I Love Bahrain!

I have wanted to do a blog on Bahrain for a long time and in the end I am glad I waited. The last thing we did with Mom and Dad before they left was to spend a weekend in Bahrain. They were flying out of Bahrain International Airport enroute to a 3 day stay in London before heading home. Yes, retirement is tough. We decided well in advance of their arrival to spend a night in Bahrain and a day touring around before their flight out.

The trip overall could not have gone any better. I don't think I need to tell most of you that Mom and Dad had a very difficult time with our move. Therefore I felt a lot of pressure to show them a really good time while they were here. I was wound like a top most of the time they were in Saudi. After three weeks of snapping at the kids and my soon to be sainted wife, I was really ready for a good weekend in one of my favorite places. I Love Bahrain.

Mom and Dad were set to fly out of Bahrain International Airport on Thursday morning at 2:30am. We left Ras Tanura at about 12:30 on Tuesday. This would give us a good day and a half in Bahrain. Going accross the causeway between Saudi and the island nation of Bahrain can be a real treat. We tried it on a Wednesday night once(our Friday) and it took us over three hours. If you get going early enough like we did this day it only takes you an hour and a half. It's like being back in Philly and trying to get to the shore on a Friday in August. If you leave before noon you are golden. Anything after that and you could be 3 plus hours.

Upon arriving in Manama, Bahrain we checked in to our hotel. It is one of the nicer hotels and we were really excited for Mom and Dad to see it. It is called the Novotel Al Dana Resort. While Marie, Mom and the kids settled in and made their way to the pool Dad and I made a run to the liquor store. Yes that is right I said liquor store. There are a whopping three of them on the entire island. The one we go to is in a large complex called the Gulf International Hotel. This is probably the nicest hotel in Bahrain. It also houses the bar that I had my first beer in after going the first three months in Saudi without. So of course on our way to the liquor store we stopped off at Sherlock Holmes Pub for a quick beer. Sure enough don't you know that at 4pm our time the Red Sox/A's game in Japan is playing on the TV. I was in heaven. A bar, a real beer and a real baseball game. Please.

After returning to the hotel it was time for some swimming, drinks at the swim up bar and a little happy hour on the balcony.

Thursday night's dinner was at Senor Paco's. For many Aramcon's this is a Bahraini must. There are load's of great restauraunts in Bahrain. We go to Paco's because it's Marie's mom's favorite Mexican restaurant. It is also very kid friendly and I love their Margarita's.

Senor Paco's

Back to the hotel for a night cap and early to bed. Wednesday promised to be a busy day.

Wednesday started with breakfast at the Novotel. By the time we all got up and ate it was pushing 10:30. Prayer was at 11:40 and normally that would not matter in Bahrain except that our first stop on this morning was The Grand Mosque. It is a 20 year old mosque at the city center. Quite large and impressive. But the main reason I wanted to go to The Grand Mosque was because I knew the girls would have to dress in full female Islamic garb. Priceless. After an hour of touring the mosque along with some Islamic reeducation by our tour guide I was ready to convert. Then I remembered the no alcohol or pork thing and said forget it. Let's have lunch.

The Grand Mosque

For lunch we went to Adliya. This is a section of the city known for is quaint restaurants. We chose Coco's for lunch. A nice little outdoor place so the little one could run wild. I had to take her out of the mosque because she would not stop sceaming. Put her loudness Princess Anna under a 5 story acoustic dome and you have trouble. Coco's was much more Anna friendly - although as we walked into the place, some of the people from the mosque were there and I could not help but notice some shared eye rolls. After lunch it was back to the Novotel to swim while Anna napped. We had a nice afternoon at the pool while Marie sat on the balcony (reading & drinking wine) waiting for Anna to wake up. My parents surprised us and treated us to a second night at the hotel. We had planned on having dinner, dropping them at the airport and then heading back to Saudi. But this would work out better. Mom and Dad's flight was not until 2:30 in the morning. Now we could go out and enjoy ourselves, come back to the hotel for awhile and then drop them off later in the evening rather then them sit at the airport all night.

Coco's:

As good as Saudi can be for your waistline Bahrain is devastating. It seems that all you do there is eat and drink. And this time would be no different. We headed back out into Manama to show Mom and Dad the Ritz Carlton. Just next door to the Ritz is one of my favorite Bahrain hangouts - Trader Vic's. This is a chain of restuarants in cities all over the world. They are known for their large selection of funky tropical drinks such as the Suffering Bastard, Rangoon Ruby, Tonga Punch and of course from one of the coolest lines of one of the coolest songs the Pina Colada made famous in Warren Zevon's "Warewolves of London". We sat outside under the palm trees as the sun went down. It was a perfect night. Good drinks, a warm breeze, and dinner yet to come.

The Ritz:

We left the Ritz and drove accross town back to Adliya for our last meal together. We chose a restaurant called Monsoon. This is a Thai/Vietnamese type of place. The restaurant is beautiful and the food was excellent. After our meal we went into the back garden to relax and take some pictures. As Mom and Dad's time was running short I could see Mom starting to get teary. Oh boy this was not going to be easy.

Pictures from Monsoon

Things moved quickly from this point and before we knew it we had come back to the hotel, shifted the weight around between their bags and it was time to say good-bye. Everyone was doing well until Sarah lost it and started bawling. That got everyone else going. A few minutes later it was out the door and into the truck for the short trip to the airport. Unload the bags. Hugs and kisses. Bye-bye. Off they went. See that was easy. Not!! I drove away thinking of how much fun the trip had been and how it would be a few short months till we saw them again and....wait a minute this doesn't look familiar?? Oh boy. I'm lost. And the streets are soooo narrow. And why are they filled with all these people? They are all yelling and screaming. That street is blocked I have to turn...and turn...and turn. Now I might as well be in Uzbekistan. Crap. Is this a protest? Oh great the white kid in the giant white kid truck just drove into the middle of an I hate anything red, white or blue rally. Hmmm. No. These people are happy. They are waving big Red and White Bahraini flags and their faces are painted the same colors. Hooray!! I'm saved!! The Bahraini National Team has just won a World Cup qualifier against heavily favored Japan. I knew I loved soccer for a reason. Damn my heart is beating fast. So I pull over and watch for awhile and then ask someone that does not have paint on their face how to get back to the hotel. Before I know it I am back on the balcony having a glass of wine with Marie.

After having Mom and Dad around for so long, breakfast and swimming the next day just felt like it was missing something. So it was time for us to get back to reality. Plus a sand storm blew in blocking out the sun. We were back in Saudi by 2:30 quite tired and ready to just lay around. What a great trip!!