Last weekend, I jetted off for a Middle Eastern adventure to visit my Dad in Doha, Qatar. And while this might sound like a remake of the “Sex & the City 2” movie, I can assure you there was much less Chanel couture and fortunately much less mid-life crisis drama.
The first thing you should probably know is that “Aladdin” was my favorite Disney movie growing up, and Jasmine my favorite princess. Yes, I even owned the midriff baring costume, that hideous long black wig and those creepy little elf shoes with the jewels that she wears. I was so infatuated with the film, in fact, that my Mom even cut out a picture of the palace in Agrabah from the movie and put it inside the window of my play kitchen; you know so I could pretend I was Princess Jasmine in Agrabah while cooking my plastic Little Tikes pizza. So my dreams of Agrabah, my newfound interest in Middle Eastern Politics and my obvious desire to see my Dad made my trip to Qatar quite exciting.
And I must admit, it didn’t take long for me to feel like Princess Jasmine. I flew Qatar Airways which resembles a modern day Pan Am, complete with painfully polite service and flight attendants dressed in maroon skirts, pillbox hats and the same shade of red lipstick. Not only was I served a hot washcloth for my hands and a 3 course meal, I was also given a little care pack of ear plugs, a toothbrush, headphones, socks, a sleep mask, a pillow and a blanket. Also, did I mention a complete archive of movies, TV shows and music playlists at my disposal? When I landed in Doha, I was greeted by my Dad with a wonderful spread of fresh fruit, dry fruit and Ferrero Rochers (my favorite) and an absolutely beautiful pearl necklace. At this point, I actually think I was waiting for the magic carpet to show up.
My Dad was an amazing tour guide, showing me all around Doha including their extensive malls (one even has a canal that gives gondola rides), their baby city (in comparison to NYC),the cultural village, the souq and the Islamic Museum of Art. As the daughter of an architect, I’m obligated to point out that the architect who designed the Islamic Museum of Art is also the same architect who designed the JFK Library. I’ll shamelessly brag a little by telling you that I was the one who figured it out by looking at the similarities in the use of structure and space—but I wonder how many people could actually say that they’ve been to both buildings, on opposite sides of the world? It makes me feel like an accomplished world traveler—or maybe just the daughter of an architect who’s been hearing about columns and the use of light and space since before she could talk.
Qatar’s cultural village, Katara, was a fascinating place built to look like ancient Qatar. The name actually comes from the first known name given to Qatar, written on an ancient map as “Catara.” They’ve even built their own interpretation of a coliseum out of marble along with a few beautiful mosques, one made out of gold mosaics. Katara has a plethora of Middle Eastern restaurants from various countries and is aimed at being the center of film, art and music in Qatar. In fact, we got to watch them set up for the Doha Tribeca Film Festival while we were there. While Katara village was beautiful, the most amazing place I went to in all of Doha was the Souq Waqif. The Souq is a large outdoor market and was recently rebuilt to look exactly as it did years ago. The greatest thing about the souq is that, while it might seem like a big tourist trap, it’s actually still used by the locals just like it used to be. People go to eat at the restaurants, buy spices, clothes, jewelry, furniture, fruit and even live animals. Most of the animals are for eating, but they actually dye little chicks and bunnies bright colors as pets for the children. Guess no one ever heard of a teddy bear. It was impossible for me to go to the Souq without expecting to see Aladdin and Aboo stealing apples somewhere; I truly felt like I was walking through Agrabah—and I wasn’t even in my Little Tikes kitchen.
One day, my dad drove me out through the desert—where I was sure I was going to catch a glimpse of the Cave of Wonders—to this beautiful resort on the Persian Gulf. We stayed for the day and had a wonderful lunch, got to hang out by the pool and the beach, collect some shells from the Persian Gulf, and I even got to see camels.
Since 5 star hotels are the only places allowed to serve alcohol in Qatar, every night we were at a different hotel or restaurant, and then off to another for after dinner drinks and dessert. And luckily, it seems I was with the mayor of the expats of Qatar. Everywhere we went people knew my Dad and would come over to say hello, or at the least the wait staff knew him by name. One guy even went as far to say that my Dad was the friendliest man he knew in Doha. So needless to say, I obviously had great company for my travels. One of my Dad’s favorite spots, and now mine too, was the Belgian Café’ inside of the Intercontinental Hotel. In fact, I loved it so much we went there twice during my visit. The Belgian Café’ is filled with mostly expats and has this dark wood paneling all over. It also plays great oldies American music. Now I can see why it’s one of his favorite places over in the Middle East. Sitting there with my dad, eating fish and chips with pints of Stella, listening to Elton John’s “Tiny Dancer” and “Bennie and the Jets,” we could have been in any old pub in Manhattan—except for when you go outside and the desert humidity hits you in the face.
My last night in Doha, my dad made us a fabulous dinner at home with pasta, a Mediterranean salad and za’atar, a popular Lebanese dish served in Qatar. It was so incredible to visit a part of the world I never thought I’d get to see and to witness a different culture and a completely different way of life. And, of course, it was amazing to be able to visit with my Dad and meet all of his wonderful friends and see all of his favorite places.
Though I wasn’t channeling much of Carrie Bradshaw on my Middle Eastern adventure—I left my Valentino tunics and sparkly Dior headscarves at home—I was definitely walking around feeling like Princess Jasmine on the streets of Agrabah; minus the indecent costume, horrid wig and creepy little shoes…naturally.