Cultural Activities in Doha

When we first came to Doha, we were hard-pressed to find any activity at all. A couple of times during the first six months we were here, there were some music concerts, but that was about it. Since then, Qatar has been investing a bit of money on cultural activities.

Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra

The Qatar Philharmonic Orchestra had its inaugural performance in October last year. The orchestra is actually very good and very young. It comprises of musicians from all over the world, including quite a few Hungarians :)

They don't have a permanent conductor yet, so they get a different conductor from a different country everytime.

It's been fun going to their performances.

Doha Jazz Festival























They had a Jazz Festival here in February, and hope to make it an annual event. We went three out of the four nights. It was really fun. Our favorite was the Ronald Baker Quartet from France. I even bought their CD.

Museum of Islamic Art













The Museum opened at the beginning of December last year. The architecture is really amazing! It is said to be I.M. Pei's last project. The location is also very nice (right on water), and the views from the museum are great. More photos here.

Recipe Request: Lemon Bars

I repeatedly get requests for the lemon bars recipe, so here it is!

Crust
1/3 cup unsalted butter (I usually cut it into small pieces so it's easier to mix; do not melt it!)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour, sifted

- Preheat oven to 350F
- Mix together all of the above ingredients with your hands. The final mixture should be crumbly (not smooth).
- Press the mixture into the bottom of a 8x8x2 inch (approximately) dish (not greased) - this makes the crust so it should be pressed down so it is hard and smooth
- Bake for 15-18 minutes (the edges will just be turning golden)

Filling
2 eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, sifted
2 teaspoons shredded lemon peel
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon baking powder

- Combine all ingredients
- Beat with electric mixer until well-mixed (it will be a little thick)

Crust + Filling
- Pour filling over baked crust
- Bake for 20 minutes (it will have lightly browned edges & center will be set)
- Cool on cooling rack, cut into squares, and serve

Recipe Request: Pumpkin Soup with Chilli

I love pumpkin soup!

Pumpkin, 1 kg peeled & chopped
~~~ any type of pumpkin is good: classic, butternut squash, japanese, etc.
Olive oil, 4 tbsp
Red chillies, 1-2 seeded & finely chopped
garlic, 1 clove
milk, 375 ml
~~~ i use skim
vegetable stock, 750 ml
~~~ fresh, cube or concentrate
coriander leaves, chopped

Heat oven to 200 Celsius
Put pumpkin in roasting pan & drizzle with olive oil
Roast for 15-20 minutes, until tender & browned on edges

Cook milk & stock together in a pot until it starts to boil
Add roasted pumpkin, chilli & garlic
Reduce heat & simmer for 8-10 minutes
Whiz in a blender until smooth

Garnish with coriander leaves

Enjoy!

Desert Roses

We took a trip out to the desert to dig for desert roses. These are mineral crystals that form under the sand in the desert. Our digging was a great success - we returned home with a few large and several small roses.


The digging was hard work...


... but fun, nonetheless.

The large slabs of the crystals forced some of us to use all body weight:


The final step = refilling the hole we dug up:


On the way to the area with the desert roses, we stopped at a cave. It was fun climbing all the way down and back again. The cave walls had some interesting crystal formations.


And that's a fun-filled day during the wintertime in Qatar!

Qatar National Day Long Weekend

December 18 is Qatar National Day. We had a rather eventful long weekend.

We live very close to the Corniche, which is seafront walking area in Doha. All National Day activities take place at the Corniche, so we got to experience a very interesting set of events.

• Preview: the day before the National Day, I was driving home from work in very heavy traffic. The congestion was caused by a number of SUV's flying Qatari flags and honking and expressing their excitement on the roads. Eventually, I realized where they were going - toward the row of about 10 Qatari army tanks that were coming in for the National Day parade. I thought the excitement was over; but, when I was almost home, I saw a row of about 10-15 camels with camel riders in traditional clothes coming toward me. Talk about an interesting ride home.

• National Day: we didn't go to the parade in the morning, but we did hear some jets flying over us. Before heading out to the Corniche for the fireworks and light show in the evening though, we had quite a show from our window. The traffic was incredibly backed up as you would expect. Some of the reasons for this were not so expected though. There were as many SUV's as lanes driving next to each other very slowly to block the traffic. Why, you may ask? Because some of the people would come out in traditional clothes and do the sword dance :) At other times, the SUV's would do donuts (circles) around the center of the road. It was very entertaining. Then, we went down and enjoyed the fireworks and the light show.
  

• The Museum of Islamic Art: They recently opened the new Museum of Islamic Art in Qatar. Since we had a long weekend, we decided to go to the museum the next day. The museum is designed by IM Pei, so as you would expect, the architecture is amazing! The seafront location also adds to the beauty, and the views from the museum are very nice. There is a traveling exhibition that features historical interactions between Islam, Judaism and Christianity, which was quite interesting. Additional photos from the museum are here.
  

Turkey Over Eid Holidays

The Coast

We covered parts of the Mediterranean and the Aegean coasts. The coast is absolutely beautiful, and reminded me a lot of the California coast. The weather was also very much LA-like: low 80's daytime and high 60's to low 70's nighttime. Everywhere we went, we found lots of pomegranate trees and jasmine trees. As far as I am concerned, pomegranate juice, baklava and Turkish chai are a great addition to any diet!

More pictures of the drive here.


Antalya


We started out in Antalya. Though this is a rather large city, we spent most of our time in the old town area. Hadrian's Gate is probably the most famous remain of the Roman period here. The old town is still surrounded by the remains of the Roman city walls. Inside the walls are the old, narrow streets, lots of street vendors and of course hotels. There is also a really nice park alongside the water, which was my favorite part of this city.

More Antalya photos here.



Phaselis

The ruins at Phaselis are mostly from the Roman era. However, the city has a much more fascinating and complex history. It originally was a Lycian port city. The Greeks bought it and built an extensive town with three harbors around an acropolis. Then, it was a Roman province, which was raided by the Arabs and Seljuks. All this history makes for a rather interesting place.


More Phaselis photos here.


Kas

Kas is a beautiful city, set adjoining a peninsula. The hillside along the ocean is where most of the hotels are located. The town was one of our favorites, with narrow streets developed in natural formations around and through the hillsides. There are lots of great restaurants, independent shops, local artists, cafes and bars. We enjoyed pide, or Turkish pizza, while sitting outside amidst the crowded streets, for dinner.

More Kas photos here.


Pinara

Pinara was my favorite ruined city, primarily because it is not as popular and organized for tourism as the other sites. When we went, we were amongst a total of five people there. Because it is not a "tourist spot" per se, we were able to climb up the hillside amongst the ruins, and hike our way up to the Lycian tombs and the ruined city. Yes, the holes you see on the hillside are actually the Lycian tombs; and we were able to hike to and around the theatre, baths and agora as well.

More Pinara pictures here.


Marmaris

Marmaris is a wonderful bay city. Our favorite part of Marmaris was the Old Quarter, where they have restored the old Greek homes incredibly well. The streets in the Old Quarter are narrow and go up and down the hills in a natural formation. Some of the old buildings have also been restored and made into restaurants and bars with excellent views of the city and the bay.

More Marmaris photos here.


Bodrum

Bodrum was the city with the most tourists, but it still has places you can enjoy without being bogged down with too much tourism. In the old town, for example, the main streets were filled with tourists, but as soon as we walked away, we found the quaint character-filled neighborhoods. The walk along the harbor was also very nice.

More Bodrum photos here.


Ephesus

Ephesus is one of the most well-known and largest ruined cities. Ephesus was a great Greek city, but it became the chief port city on the Aegean under the Romans. Most of the surviving structures are from the Roman period. Highlights include: Library of Celsus, Theatre, Temple of Hadrian, Gate of Hercules and Colonnaded Street.

More Ephesus photos here.


Izmir

Izmir was the city where we saw the real Turkey, as opposed to the beach towns designed for tourism. The locals all come out in the evenings and hang out at the Konak square, which is also where the Konak clock tower and the Konak mosque are located. Street vendors sell muscles, nuts, etc. and the locals sit around, picnic or go for walks. Unlike the other old towns we saw, the old town in Izmir is actually where the poor people live, and the neighborhood is all rundown. You do see that this may be changing as the lower parts of the old town are already starting to look more developed and cleaned up. Izmir also has its own set of ruins, including the agora; the interesting thing about the agora here was that there were ruins from not only the Roman era, but also the Ottoman & Seljuk eras with Arabic writing on them. Overall, a very eclectic place.

More Izmir photos here.

Boyz a Cookin'

Meet Chef de Cuisine, Adil Kouch, and Sous Chef, Rahim Remtolla

Usually, I am the one who cooks for everyone, but on this momentous occasion, Adil decided to cook up his native Moroccon food for 8 of us friends.

On the menu:
Shrimp appetizer
Meat tajine with prunes
Kefta in sauce
Kefta baked
Rice salad
... and I am sure I am forgetting something because it was a magnificently grand meal!

Adil is now welcome to cook for us anytime :)