Qutb Minnar

After a trip to South India (Chennai and Kerala) in October, we gave North India a try.  Why, as we were asked at passport control when leaving Abu Dhabi?  Well, for one, our friends were getting married in Delhi, and for another, we have been told that it is a completely different place than the south.  Different, yes.  Completely?  Depends on where you're coming from -- but the sights (and food!) are certainly spectacular.

We landed at night, took a deep breath, and found our way to our hotel.  We spent our first full day exploring New Delhi, an area which was built up by the British but which has monuments which span over 1000 years of Indian history.  First stop was one of the oldest, Qutb Minnar.  

Qutb Minnar construction began in 1193 by the first Muslim sultan of Delhi, supposedly in celebration of his victory over the Hindus.  It was an ambitious project: even now, the tower is the second tallest minaret in India. Like most buildings we saw on the trip, it took decades to complete. (We wonder how many stunningly elaborate projects had been started and abandoned.)  A beautiful mosque, finished in 1198, sits beside it. 

We were surprised at how frequently six (rather than eight) sided stars featured in the intricate cut-outs. You can just get a glimpse of them in the screen below.  We later learned that when Qutb Minnar was built, the all three monotheistic religions used six-sided stars as symbols.



The complex is massive -- besides the mosque, there are ruins of a university, as well as elaborate tombs.

Each and every stone is mesmerizing, with pink, golden, red, gray, and white hues of sandstone making up varied, intricate patterns.

And the parrots are lovely, too. 

Amman

Our final night in Jordan was spent in Amman, the largest city and capital of Jordan.  We drove in on a Friday afternoon, after the Friday afternoon prayer and when all the souqs burst to life.  Our technology let us down for the first time during the trip, and between our confusion and heavy traffic, it took us a very long time to find our hostel in the old part of city.  (Very old - we had a view of a Roman theater from our room!)

After taking a few minutes to recover, we went to Hashem Cafe, one of the most famous restaurants in Amman.  It is one of the royal family's favorite haunts.  We didn't see any kings or queens while we were there, but did consume an enormous plate of bite-size felafel.

Afterwards, we wandered around to the various souqs.  We bought a little of the famous Middle Eastern "seven spice mix," which can apparently consist of more than seven spices, but definitely includes black and white pepper, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, coriander and nutmeg.  The ingredients are blended together, and are best (so we're told) on meat, rice dishes, and bread.

We capped off the night with very sweet tea in a quiet park.

 

Sharjah

Summer is over, the weather is good and tourists are streaming into the UAE.  And not just into Dubai - last weekend the final race of the Formula 1 season was held in Abu Dhabi, which meant real traffic, hour-long queues for taxis, and strange sightings across the UAE.  In other words, a perfect time to leave town and explore Sharjah.

Sharjah is the emirate directly north of Dubai.  It has taken us anywhere from 15 minutes to two hours to travel between downtown Dubai and the city of Sharjah.  This time we left Abu Dhabi on Friday morning, guaranteeing a relatively traffic-free trip.

Sharjah is the most conservative emirate and is famous for its cultural center.  It has nearly half of all the museums in the UAE and a well-preserved fort.




The Sharjah Museum of Islamic Civilization had artifacts from the Berlin Museum of Islamic Art when we were there, but we enjoyed the permanent collection, which focuses especially on contributions to science, most of all.

We were most pleasantly surprised by Sharjah's corniche.  Sharjah is built along two bays, and there is a great running and bicycle path along both, as well as on a bridge which connects the two.  We were very, very slightly reminded of the amazing bicycle paths in Stockholm.

The Blue Souq is a pair of beautiful buildings right on the water.  We were eager to be charmed by the inside, but unfortunately it is more mall-y than souq-y.

We enjoyed getting to know one of the other emirates, and may be back for its most famous event, the Festival of Lights.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

On Saturday, we went to the biggest mosque in Abu Dhabi - actually, it was planned as the world's biggest mosque, but there were objections - shouldn't the world's biggest mosque be in Mecca? So it is a very big mosque, but not the biggest.

It looked big enough.


Outside, there are pools and courtyards in dizzying plenty.

Despite its size, every individual piece is crazily elaborate - here is a column, with mother of pearl inlaid into marble.

And there are SO MANY columns! 

Inside, there are six chandeliers, shaped like upside-down date palms.

Here is the biggest of the chandeliers - five tons!

The carpet, we learned, was designed to look as if the chandelier were dripping its many colors onto the carpet, patch by patch. The carpet is handmade - it took two years to make in pieces, and was eventually stitched together inside the mosque!

There are acres and acres of carpet - with built-in rows, so that worshipers can arrange themselves into lines.

Most beautiful of all are the walls - embossed flowers on this one. You can't tell in this picture, but I am actually enjoying the flowers. I am not enjoying the outfit, which made me feel like a Goth Little Red Riding Hood.

 But the walls. The walls are amazing. Each piece of the wall was beautiful...

...fading into a beautiful ceiling, carved with verses from the Quaran, each bit different from the last.

Here is my favorite wall - intersecting circles, with a few patches made transparent, letting the light in.