Qatar visit

As many of you know, Terry and I just got back from a visit to Doha, Qatar, which is a really stunning city with tons to do. We were there looking into a job opportunity for Terry that might take us there for one or two years. I have to say that after adjusting to living in Ghana where there is only cold water, intermittent electricity, heat but no air conditioning etc, I was totally floored by how modern Doha was, stuffed with amenities.

We got in a little after 11 p.m. local time and on the ride from the airport to the hotel we drove along Doha's cornice, which is a long park that runs along the coastline, remarkably similar to Chicago's winding lakeside park. Despite the late hour, the park was full of pedestrians enjoying the late night breeze, walking with no fear at all for their safety. We later learn that Qatar has an incredibly low crime rate, because crime is punished severely. People feel so safe that students can regularly leave their laptops out and walk away for an hour or more and return to find the laptop still waiting for them. You could never try that trick on Evanston's campus.

There is tons to say about the trip, but the baby is going to wake any minute now, so I'll let the photos do the talking.

We arrive into our awesome hotel room late, and promptly crash into bed.


Arabic tea service set out in the stunning lobby of the hotel.

The view up the open air center of the hotel.

Traditional Qatari fishing boats, suped up versions of which are now kept as pleasure or party boats. Flying the Qatar flag.

A view of the newly built commercial district. Notice of course the wave runners.

A closer view lets you see the cranes on top of all the buildings. Everything is newly built.

The sparkling new commercial sky scrapers up close look very much like something from SimCity 3000


Terry at Souq Waqif (old market), a market space where you can buy everything from hand made rugs to falcons to cloth and spices, remodeled to look exactly as it did in the 1950s. Supposed to attract tourists, but its no tourist trap. You are more likely to see men in traditional Qatari dress enjoying coffee and a view of the city from on top a breezy rooftop cafe.

A view of the spectacular sports stadium and torch tower that Qatar built when it hosted the Asian Games.

At McDonalds in the Villagio mall, modeled after some imagined quaint Italian village, complete with a painted sky for a ceiling. Besides a McDonalds and a gondola, it has an indoor ice skating rink, a Starbucks, a Carrfour (french Walmart), H&M, Cold Stone Creamery, Hagen Dazs, and 31 flavors, in addition to a ton of European boutiques. Hardship post? I think not.

Terry and I beside the river in the mall where you can take gondola rides.

On the last day while Terry took important meetings, I found myself enjoying a perfect 82 degree day at the poolside, sipping blended tropical juices and reading a detective novel while the breeze off the Gulf blew through the palms. Sigh.

Those are just my photos. If you want to really be wowed, spend a little time browsing the photo gallery available here. They have pictures of the Ritz where we stayed that really show it off, pictures of Education City where Terry would teach, and cultural sites and sights around the country.