Welcome to the Kingdom of Bahrain, a tiny speck of land in the Persian Gulf,
dwarfedfby its near neighbours, I've got a couple of days here to explore the
culture and some cafes!
Well a double-shot latte did the trick! Hi! Friendly locals! Okay well it's
a bright sunny morning and I'm heading south to the Grand Mosque and then on to
a district called block three three eight which sounds almost like a prison
doesn't it but it's in fact an upcoming artistic neighborhood with art galleries,
and good cafes hopefully!
This is Bahrain's beautiful grand mosque which can house 7,000 people or on a
Wednesday in April about four tourists!
I seem to be on the right track!
Well it's definitely gotta be time for a coffee and cake now, I've read rave reviews about
this place cafe Lilou and I hope it's good because I've been walking around in circles trying
to find it! Thankfully I have no need to worry
Brunch does not get much better than this this is Soleil du Levant which
apparently is a shakshouka baked eggs hummus, parsley, sumac served with tahini
sauc.e Well that's instantly one of my favourite cafes
in the world! Not only was the food delicious but the service was just
impeccable!
this is the Bay al Bahrain which is the gateway to Manama Souq and was the
central administration back in the old colonial period.
OK you've caught me at the mall, the Avenues to be exact, but that's only
because I'm looking for the local branch of a great cafe called The Orangery
so this is the Orangery and I've got a strong Turkish coffee to keep
me going and well look at that, they throw in a signature cake we're not exactly
but you know it had to be done!
Russian band Moroccan disco - Wow and I thought I had eclectic musical taste
This is Bahrain's most important archaeological site the Qal'at Al
Bahrain or Bahrain Fort. what you can actually see here its the 16th century
Portuguese fort which during the colonial period was an important feature
of the trade route linking Portugal all the way out to its colonies at Goa and
Macau. The most impressive thing about the fort is actually what lies beneath
it because this was the cradle of the Dilmun civilization a very
sophisticated culture that arose around 4000 years ago and lasted about 1500
years and was the most sophisticated culture in this region. They found all
sorts of artifacts from the period many are in the excellent little Museum here at
the Fort but most are in the really really impressive National Museum in
Manama.
There's a full-on sandstorm blowing outside so I've stepped into the cool
air conditioning of the Moda Mall and found a very nice little Turkish
cafe called Kunefeci to have a nice refreshing mint
tea.
So, Bahrain, is it more than just a Formula One Grand Prix? Oh yes, definitely,
now do help yourself to a date. I'm afraid I've eaten all the halwa!