Island Tour

After two months we finally were able to take the Island tour offered by the base.  It really wasn't an island tour so much as it was just seeing a few local attractions around the capital city.  The first stop on the tour was the Grand Mosque, one of the most recognized landmarks in Bahrain.  It is an amazing sight.  Built about 20 years ago, it can hold 7000 people to worship at one time.  The ground floor is for the men to worship while the women have the upper floor.  There is an "overflow" courtyard and another building just off the main one for families with small children.  The call to prayer is done five times a day; the first beginning just before the sunrise and last ending after sunset.  Mosques in the region typically broadcast them on a loud speaker that can be heard all over.  Muslims do not need to go to any one mosque to worship.  We were told some stop by the side of the road and pray if necessary.  A wonderful man explained the Muslim culture and the reasoning for many of their traditions.  He did a great job of highlighting the similarities, rather than the differences between Islam, Christianity, and Judaism.  It was very interesting to hear the similarities our cultures share.  All of the women visitors must wear the traditional abaya and hijib.  I was one of the last women to get fitted, so I got lucky and got a flowered hijib that was tied like a scarf.  After the lady put it on me she said, "Why, you look like Jackie O..."  Funny lady...  

The Grand Mosque

Jackie O

 The glass globes in the chandelier is hand-blown from France,

and the rug is imported from Scotland

This is Travertine Marble imported from Italy

This is the nice gentleman who gave us the tour and presentation

Our next stop was to the Bahrain Fort.  It was extremely hot but we managed to navigate our way around the whole thing.  For me it was one of those things that you do because you love your husband.  From afar it is beautiful but walking around in the dirt and heat was not my favorite thing.  The history behind it is interesting, though.  It is a Tell, meaning it is a mound that consists of civilization built upon civilization over a long period of time, which is quite common in this part of the world.  Some information about it from Wikipedia...

It is composed of an artificial mound created by human inhabitants from 2300 BC up to the 18th century, including Portuguese and Persians.  Qal`at al-Bahrain is a typical tell — an artificial mound created by many successive layers of human occupation. The strata of the 300×600-metre tell testify to continuous human presence from about 2300 B.C. to the 16th century A.D. About 25% of the site has been excavated revealing structures of different types: residential, public, commercial, religious and military.

Our last stop was the Bahrain Museum.  I loved the cultural exhibits and the one all about teeth.  Go figure, right???  We did not have enough time to go through the whole thing so maybe we can take Katie back there sometime.   The presentations were very well done.

We have just scratched the surface of this small island.  I have so many things on my list of things to do while living here, so stay tuned....