We were shocked to see the amount of Christmas decorations Qatar is offering this year. You really feel it is Christmas time on the peninsula. City Center, the country’s main shopping center and almost the only hang-out, is all decked out and very glittery! Really, a very refreshing scene.
Things were so different last year. They were very few decorations, nothing like this time. City Center’s ornamentation consisted primarily of a couple of reindeer and a couple of mammoth presents dangling from the fourth floor ceiling.
Last year it was a bit depressing being in Doha during the holidays, as we were still new to the country and still living at the Movenpick hotel. To keep ourselves sane back then, we found a smattering of things to decorate our hotel room just to get some glimpse of the festive season.
This year, not only did they decorated the place, but they are also playing Christmas carols. Click the pictures for enlargements.
PS, ya a3sal, your hair looks nice 🙂
Amal,
Don’t get depressed, we’ll have fun here in Doha;-)
When you told me today that you wanted us to meet tomorrow at City Center I was kind of depressed because everything is beautiful in Dubai. Even in Sharjah, which is supposedly a lot more traditional, the malls are decorated! But your pix mean I’m kind of looking forward to sitting in Starbucks and looking at the decorations 🙂
Wow, these decorations are so much more nice than the one in our malls. Really pretty. Hope you guys have a great holiday season!
Well you can just color us grateful. When we were here last year it was just so dour. We found a few little garlands and stuff at Carrefour then but that was it. We were told the year previous there was nothing here, nada, sifr 🙂
This year the change is dramatic. I say it’s because German’s are in charge of mall management. But there is Christmas all over: Starbuck’s with the music, Debenham’s (last year nada, this year a whole section) and more. It’s nice really. ‘Tash speculated there might be more clobber and clatter at City Center this year than for Eid and I think she’s right.
Anyway, the change is welcome. But I still think nowhere on earth does Christmas and Christmas decorations better than London — Charles Dickens is around every corner.
I meant Qatar. It seems I still have the mood of the Barani Blogs 🙂
Cool. I never thought this is Christmas in Bahrain.
You have to see the Christmas tree at Mecca Mall… DAMn! It’s so gorgeous 🙂 I’ll take pics I guess next time I go.. though hopefully you’ll get to see it yourself 🙂