cappuccino served by our new friend Rina from Nepal.
The Mirisolas were at the breakfast buffet about 9. I went for my last cruise down the Lazy River before breakfast. This, the Lazy River, is definitely my favorite activity here at Shangri-la! If I had the $$$, I'd build one in my back yard and spend a lot of time floating in it!!
Back at breakfast, we all ate heartily since we weren't sure about lunch.
At 11:45 we reconvened in the lobby, ready to depart. One problem!! We had hired a van and driver for the afternoon....valet had no record of it!!! Situation soon rectified and off we went toward Muscat in 2 cabs.
Oman is a beautiful, scrubbed, friendly country. The sultan who took over in 1970 started significant changes including education reforms and beautification because he knew that their oil and therefore their resources would diminish. Before 1970 there were 3 schools in all of Oman. Now the literacy rate if 86%!
Our drivers drove us into Muscat and we were quite impressed. We saw the sultan's palace and his magnificent yacht as well as some well maintained Portuguese fortifications dating from the mid 16th century when Oman was occupied by the Portuguese, beautiful landscaping with trees and shrubs and, again, ornate street lights. We stopped at the
Bait al Bair, a museum of Omani culture including elaborate exhibits of weapons, the home, clothing and jewelry, stamps, instruments and manuscripts. Outside there were an authentic Omani guest house, a miniature Omani village and many ornately painted wooden goats of different species.
After a stop at the Muscat Souq where we bargained and subsequently made some purchases, we made a Starbuck's stop for refreshment. Our last stop before the airport was at the Opera House. It's a magnificent building that cost 100 million rial to build
and contains the "best restaurant in Muscat" according to our driver. We never did get to see the Grand Mosque since it is Eid and is not open much to the public. However we did learn that it took 6 years to build and that it took 600 women 4 years to weave a circular carpet inside the mosque on which
6000 men can pray.
The rest of the day was taken up with the airport, passport control, visas, eating at DQ, flying back to Bahrain, taking cabs back to Mirisolas , unpacking and retiring for the night!
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