Please check Tom's signs from around the world.
You can read Part I here.
Saturday 11th - Jose and I spent the day at home, and when Karina and Thomas returned from work at around 5pm, we all headed out for the usual power walk around their neighbourhood. The parks in-between the residential estates are beautifully maintained.
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| I walked down to the beach to photograph the sunset |
After dinner we dressed up to go to a Candlelight piano concert at the Four Seasons Hotel. The 1 hour performance in the glow of hundreds of candles was calming and enjoyable.
Sunday 12th - Explored the Museum of Islamic Art (or MIA) on the Corniche, an architectural icon designed by renowned Chinese-American architect I.M.Pei, (who also designed the Louvre pyramid).
The gigantic atrium features a curved double staircase leading to the first floor, a circular metal chandelier that echoes the curve. Above the atrium is an oculus within a faceted dome. The patterned floors were inspired by Arabic geometric patterns.
Across the atrium an impressive 45 metre tall window offering spectacular views across to West Bay.
We began our visit with coffee and cake at the Cafe, sitting on the sofas with panoramic views of West Bay's skyscrapers behind us.
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| Karina and I on the sofas with the West Bay high-rises behind us Three hours slipped by as we explored the exhibitions on the various floors. |
We exited into a courtyard from where we were greeted by the glow of the sunset.
On the way to the car park, a driver of the free golf-car rides took us for a loop around MIA Park (next to the Museum), giving us a different view of the museum from the waterfront.
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| Museum seen from MIA park |
Monday 13th - Visited Qanat Quartier at the Pearl Island - a pastel coloured Venice inspired residential area, with bridges and canals.
jAfter lunch at a tiny Japanese restaurant, then walked around the area discovering its charm.
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| The Piano staircase |
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We spotted the Katara towers from Qanat Quartier |
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| Cute villas overlooking the canal |
After our long walk nothing better than rewarding ourselves with the most decadent cheesecake I've tasted - with various layers of biscuit and topped with a "real" mango syrup poured right at the table.
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| Karina and Jose sitting outside the coffee shop while I took a photo from the bridge |
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| We walked past the "Nine Lives Cat Cafe" where you can pet the various cats while having coffee |
On the way home we stopped at a supermarket to buy Arabian sweets to take to my family in Portugal.
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| Arabian sweets In the evening, Karina took us to Al-Wakrah Souq - a reconstructed seaside marketplace by the seaside, 19km south of Doha. She had booked a table at Copacabana, a simple beach restaurant known for its fresh seafood. Thomas had gone to a conference in Malaysia so it was just the 3 of us. The balmy evening inviting us to sit outside - but we soon realized why we were the only ones! A clowder (just learned this word for "a group of cats") gathered around our table. I felt sorry for the poor cats, but I couldn't feed them. They might have been fed by he employees as every time one of them came out they would follow them. The owner, an Indian gentleman, came out to ask us where we were from and if we were enjoying the food. He told us the story behind the restaurant's Brazilian name - he had been to Brazil to watch a football championship, visited Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, and loved the name, so chose it for his restaurant :) A couple of older Qataris walking in also stopped to ask where we were from, and as usual, the moment we said we were Portuguese, they would immediately exclaim: "Oh Ronaldo! or CR7!".  Tuesday 14th - Our last visit for this trip was to Education City - a vast 12 square kilometres (4.6 sq mi) hub of research and innovation inaugurated in 1997, and also home to campuses of eight international universities. Karina now works from an office at Qatar University (in Education City) in a project to reduce CO2 emissions on sea vessels. She was finishing work about 3pm, so we took an Uber to the National Library, where we could get internet to let her know when we arrived.
She picked us up from the library, then parked the car and we walked to the Convention Centre & the outdoor Ceremonial Court, where significant events such as Qatar National Day are held. On both sides are intricate latticed pergolas with a stage in the centre.  Next we headed to the Hamad Bin Khalifa University and the Education City Mosque (Minaretein). This exquisite building was designed by Iraqi architect and calligrapher Taha Al Hiti. The minarets feature vertical calligraphy sweeping upwards, and the mosque is supported by five pillars, each representing one of the Five Pillars of Islam. Outdoors, four streams flow towards the central garden of the building, representing the four rivers of Paradise promised in the Qur'an - water, honey, milk and wine.   The two towers adorned with Arabic calligraphy are designed to look like two intertwined ribbons representing light and knowledge. It's a stunning building, and I loved the very peaceful inner courtyard garden.      Afterwards, we crossed the street into Oxygen Park for a walk - lots of murals here :)  We then hopped onto the free Education City tram to the Stadium just to try it out. The system includes 3 lines, 24 stops, and 2 Metro stations serving the Education City area.
  Then it was time to head home! Jose cooked dinner for our last evening at Karina's- Prawn and Fish Curry. |
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| Prawn and Fish curry |
Wednesday 15th - Karina drove us to the airport for our 11 AM flight to Lisbon. Fortunately check-in is mostly done at the self-service machines in a couple of minutes. After weighing the bags and dropping them at the conveyor belts, we were ready to head to the Departure lounge.
We had enough time to visit the "Orchard", the indoor tropical garden, for a bit of relaxation before our flight.
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Various aspects of the Orchard - "Falcon and Glove" by Gillie and Marc   |
We came across this very quirky 6-ton bronze sculpture - "The Wild Table of Love in Doha" by Gillie and Marc (British and Australian artists) showing endangered animals sharing a table.
Thursday 16th - I had my first dental appointment in Cascais. Unfortunately the clinic had suffered a hacking attack and my file had disappeared, so I had to redo the scan and discuss the procedure again.
It was decided I would return on the 23rd and instead of removing 5 teeth at once, the dentist would extract 3 on the right side first. Then, if everything healed well by the time I returned to remove the stitches, she would proceed with removing the remaining two teeth on the left side.
Saturday 18th - The whole family drove to Lisbon to visit the 3D Art Museum. It's a small museum, but it was great fun, and not just for my little great-nieces, every adult had a smile on their face!
Time for lunch, and we headed to Parque das Nações (Park of Nations) also commonly known as Expo - the former site of the "Expo 98" and settled for "Rucula" an Italian restaurant.
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| The Vasco da Gama Bridge and the Expo cable car |
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| Various sculptures at Expo I had wanted to see this sculpture by Portuguese artist Bordalo II - the Iberian lynx, is created from plastic waste, and is part of the artist's "Big Trash Animals" series, turning trash into environmental art. |
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| The aqueduct of Aguas Livres on the way to Lisbon |
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