National Day

On December 18 all of Qatar celebrates National Day. This year we stayed in a hotel on the Corniche so that we would be very close to the action.

The day started with a parade in tribute to the military of Qatar. The boys loved this display and Tim marveled that a small country would have so many machines. Army tanks, Special Forces boats, K9 team, Amiri Guard, Air Fighter jets, Hazardous Material Unit, Mobile Hospital. We saw it all. The parade was jam-packed for a full hour.

Here are some of our favourite sights.

See the falcon?

It was a beautiful day so people hung around the waterfront for the afternoon, sitting on the grass for a picnic or a nap. There were lots of children dressed in National Day costumes: a dress or a thobe made to look like a Qatar flag.

And of course, there were the usual cars painted to look like a flag cruising the Corniche with people standing on the roof. This is very scary to watch because of the speeds that the cars are traveling. This year the police seemed to be discouraging this tradition.

The day ended with a 10 minute Fireworks show like nothing we have ever seen before. The fireworks were set off from one island and 15 small barges in the Gulf. The lights spanned the entire Corniche and was set to music.