Doha (day four)

Started a new book on the beach today, my Chaco tan is coming along quite nicely.. Eiger Dreams by Krakauer. Its amazing so far. For those of you who don't climb and perhaps don't understand the hold that it has on people like myself he is very good at explaining the mental and emotional aspects of climbing. I went to the gym this morning with Mom and lifted weights while she did her exercises. Her trainer, Ian, calls me "Sir Chris," its pretty amusing, but watch out, I may come back with an ego. When dad came home we went to the other side of town and into the Gold Souq. It has the same basic format of the old fashioned one I mention before (titled Souq Waqif) but this one has a modern look to it that more resembles a crowded strip mall. None the less it was gorgeous and fascinating. All of the window displays glow from all of the gold. Necklaces, bracelets, pendants, rings. You name it .Solid gold. All manner of jewelry is sold there as well. I had a Qatari trying very hard to convince me to buy some gaudy rhinestone designer knock off watch. There was lots of silver there as well, and also every time of gem or stone that you can think of. Lets not forget the framed scorpions and spiders. What vacation would be complete without one??
After we finished there we made our way back to Souq Waqf and meet up with a friend of Dads from work and his wife Tracey, for dinner. We ate at a Qatari restaurant that was really good. Tracey has been working in the middle east for many years and she was able to pick out all the best appetizers and explain most of what was on the menu. The dessert however was made out of Oreo cookies. That, perhaps, was not so authentic Qatari, but tasty none the less. On the way back the the vehicles we wandered around some more in the shops. We found a place that sells honey made in Yemen and stayed there for a while tasting various things. Tracey speaks a little bit of Arabic and it was not only fun to listen to her, but it also made things a lot easier.
Sure is going to be hard to go back to the snow that is waiting to be shoveled in Utah.