Coming To Doha

Doha is going to break into action now that Ramadan and EID have come to an end. There's lots of stuff on the books, so no reason for the naysayers to talk about how there's nothing to do in Qatar. To do it, you have to get off your hiney (note to self). Here's a little taste of what's coming up:

Look who's in concert in Doha. Wow, the guys of Air Supply are definitely aging, and I'm not so sure it's "gracefully". But then again, they are from my day. Ouch. Who can forget "All Out of Love". I didn't ask, "who wants to forget?"! Be nice. Anyway, they'll be gracing Qatar with their presence on October 15th.

Confession: After listening to their old tunes, I did get a little "lost in the love" of the '70's music scene.

The Sony Ericsson Tour returns to Doha for a tournament from October 27th to November 1st bringing all our favorite women's tennis pros. The tickets are always plentiful and cheap which makes for a great outing in Doha's awesome October weather. Rumors have it that tickets go on sale TODAY! I'll be there for sure.

update: booth at Landmark now indicates tickets will go on sale Monday. Insha'alah.

The Doha Tribeca Film Festival will be on tap October 29th - November 1st. They released their much anticipated film program yesterday. Check it out at their website. It's looking good!



Brazil vs England! Coming to Qatar on November 14th (date tentative) according to Fifa's website for a friendly match. I've yet to see a "friendly" soccer match with the exception of AC Milan playing Qatar last year here in Doha. That was apples and oranges. I cannot imagine emotions not running high any time these two meet on the field.
more from Qatar News Agency

It has been officially announced that the ABRA Unlimited Hydroplane World Championship, which will now be known as the Oryx Cup, will be held in Qatar from November 19th through November 21st. Sounds like a photo op to me! I'm sure to be there.



Ok, no reason to be sitting around pouting! Get out there and experience what the desert has to offer! Later, people!


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The Sunshines of My Life

It's time for a "Sunshine" update. Yes, we still have four shining rays at last count. They truly are the sunshine of my life.

Shea: Ok, no complaints. He's not on our payroll. He's Uncle Sam's worry. Hmm, so I guess he is on our payroll. Geez, I hadn't thought of it that way. Anyway, he's still chillin' in Africa biding his time until he makes it back to the States in early December. Fingers crossed on that...you never really know what, when or why things happen in the army.

Dustin: Working on his post graduate studies at Texas State that hopefully will result in receiving his Master's Degree in Education. His extracurricular activities these days are taking him into the direction of jiu jitsu. He entered his first tournament this past weekend in Houston and placed 2nd overall in the open weight division. Not bad for a 145 pounder! Way to go, Dust! Just NO MMA...you either, Shea!

Kayla: Senior year at St Ed's in Austin looking to graduate in May. Woohoo! We're excited for another graduate, but is "continuing education" in her future, as well? She's not sure what direction she's headed, but has a few months to figure that out. She's still working at The Hyatt Lost Pines in Bastrop, as well as doing her Resident Assistant job at the university.

Kristi: Sophomore at St Edward's in Austin, as well. Her plate is full between classes, volunteer service, student activities involvement, and work. She's meeting with an advisor this week to discuss studying abroad next fall. We've already been informed that we may have to use next year's EID holidays to visit her wherever her studies take her. Darn!



Speaking of sunshine, my nephew Jason and his wife Lana welcome a little ray of their own. Many blessings to you and your new bundle of joy.
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Motivation Needed

Ok, it's back to the "sandbox" as one of my facebook comrades lovingly refers to Doha. It's not so bad, I guess. Yesterday's weather was amazing and made me look forward to even better to come. We're fixing (pardon my southern) to be in a seven to eight month California like weather pattern. Being that I've never been there, I'll have to accept that correlation as accurate. The weather may be perfect, but Doha's quirkiness, I'm afraid, will continue. (I can't complain, it's gotten me through hundreds of posts on this blog about nothing.) At this very moment, I'm putting off taking the truck in for its scheduled maintenance. I say "scheduled", but unfortunately that just equates to a mileage reference. I dread this whole process. You see, no one around here has normal hours and heaven forbid they answer the phone when you try to call them. I can already see the scenario in my head, "Come back later, madame". I'll ask "when?", and the maintenance tech will bobble his head around for a while like I'm supposed to know what the heck that means. But if this is all I have to go through for my dear sweet husband who works day in and day out in this desert while I sit around eating bon bons, I guess I'll survive. Ah, I'm already getting pumped up about that oil change. I knew you guys could talk me through it. You're the best :P Tata!


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Final Post on Germany...Promise!

Last Germany post...I promise. I just have to milk these vacations as long as I can, as I can only do so much shopping and so much eating in Doha. Though, we surely do our darnedest to keep up on the latter. I'll sum up our trip to Germany by saying it was right up there at the top of our list. We thought it couldn't get any better than Austria, but Germany definitely vied for that number one spot. The Romantic Road was just that, along with being as quaint and charming as anywhere we've ever visited. Our drive in the Moselle Valley wine region was beautiful with a laid back pace that was much welcomed after our whirlwind tour of nearly every city along Bavaria's Romantic Road. Our last night we spent in a village named Nehren at a bed and breakfast type establishment set in a very small family run vineyard. It was a gamble we took as we were nearing sunset with no place to stay. It ended up being one of our favorite (and cheapest!) overnight stays. Our German proprietor's hospitality was warm and welcoming which was indicative of our entire journey.

I knew I was in trouble when the waiter brought me a plate for "the bones". Since when does a fish "filet" entail bones and eyeballs?!

Driving along the Moselle Valley

Vineyards along the Moselle River

Burg Eltz - Castle construction began in the 10th Century and took nearly 500 years to complete.

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Germany Comes to an End

We arrived back in Doha late last night after a very successful trip. We couldn't have gotten lost if we had tried with the GPS guiding us. Well, that's if you don't count our side trip to France. Actually, I guess we weren't technically lost, we just didn't realize that our route was going to lead us there. Nonetheless, we have lots of memories, lots of pics and lots of momentum to plan our next car trip. The freedom it allowed was great. I still have oodles of pics in my camera to download. If you can stand it, I'll be sharing a few more in the next day or so. Cheers.

Road scenes driving to Fussen

Getting ready to hike up to Neuschwanstein Castle near Fussen.

Neuschwanstein Castle

View from the castle area

Another view from castle area

My fearless leader guiding me through Germany. Oops! We didn't notice that the ferry we crossed over the Rhine on was actually taking us to France. Ok, so a little side trip.

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We're Still Here!

We are still here...just too tired to yak. Fussen's Castle Neuschwanstein was beautiful and definitely fairytale-ish, as described. The weather is still gorgeous as we have moved on to Trier in the Moselle Valley. Life is good.



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Heading Towards Fussen

It's Monday morning and we've had two full days in Rothenburg. After breakfast, we'll get back on the Romantic Road and head towards Fussen with a few city stops on the way. As you can see, we've had nothing but blue skies smiling at us. We can't expect it to continue, but we will take it as we get it. Traveling by car has been much simpler than I ever dreamed it would be . The GPS has definitely been a Godsend. Now, if we could only get David to watch the road instead of the map while cruising the autobahn. He's driving 160kph and getting passed as though we're standing still. I'll let y'all do the math on that one. We stopped at nearly every small town from Wurzburg to Rothenburg, on our trip here Saturday. Every single one was beautiful, perfectly manicured and flower laden. The pride these people have in their homes and shops is unmatchable. Rothenburg is a really quaint town with cobblestone streets and colorful old houses and shops. More pictures to come when I download them. Here are a few from Saturday morning. I know, I know...I'm a tad behind.

I found another knight in shining armor just in case we run into any "spitters" on this vacation! Any food pics you see are at Lucy's request (thanks for asking, Lucy!). I love food pics! This particular cafe didn't have apple strudel, so we had to go to plan b...the waiter's suggestion. Waffles, ooh la la! They were delicious.

View from our Rothenburg hotel room, Romantik Markusturn.

Rothenburg's market square.

Just a small country town we drove through that's not even on the map.

Street scene in Wurburg.
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1st Night...Colmberg, Germany

Castle we stayed in the first night
View from the castle wall
Our room
My PORK filet...yum

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