What did we do with our family while they were here? Well, you saw our trip to Dubai and our Muscat Festival pictures. Here are some pictures from the rest of their trip.
One of the first places we went to, Turkish House!
Oven baked king fish and fried calamari. Yum! It was so good that my mom and sis insisted on going to the Turkish House again.
After lunch, coffee at Costa. Then the Muscat Festival. It was a great first day of their trip.
On this day, we went to the Grand Hyatt for lunch. Here is my mom with the Sultan.
I don't think I have blogged about the Grand Hyatt. We stayed here the first few days of our move to Oman. Such a beautiful hotel lobby.
The view from the lobby out to the sea. We had lunch at the restaurant by the pool, overlooking the ocean.
Later, we picked up Savannah and headed out to the Muttrah Souk, for their first visit there. But not their last.
I introduced mom and Diana to Turkish pottery and the fine art of bargaining. This shop had the best selection of Turkish pottery. Since I collect it, I couldn't help picking up a piece for myself. :) By the way, I have seen Turkish pottery for sale in London, at double the prices!
As we left the souk, we saw this beautiful view of the harbor and the sultan's yacht.
The next morning, we went to the Sultan's Grand Mosque. I usually try to get there early when I go, but we didn't get there until 9:45 or so. I have never seen so many buses packed with tourists! I suggest if you go to the mosque, get there before 9.
These Omanis in the tan dishdashas were making sure everyone was appropriately dressed.
These are part of the grounds around the mosque. You wouldn't believe there hundreds of other people around. Most people spend their time in the amazing prayer halls, but there are lots of beautiful, tranquil spots around the mosque.
So, after spending 2 1/2 weeks in London, Joe and I got hooked on scones and clotted cream. I made scones one afternoon and we all had tea on the deck. In our Cath Kidson cups.
There are a few places around Muscat that I have blogged about more than once. My favorites. This is one of them-- the Shangri La's Barr Al Jissah resort. Lunch buffet.
Austin, Grandma, and Savannah
Diana took this beautiful picture of the grounds. She went exploring (while we rested.)
We followed her, and I saw parts of the resort I have not seen before.
On the last day, we went to Fort Nakhal, another favorite of mine. This was the sign on the women's (very clean) restroom.
Diana took these great pictures of the fort. I do confess, that since this was my third visit, I didn't take any pictures.
Well, she didn't take this one. :)
After the fort, we drove through the palm trees to the Nakhal springs.
The very last event of the trip? A trip to the Muscat Opera House. We saw a great performance by an Arabic dance company, Enana.
I told Diana that I had bought opera house tickets for the 25th. So she bought the airline tickets to leave on the 26th. Here is the rookie mistake. Their flights left at 00:50 on the 26th, which meant we had to hurry to the airport. So many international flights leave close to midnight, that the dates can be confusing. I have heard stories of people showing up at the airport a day late! But no worries, they got to the airport in plenty of time.
It was such a great visit!! I loved that my mom and sis finally got to see the beautiful Oman they had been hearing so much about.
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