A planned act of iconoclasm approaches

The bad news is that Doha Ramada Library Bar is definitely planning to refurbish during Ramadan. Some of the changes will be for the good. They say they are going to knock the two small toilets together to make one of a decent size, while building a completely new second toilet. Unfortunately, this requires additional space, which in turn means knocking through the end wall. It's hard to see how they can do this without destroying the mural, so it would appear that my recent forebodings on this theme were not misplaced. I'll keep you posted on progress. Or regress, more likely.

Paraglider in the Paranormal - a flying visit

a very green tree, by contrast

It seems every time I'm back in Dubai that the Paranormal exterior has been recently repainted, and each time in a rosier hue. The salmon pink is gradually giving way to a red mullet. Fair enough.

paranormal interior, reflected, paraglider far right, reflecting

If the place looks surprisingly empty, it was only 12:30, half an hour after opening. I wasn't stopping, just having a quick cooling beer and four identical conversations. Nothing changes!

Doha Ramada Library Bar - in the Beginning was the Word...

Ramadan is only a week away and all the bars will close. When they re-open in September, it would be a great shame to visit the Ramada Library Bar only to find it redecorated, with the famous mural over-painted in a nice tasteful magnolia. Heaven forbid that this should happen, but just in case, I've preserved it here, for posterity. In best Arabic style, the mural progresses from right to left and begins with:

the hand of God giving Adam a book, or the gift of written language:

Then we have earliest cave markings:

Followed by ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics:

And the reading of a scroll in an amphitheatre:

From monkish scribes to the Printing Press:

To mastery of Music and Navigation:

To the domestic Study, with TV showing Mona Lisa:

To Modernity, with books launching trains, planes, skyscrapers, computers and beyond:

This detail, the Artist, Muriel Terzano Lamy:

Even to the bar stools.

Muriel Terzano Lamy's enormous and exuberant mural gives the Library Bar a completely unique ambience, making it one of Doha's most amenable night spots (though the friendly bar staff help too!) I've let her mural speak for itself, but the low quality of my photos (ambient light, no flash) doesn't do it full justice. There are many more details to be discovered.

The Restaurant on Al Shatee Corner

Yes, of course I know it's pronounced fool, not fowl, and normally I'd pass such places with nothing more than a private chuckle, but this particular juxtaposition of a Foul Restaurant cheek by jowl with Al Shatee Food Supply is surely unfortunate, by any standards.
This is right up there with Kharbash Institute of Driving (Karama) and the Never Titi abayat (Muntazah).