The Pearl

The Pearl

We have been at Souq Waqif all morning and it’s time to keep going as there is more to see.  We hail a taxi.  No haggling here (unlike Bahrain), this taxi driver is friendly and immediately turns on the meter as requested.  We take the 20 minute ride to the The Pearl while discussing the souq, the Pearl, how long it will take and how many buildings we can see along the way.  Anything that will distract the boys from jumping around too much on the back seat.

We arrive at The Pearl and I admit to being somewhat disoriented.  This was incorporated into today’s itinerary at the request of my husband.  He is interested in development and design – although from a construction and project perspective -rather than an architectural one.

This project is not quite finished but what is here is beautifully done and we compare it to the Marina in Dubai.  Although built off shore on reclaimed land like the Palm, it has a very picturesque marina and is, importantly, pedestrian friendly.  We wander along the waterfront, past the restaurants and shops.  The boys are getting hungry and tired and we toss up taking them back to the ship but it seems a shame to cut our visit short when we do not yet feel we have seem the area properly.

Still, they are starting to run amok.  We discover a Spinneys (small supermarket) and get some turkey and cheese croissants, sushi and drinks and have a little picnic on the waterfront of this artificial coastline.  It is a beautiful day and lunch hits the spot for all of us.

After lunch we keep walking.  The island is shaped around two crescents that form the marinas, there are numerous precincts of which we have been walking around Porto Arabia.  I want to take a quick look at Medina Centrale, the so-called Town Centre of the Pearl.  Built in a Mediterranean style it takes a little bit more wandering to find.  We move inside to the central corridor of the shops through the buildings making up Porto Arabia.  The boys think the patterns in the arches look like frogs with sharp teeth.

Eventually we find the piazza at Medina Centrale.  Again, it is thoughtfully laid out, beautifully finished and it has a distinct Mediterranean feel to it.  There are restaurants all around the piazza with fountains in the middle – guess who wants to run through them?  I feel like I could be sitting in an Italian town, albeit a very modern, clean and decidedly un-crumbling Italian town,

I had hoped to find the luxury retail and shopping area but this has eluded me today.  We do pass a very impressive looking Maserati showroom from which we each choose our favorite from those on display.  They are not for taking away though, not today anyway.

Time is up.  The boys have had enough and there is more of Doha still to explore.  We order an Uber and head back to the Corniche, leaving the luxury of the Pearl and our chosen Maseratis behind.  A more rustic form of transport, a dhow ride, awaits us.

Good To Know

The Pearl is an entirely artificial island made from reclaimed land off the coast of Qatar.  It is home to residences (around 12,000 – in a dozen or so precincts), restaurants, entertainment, shopping, marinas, beaches and hotels.  It is the first land available in the country that is available for freehold purchase by foreign nationals (Wikipedia).

Would I Return

Yes.  If I had a reason to I would like to return and explore more of the precincts.  However, for me it does not contain enough to be a destination of itself.