2023 Alaska, Asia, Australia, Arabian Peninsula Trip
Day 97/105 - Cruise day #4 - And Qatar makes 61
Yes, 61 - that's our country count and Qatar makes our 61st country with boots on the ground.
We docked this morning in Qatar - Doha, specifically. Qatar is on the eastern end of the Persian Gulf and right next to Bahrain - a stop removed from our itinerary.
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| The National Museum of Qatar |
We had the morning since our excursion wasn't departing until 1 p.m. We took advantage of bean bag toss and ping pong to rack up more Big O points as well as track down more art on board.
After lunch, we hopped on our tour bus for our tour of the Museum of Islamic Art and the National Museum of Qatar. The traffic here sucks. It got even worse later.
The cruise terminal was lovely with an aquarium, complete with an escalator ride through a tunnel under the water plus an illuminated floor.
Our first stop was the Museum of Islamic Art - a building designed by I.M. Pei.
We toured the exhibits of Islamic art as well as other art that impacted this region.
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| Early editions of the Qur'an |
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| This gown was huge - Arlona is there for scale |
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| The building was visually interesting inside |
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| The archways provided great views of the city skyline |
Next, we toured the city for a bit before arriving at the National Museum of Qatar.
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| A royal palace |
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| The variety of architecture was amazing |
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| These are streetlights - very cool |
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| Royal guards on camels |
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| We finally arrived at the National Museum of Qatar |
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| The building was amazing - a series of discs intersecting at odd angles |
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| This is a fountain - it wasn't running |
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| The Qatar flag - the nine points represent the original nine emirates - seven joined to become the UAE with Qatar and Bahrain remaining independent |
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| Many of the displays included video, audio, and mixed media - it was a terrific museum |
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| Pearls from the local pearl industry back in the day |
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| More of the local pearls |
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| Doha recently hosted the FIFA World Cup |
We returned to the ship as the sun set. There is a lot, and I mean a whole bunch of money in Qatar. One thing that money doesn't seem to solve is traffic. The traffic is terrible here. Wow.
Dinner tonight was in the French specialty restaurant, Jacques.
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| We both had the escargot appetizer |
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| I had the terrific filet mignon |
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| Arlona's scallops were perfectly cooked and wonderful |
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| The chocolate mousse was good |
We finished with enough time to catch evening trivia. We missed five questions, but still came away with the win! Woo!
The close but no cigar answers:
- What architect designed the Woolworth building in New York?
- We had no idea - it was Cass Gilbert
- What is the legislature of The Netherlands called?
- Again - no idea - it is States General
- What is a group of hippos called?
- We guessed pack - it is herd, bloat, pod, or fanciful
- What planet's moons are mainly named for characters from Shakespeare?
- We didn't know - it was Uranus
- Where did the first Starbucks open outside North America?
- We guessed China - it was Japan
Tonight, Oceania had a comedian as a guest entertainer - Bengt Washburn. We attended part of the show but decided we were ready to retire.
Tomorrow, we have a highlights tour of Doha, and hope to see more of this interesting city.
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