Qatar - Searching for murals and the Msheireb district

Linking with Tom's SIGNS

Wednesday 8th January - With just 2 days before our departure, we squeezed in a few more visits.

Our first stop was at the Fire Station Museum. Right next to Al Bidda Park, this former fire station became in 2012 part of the Qatar Museum network. It was converted into a gallery showcasing art and artists, and supporting new artists through their Artist in residence program.

The Fire Station Museum

A lot of murals (which I'll show in Monday Murals) and sculptures could be seen around the courtyard and in the galleries.

While I walked around photographing my stuff, Jose and Karina enjoyed a coffee, sitting on beautiful and comfortable outdoor furniture.

Karina and Jose enjoying a coffee at the Fire station

From here we caught an Uber to another district with murals - Al Mansoura, one of Doha's busiest and most densely populated residential districts. 

We were dropped off near the Underground station as it was where most murals were. After some photos, we caught the train to Msheireb district.

Msheireb Downtown Doha, is promoted as being one of the smartest and sustainable cities on earth, where all buildings are Gold or Platinum LEED-certified, the highest standard for green building services.

It also has a 2024 Guinness World Record for the largest underground car park, with 10,017 spaces. 

Construction started in January 2010, launched in 6 phases, and officially completed in February 2022, occupying an area of 310,000sq mt, with a mix of retails, hotels and residential.

Pretty sculptures...

         

Signs and map of Msheireb at tram stop

In the Retail quarter , there is an enclosed shopping mall - Galleria, with cinema, supermarket, entertainment/educational zone for children, flagship stores and dining outlets.

We had lunch at an Asian Fusion restaurant - "Bao Msheireb". Delicious food and great service, just like we experienced in most restaurants we went to.

Dessert for me and coffee for Karina and Jose was just around the corner at "Savant Cafe", where I had the most scrumptious Tiramisu cake!

The district is very walkable, but there's also a free eco-friendly tram to explore the district, a 2km closed loop system with 9 stops. The trams are powered by hydrogen, is air-conditioned and has special windows that block the heat.

  

Sign of a shop that was opening soon

Plenty of fancy cars

That evening we offered Karina and Thomas a dinner at "Tulum" Mexican Restaurant, on the 7th floor of the Marriott Marquis  City Center Hotel.

Our waiter was a young Spaniard who was on an hotel management program.

Great food, presentation, nice drinks.... you can only drink alcohol in hotels.

The  views across to the pool and the city centre  from the 7th  floor were lovely.

On the way out,  a car and a few sculptures  caught my eye in the hotel lobby.

More from the Msheireb district next week.