This weekend we went back to my favourite beach, Al Ghariya which is in the north east of Qatar. There is a beach resort nearby, but we like the public beach just beyond it and drive through the abandoned village and set up our umbrella on the beach to claim our spot. The temperature was absolutely perfect at about 35 degrees and the water was even refreshing. We stayed in the water for ages and actually had to finally get out because we were starting to get chilly! who would ever have thought it! Derek doesn't normally like beaches and swimming, but with the saltiness of the water, he was able to float and the temperature of course, was lovely. He saw a sea turtle , and every now and again a yellow torpedo like fish leapt out of the water and then skimmed across it like a skipping stone. I dont think we could have dreamed up a more perfect afternoon.

As the afternoon wore on, more Qataris came down to the beach. A couple of groups of ladies in black were at either end of the beach with their children and their nannies, the men had gone out in their fishing boats. They only paddled and I wonder if after Derek had left, they might have gone in the water. Some go in fully dressed and then hand their robe to the maid who then returns it to her when she wants to come out. Others just swim fully dressed. In this instance they just waded up to their knees. As the sun sets, you often see groups of men in their Toyota Land Cruisers stop in the middle of the desert, or in this case on a hill, to watch the sunset. One of the prayer times is at sunset, although I have never actually seen them pray, just look at the sun going down. Qataris come to life at night and often when I have not been able to sleep, I look from our window at the Corniche and it is always packed with cars and with people walking and greeting each other, until at least 2 as that is the latest I have been awake, but it would not surprise me if it goes on all night.

Last night we went out to our favourite restaurant in Souq Waqif. We now know the route through the little alleyways, sometimes taking a detour depending on our mood. This shop is one of our landmarks. It sells some of the largest pots I have ever seen! Outside the store are the really big pots, that you could cook a whole camel in!

As it was our last meal at Cinque Sensi, we decided to be gluttons and go for their set meal for 150 QAR each. What we hadn't realized was that the three choices of anti pasto and three choices of pasta were in fact not choices, they bought all three of each of them! and they weren't small portions either! By the time we got to the main course, we were very full - especially since they always have the most wonderful warm rolls that we cannot resist. However, we had asked if they would change the desert to include my favourite nougat semifredo with almond sauce, and it was amazing how we still had enough room to squeeze every last morsel of that in! The meal ended with a thimbleful of espresso which just set off the sweetness perfectly and was not enough to keep us awake at night. It is a good thing I still have one more session with Mohammed, the personal trainer at the gym in our building. He is very strict about my workouts and I have to go every day or he wants to know why I haven't signed in that day! Without that, I would be in big trouble with all these last meals at our favourite places - we have so many of them!