Last Sunday in Bahrain

(aka Dave’s videos)

We have had an eventful day! We found the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Manama and attended Mass. It was the same but different! 7 Priests and around 15 deacons officiated. It was Fr. Xavier’s birthday, so there was a lot of celebratory singing, giving of gifts and thanksgiving. He did a great thank you speech that wouldn’t have been amiss at the Oscars albeit genuine and heartfelt! The Church held around 400 people and communion was VERY efficient! Big overhead signs saying if you have kids or babies then go to a prepared room so you won’t disturb the prayerful (us). Otherwise it was very similar. We were taken aback by the number of Indian families at Church – not many people of Arab descent and lots from the Philippines.

Then we walked to Bab Al-Bahrain souq through small winding streets (we are getting adventurous).The call to prayer was quite loud where we were and we really like it and actually find it peaceful. Maybe Christchurch could introduce it? The souq was a lot better than the previous visit – not so pushy from the shop keepers and an all round better vibe. This is probably due to us not looking so obviously new to the joint and it being a little later in the evening – or perhaps we’re becoming immune to the argy bargy!

Michelle decided I did not smell nice enough and so we went to a perfume shop (for men of course) and the attendant was very liberal in spraying my arms, hands , shirts with all the different scents. I am a bit overwhelmed with the smell at the moment! The oddest one was Banana and Pineapple which was, apparently, last year’s best seller! Not for me – it just made you feel hungry. We did end up getting one (no not elephant musk either), but a subtle mix of cloves and cinnamon. Now I smell great – just ask Michelle.

We ate at an authentic Bahraini restaurant, the food was not spicy at all but was very subtle cinnamon and cloves type spices (just like the cologne). We ate Beef Tekka which was marinated beef with dry lemon – this was served in a pita bread and looked very impressive! David thought it was bitter but I really enjoyed it. We also had Qeemah which was similar to dhal, a chicken dish and the most amazing samboosa’s (samoosa) filled with cream cheese and a mint dipping sauce! Super delicious!

We woke to rain on our last day in Bahrain – we were quite excited to see it as it obviously doesn’t happen very often. It was still quite warm and the rain was quite gentle. We spent the day packing and getting sorted for Saudi Arabia, we’re not sure of access to wifi/social media/uber etc once we get there so lots of screen shots of maps and our hotel address!

For our last meal we went all out and finished our Bahrain money (Dinah) and got spicy cauliflower, beef curry and chicken biriyani – meat twice in a row, what a treat! David assured me the cauliflower had a piece of capsicum in it – David was wrong! I had hardly bitten (not even a nibble actually) when my entire mouth exploded on fire – I’ve never experienced heat like that!!! I’m so grateful we had access to milk!!

We’ve had such a phenomenal time in Bahrain, the people are kind, the place is beautiful and the food is awesome. We haven’t missed alcohol at all but we have missed holding hands as we walk around. We shall miss Bahrain, it’s been an amazing start to our adventures.