Large is too small.
I think you need to go extra large here.
Hello from Doha, Qatar.
Today I am in the West Bay, which is kind of like downtown here.
When you see those beautiful images of the Doha skyline
these are the buildings that you're seeing.
[music]
We start the day here, but end two metro stops north.
This is Katara, known as a Cultural Village.
But here, you can also find a public beach,
a lot of food,
and the most modern street in the world.
There's air conditioning in the street,
out in the open.
Look at how much air.
Ah!
You even feel kind of cold. [laughs]
[music]
So many futuristic-looking buildings.
Look at this one over here. There's a round building over here.
Look at that one.
And the entire facade of the building has this Islamic looking design,
it is extremely beautiful when you see up close.
There's even a trapezoid-like building being built over here.
So impressive. Wow.
Here we are at the other end of Corniche.
Corniche is that very famous oceanfront avenue here in Doha.
It is very well known by that hotel, that's the Sheraton Hotel.
It's located right by the end.
This is like a bay around here.
Straight ahead, where we started this series,
you can clearly see the Museum of Islamic Art.
Look how crystal clear the water is here.
Wow, there are some boats.
You may even be able to go for a boat tour.
There's nobody here at the moment,
but maybe later.
It is impressive the amount of constructions over here.
And all these buildings, they are government buildings,
businesses, hotels.
Chances are, by the way, that when you come to Doha,
you may stay right here.
This is where our new hotel is located.
The main areas where you could stay in Doha
are all located along this coast right here,
starting with the area around the Souq Waqif over there.
It's a boutique hotel, look at that.
Then you have here, West Bay,
then there are some hotels just north of here,
where our first hotel was located.
A lot of the hotels have their own private beaches,
then you have the Pearl and Lusail,
two very beautiful areas I'm going to show in a future video.
Now we're gonna grab something to eat.
But if you want to see what's on the other side,
where do they find?
Look at our first video.
- Exactly.
- Ah, look at that.
From here, you can already see one of the World Cup stadiums.
That is Stadium 974
and it's made of containers, exactly like this park here.
What has impressed you most here?
- It's hot. - [laughs]
- But that's no news. - That's impressive, though.
- Good thing is it's not going to be as hot during the World Cup
because it's actually during their winter.
And people told me to bring a coat when you come here for winter.
Have you ever seen so much construction all over like this?
- Maybe. - Here is like almost everywhere.
- Future is now.
[music]
Oh, my God.
He left the car turned on while he went out to do something,
just to keep the air conditioning going.
This is the most impressive thing I've ever seen.
That is the best branding ever.
I love it. Look at how creative.
Canada, Canada flag.
It's interesting, only Canada flag.
- Yeah. - Canadian consulate, embassy.
- That's the Four Seasons, baby. - Oh.
- Why is it only Canada then?
- They only receive Canadian guests!?
- Maybe.
In the meantime across the street...
We ordered a dish for the two of us called Za'atar cheese Manakish.
We don't have any idea what that is,
but it looked really good in the picture.
This is Renata's plate,
and this is Gordon's plate.
- Uh-huh.
Wow!
It reminds me of a pizza, look at this.
But this is actually a Middle-Eastern flatbread,
and Za'atar...
What is Za'atar, Gordon? It's like a spice, right?
- Uh-hmm. - It's like a Middle Eastern herb,
spicy herb, maybe.
Let's see.
Is it spicy or what is it?
- No, it's not spicy. It's more nutty than anything.
As in nuts, but I would put this one.
- Hmm... that's why the vegetables are there, to complement.
- Yeah. Herb or family of herbs.
Name of a spice mixture that includes the herb
along with toasted sesame seeds,
dried sumac, salt, as well as other spices.
- But it's not spicy, right?
- No, spices are spices.
It's not like they're spicy.
- Okay. It doesn't mean that they are spicy, huh?
- No.
- It is very similar to a cheese pizza.
Now let me see this.
Now the Za'atar.
- Hmm. - A little bit of nut..
- Yeah, it has kind of the texture of oregano,
but not the taste of oregano.
I like it.
- Oregano, marjoram, and thyme.
- Oh, oregano! See? I was right.
- And toasted earthly spices like cumin and coriander with sesame seeds.
I really like it, actually.
The Za'atar was the first one to finish, huh?
Love this Za'atar manakish.
I think it's even better than the cheese and...
I love cheese.
Oh. - It's called mahalabia.
- Mahalabia. - It's an Arabic dessert.
- Oh, wow. Thank you.
- Oh, the waiter brought... dessert.
- Yes. That was so cute.
That was the loveliest thing, you know.
When we were about to ask for the check, he came with desserts for us.
- Honey, probably.
- Yeah. It looks like a custard.
- Uh-huh. - Really good.
- Oh, yeah? - Yeah.
Mmm. Wow.
It reminds me of a pudding with honey on top.
It is delicious.
Wow.
The flavor... - You can't tell.
- I'd say maybe vanilla? - No.
There's some sort of flavor, I'm not sure.
The honey adds the sweetness.
Oh, it is really good.
That was 18 dollars in total.
It would have been more if we had paid for dessert.
It was really nice.
And one thing interesting,
why did you choose this restaurant here for us to come?
- It's open 24 hours. - Yeah.
So I want to get you information
if you're taking one of those flights late...
- Uh-hmm. - ...or you're here for the World Cup,
you need to relax for a little bit, it's open 24 hours.
Or if you have a jet lag,
he thought we'd be here at like five in the morning but...
- Four. Someone likes to sleep in.
Look at this mall here.
This is the City Center Doha.
To come inside any closed place here,
you need to show your app, your EHTERAZ, that you're green.
And look at this, they know it's not a screen capture,
because you can see the hour, you can see the seconds changing here.
- Can I go? Can I go?
I don't think so.
- Why not? - Not your age group over here.
- I'll have fun.
We came to the mall for Gordon to go shopping.
Remember what happened?
- No bags.
- What happened to your bags?
- They didn't make it.
The large is too small.
That's a problem. - I think I need to go extra large here.
- It's too small.
It's too small. - Even the hat? Whoa!
And now you're like me, looking for hats, huh?
Oh, this will look so good on you!
How cool, World Cup stuff already.
Look at this. Look at how much.
Oh, I love it! - What size would your mom need?
Look at this, how beautiful.
This is for women.
Oh. so beautiful. Yeah.
Wow, so many different products for us.
Look at this, these are beach shorts.
Beach shorts for women. In the west, we wouldn't wear.
You can get official World Cup products at the grocery store, Carrefour.
How much is it? - QR21. Seven bucks.
The dollar store is not a really a dollar store.
- Yeah, seven bucks.
- Oh, that's because it's a Dollar Plus.
- Dollar Plus. You didn't read it properly.
- Yeah. - You read what you wanted to see.
- Yeah. [laughs]
[music]
West Bay is fully decorated for the World Cup.
After shopping, we took a break at the hotel
to get some rest for the evening.
Wow, they even have dates for the World Cup.
Official dates.
Look at this, how beautiful.
QR 1,600, yeah, this one.
- There must be gold in it or oil.
It's really expensive.
- That's a lot, a lot, a lot!
Look at that, the metro connected to the mall.
Well, not really connected, but close enough.
[laughs]
We're going to Katara.
- What is Katara?
- You're going to see.
Just come with me.
Wow. [laughs]
We go in the family car.
We're family, Gordon. We're family.
It's more like singling out the single men.
- This train is for Lusail QNB.
- Beautiful metro.
Look at this, how cool.
You have a view here from the front seats.
- We are now approaching Katara.
This station is Katara.
- Katara, here comes Renata.
- Galeries Lafayette.
Just like in Paris.
Look at this building, how creative.
This is gonna be a kids' store when it's ready.
Ah, look at this, how interesting.
This is the Qatar National Tree, Acacia.
Embodies the environmental, cultural, and social status of the tree.
And when you embrace this national tree,
it affirms the need to preserve it.
To the beach? - Beach, okay.
- Yeah? Oh, thank you so much. - Thank you.
We got a ride in a golf cart.
[music]
Thank you so much. - Thank you very much.
- That is so nice!
Thanks! [in Arabic]
That is so cool.
They have these golf carts to take people around,
totally, totally free. - Mm-hmm.
So we arrived at Katara
and came directly here to the beach
to see the beach a little bit with daylight right?
- Yes. - Yes.
This is the... - The Pearl.
- The Pearl is over there. - Uh-huh.
Over there, you see West Bay.
This is a public beach here, but it is not free.
- It costs you a barrel of oil.
- [laughs]
- No, let's see how much.
It's more like a beach park.
And also there's a dress code here.
You cannot simply come in western style swimsuits.
- It's a public beach. - Yes.
Over there, those hotels have their own private beaches.
But here, no, this is public,
and you got to pay.
Hi, is the beach closed?
- The beach is open.
- Oh, yeah?
- This area is not for the public.
The beach is on the other side.
- Ah, okay.
- Gate number 16 there.
- Thank you so much.
Are you available?
- Yes.
[music]
- What time does it close for the beaches?
- 10 o'clock, it's closed.
- Oh, quite popular, the beach. Look at that.
It's 6 p.m. right now and it's still busy.
And there are a lot of water sports you can do here:
boat ride, parasailing, water skiing.
Look at this, how interesting.
The beach doesn't open in the morning.
It opens actually at 3:30 p.m. and it goes until 11 p.m.
At least for now, this is the summertime.
I guess it kind of makes sense not opening in the morning,
because people don't come to this beach here to suntan,
it's more like a park.
The entrance is QR10 for adults and free for kids.
Look at how interesting,
The four possible colors that the EHTERAZ app could show.
For you to be able to walk and enter everywhere,
you must be green.
If you're red, yellow, or black, forget it.
And that applies even to come to the beach.
Look at that how cool, some inclusive options here.
This is what people in a wheelchair could use to go to the ocean.
[music]
Thank you very much.
- Welcome.
- Yeah, thank you.
The waterfront is also full of restaurants.
Katara is home to some of Doha's most popular eateries.
[music]
Have you ever seen ground this clean?
- Or slippery. - Or slippery, yeah [laughs]
- Old Europe. - Wow.
- Old Europe. - It's amazing.
- Yeah. - And this is wide open.
It's an amphitheater here. - Yeah.
- It's so beautiful, huh? - Mm-hmm.
The amphitheater can accommodate 5,000 people
[Music]
This is the largest key in the world.
And it's a homage to refugees and expats represented by the Palestinians.
With the war, many people left their homes in the '60s
with their keys, in hopes of returning one day.
[music]
- It's the maze. - Yeah.
- We get lost in the maze. - Totally lost.
Thanks! [in Arabic]
- Do you know what this is?
- It's a half-nuclear bomb that's kind of sticking out of the ground.
They couldn't dig far enough because it's ocean underneath.
No? - Totally wrong.
This is something I'd never imagine
if I just look at it.
- It's one of those thimbles for the thumb
that's over in... - At the Souq?
- ...at Souq Waqif. - No!
This is actually a pigeon tower, for the pigeons.
They made like houses for the pigeons.
- Oh. - But there's a purpose.
It's not because they just love the pigeons.
It's because... - To keep them off the beach.
- No. Actually, it's when they, you know, do their needs.
- Yeah. I said the same thing in a polite way.
Keep them off the beach.
- No! But they want to use it actually for fertilizers.
- Oh, okay. - Yeah.
They have a whole system down there to collect them.
- So it's a collection. It's collection.
- To collect the pigeon's drops.
- Well, they have oil, they've got gas,
and they've got pigeon drops. - [laughs]
- Oh, why doesn't every country do this?
- Yeah, that's interesting, right?
Yeah, you can collect it. Every city has pigeons.
- I was actually wondering if the pigeons know
that it's a house for them, you know.
And one just came out of the hole.
- That's a big house for two pigeons.
It's their version of food carts.
- Yeah, instead of having tables and chairs outside,
you just come driving.
Park in front of the stall you want, and there you go,
street food in the air conditioning.
There are some really teasing juices over there.
I think I'm gonna get something.
The white grass. It's pineapple with lemongrass.
Thanks! [in Arabic]
- Thank you, ma'am.
Thanks! [in Arabic]
Wow, this is so refreshing.
It's so good.
I love it, absolutely love it.
Lemongrass juice, absolutely amazing.
Katara was a historical name used for Qatar
before the 18th century.
Researchers have identified Catara in historical maps
since the year 150 A.D.
Thank you. [in English and Arabic]
We saved the best for last, this street right here.
And why is that?
There's air conditioning in the street, out in the open.
You even feel kind of cold. [laughs]
Look at this, look at this, how much air.
Ah! Wow.
Look at how much air.
Ah! It's really cold.
All the cafes are so busy.
And this one here even has separate lines.
One line for women and you can see all the women dressed in black,
and one line for men, they're all dressed in white.
Wow, this is the most Qatari place in the entire Qatar.
If you know what I mean?
Here in Qatar, 80% of the population are immigrants,
and that's what you see all over, but not here.
Here, you see mostly Qataris.
Men in white, women in black,
I'm really feeling like I'm in the Middle East right now.
[music]
We're looking for a place to go get something to eat,
but we don't even know if we can go to one of these cafes
because men and women don't sit together here.
You see tables only for men and tables only for women.
- What do we get here?
- This is a passion fruit juice.
- No, that's empanadas. - Oh, the empanadas? Okay.
- Yeah, it's a set of empanadas.
Spinach, cheese, and the other one,
I think, is chicken, right?
- I don't know. Passion fruit?
Yes, it's a passion fruit...
...drink here.
I could have chosen with water or milk.
I asked which one is better
and they said milk. - Milk.
- I'll take note.
And chocolate for me. [in Portuguese]
So how is it?
- Delicious. - Delicious [laughs]
- Chocolate, coffee.
It's cold. Wonderful. [in Portuguese]
- It feels great to be outside, doesn't it?
- Mm-hmm.
- What is that, guacamole? - Mm-hmm.
- They are both pretty good.
Mmm. It is so delicious.
Imagine a passion fruit juice...
But this is a smoothie, I never had a passion fruit smoothie before.
Sitting out here, outdoors, with this air conditioning.
It's amazing.
We found one cafe that had a couple of foreigners,
and that's where we went. [laughs]
And I just realized that I've been walking all over here
without properly introducing this place to you.
This is Katara which is Qatar's cultural village.
It simulates a historical Qatari village here.
And here you have restaurants, you have art galleries,
opera houses, a lot of things to do.
It's a really nice place, worth coming to check it out.
Are you ready to leave the air conditioning?
- Yes, because I'm just going home anyways, so...
- Home or the hotel?
- Hotel
Wherever it is, it's going to have air conditioning.
- [laughs]
Wow, feel the difference! - Oh, yeah.