I know it is really just a weekend, but if the rest of my week continues with the busyness of these last two days, then Easter Break will really fly by. On Friday, I headed to Old Muharraq and in the rain (yes rain) managed to walk a round a little and see some sites. Old Muharraq is another island just east of Manama. It is where the airport is located. Anyway, as I said it was raining yesterday and just not a light drizzle for ten or s minutes, like it had been doing earlier in the week. No, this was a typical rainy day, that left me with the chills...even though it was still probably 80 degrees or so. I am not complaining though as it has not rained like that since I arrived and it actually had that fresh rain smell.
Muharraq has some of the oldest residential properties in Bahrain and the narrow streets add to the quaintness. The first stop was Siyadi House, which belonged to a pearl merchant in the 19th century. I am proud to say that one of my students is a Siyadi descendant. He could not give me a special tour though, as the main portion of the house is now a mosque. I took some pictures from the outside though and the building is very unique and artistic. Not to far from that is the Shaik Isa House. Shaik Isa was the King's great-great-grandfather and was ruler from 1869 to 1932...which was the longest reign of a Bahrain ruler. I know you all care about these facts :) The home was huge with many courtyards and rooms. It is a good example of 19th century architecture with intricate wall carvings everywhere. Of course I took a lot of pictures. There was also a windtower, which is how air used to circulate throughout buildings to cool things off. Call it the first air-conditioning system if you will. What day of sightseeing would be complete without a stop at Dairy Queen? Of course as a true Minnesotan, I would never let a little rain stop me from having a blizzard. Heck a blizzard cannot stop me from having a blizzard.
Today was another busy day and the sun was shining. The first stop was the Barbar Temples ruins. It is basically just that...ruins. The excavation which was started in 1954 is still going on today. It is three temples that were built on top of one another during the Dilmun Era, during the third and second century BC. Of course it was a bunch of ruins (rocks and stones) in the middle of what is now a residential area, but still it was worth the visit. I have always had an interest in archaeology....after all anthropology was declared major number two (or was it three) back in the day :) The goal after that was to find the Saar Ruins, but we gave up on that after not being able to find them. Another day perhaps. Instead we went to the Al Budaiya Botanical Gardens. It was a beautiful place to walk around and see plants and flowers from all around the world. At one time the Governor of Britain's wife would always bring something back from her travels...thus creating the gardens. Unfortunately, did not see too much from North America....oh well. Today' s outing concluded with grocery shopping, which needed to be done. I do not like grocery shopping here anymore than I like doing it in the States. Anyway, I do not have anything planned yet for tomorrow, but that will most likely change. Not that I would mind sleeping in a day or two :)
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