pics of the picnic park in Diriyah

This is the area which overlooks the river bed. Its a lovely place to sit.

The park ...

Coming from Europe I love the countryside. Thinking about the desert I could only imagine sand ... and more sand and maybe a piece of dry grass here and there. Don't be afraid that you will be stuck in a giant sand box craving greenery because there is plenty of it to feast your eyes on and relax yourself on and under.
You can imagine my happiness when I found some beautiful parks and picnic areas not a long drive away from me.

The first is in an older part of the city called Diriyah. Driving there you come through fresh green sandy lanes with palms and long grass on either side.(looks a bit muddy here but that's cos we had some big rain and a car was behind us otherwise I would have got a better shot)

Old houses, enormous mansion, farms and complexes for the rich and famous. They must also want to enjoy the beauty of this area. Behind some lovely weathered houses hides a 150 year old mosque, still standing strong mashaallah.
In this part of the city there are several options for the picnic fans.
Option 1: on the side of the roads which aren't too busy there are areas of grass, paths, stone areas and if it has rained water areas too lol. Many like to sit away from the road with their picnics (Arab picnic where they bring everything but the kitchen sink, not the European picnic)
Option 2: There is a dry river bed, doesn't sound very nice, but actually is an interesting view. Along this is a family friendly set up of segregated sections, made by bushes separating them. Each section is paved, has an area in the centre for a BBQ and the view in each of these areas is overlooking the river bed/ valley area which is also quite green with meandering paths. Its really nice to sit on a blanket in these areas as there is plenty of space for a family to dine in the shade of a tree and play and women can comfortably take off there niqabs without people oggling them.
Option 3: In the centre of this side of the city are some windy roads and round-abouts. Along these is a lovely park area for children to play, swings, slides, sitting areas for that lovely picnic and enough space to have  a short walk. The old buildings alongside this park are fascinating to view. You could easily be here for a good few hours so come prepared, I saw chairs, cool boxes, tricycles and BBQ's.





This week we went to another brilliant park. Fantasy Land offers everything you need for a brilliant day out. We were only there for a few hours so when we go again I will give a better review inshaallah but it has everything: a green park area, water play area with slides and fountains, a dolphin show, horse and carriage rides and fun fair. You can rent out small lodges to stay in while you are there or even small partially open rooms for when the winter weather is slightly colder. I suggest if you have small kids you bring spare clothes for when it gets a little chillier in the evenings even if you think you might not be there for that long, time flies when you are having fun. You can buy food, drink and lovely snacks so you are well catered for.

This is just a little view of what there is to do here but I'm sure it wont be long till I find out what the other attractions are like.

A month later ...

So I've given myself time to settle in, being honest the Internet has been pretty poor and as my laptop only connected while placed on the shelves next to my sofa I have not felt I could blog very comfortably bending down next to it.

The first month has been emotional, exciting and all new. Its not easy starting all over when you had a pretty good routine and lots of friends before. I am used to speedy Internet, phone connection and being able to step outside to go and explore and what we have here is broken connections, PAYG phone service and if I step outside I'm on a main road and here in Saudi you definitely do NOT want to be on one of those without the metal frame of a car around you. The driving is not like anything I have ever seen before. Only now have I started letting my hand relax on the door handle when we are driving, but let me tell you I cant comfortably let go yet. Road rules do not apply, now you may think OMG but actually it can work to your advantage too when you need to be on the other side of the verge... just drive over it or if you want to be going the opposite direction just do a U turn on a main road oh and if you see a nice place to sit park up and have a picnic ANYWHERE you like, yes really, even in the middle of a round about (ill try and collect some of the best places if i can when we drive round and some will make you giggle, no one picnics like the Arabs) hahaha.

Our home is comfortable, and you get used to drinking zamzam mashaallah from bottles instead of using the tap. Air con is a norm here and I've even caught my first cockroach. Next to all toilets are these nifty water sprays, great for cleaning everything including the bathroom as they are all tiled, which my kids love as bath time is like visiting a water play park.

So lets go through all the necessities (possible worries you might have and that I did have): 
1. shops: pretty much everything you could dream of from next, mothercare, toys r us to your American shops and big places like Carrefour
2. eating out: again you have everything from TGI Friday to home delivery Mc Donalds (tres lazy)
3. places to go out: Riyadh is so family friendly there are amusement parks all around, inside the mall is a roller coaster and even the parks have there family sections where you can relax with privacy
4. learning opportunities: there are talks in masjids, events for men and ones for women and private lessons in arabic if you look for them and prob so much more
5. will you be alone: a big worry of mine as I cant speak Arabic yet, there are many English speaking sisters and facebook is a very useful tool in locating them

This is a short list of all my blog will contain. I want to share places I go, people I meet, lessons I take and things I do at home (because I am going to get all art and crafty and try to bake and make all sorts of potions here at home! If my squishies will let me)

I want this to help those who have no idea what to expect and to show those who are curious what I get up to in this far away land what its like.

So next stop (when my Internet is a little faster inshaallah) the park.

The start ...

So here we are, sitting on my oh so lovely purple sofa mashaallah thinking about where to start...

I guess the beginning would be a good place. As a muslim I (and my hubbi) have dreamt of going to Saudi Arabia for a long time. Like many muslims you long to be where it all started. After years of saving and hard dedicated work of my dear old man we made muchly dua and Allah granted us this opportunity. 

We were separated for months as it is difficult for a whole family to go all together from the start as Saudi is hot on its paper work. When the time came for us to go it was glitch after glitch with our visas rejected at the last minute due to a technical error.  So there is us, little furniture, nothing left in the UK for us wondering if we were actually going to get to go, not pleasant let me tell you. We made so much dua. 
The next day hubbi left to sort it out in London and so there I was sitting at home biting my nails, trying to prepare to leave just in case it would all go ahead, our flights leaving in 2 hours, we got the news that it was green lights, IF we could make it to the airport on time.

You know people talk about hitting the ground running well this is where I started running. With the help of some truly beautiful people may Allah reward them I got packed, changed 2 stinky nappies (why do kids do that just as you want to leave) and into the car on my way to my new life. We got to the airport, had way too much luggage but were so late that the woman didn't say much, said my tearful goodbyes to my lovely mum and sister who by the grace of Allah made it just in time to the airport to see us off, we marched to the security checks and almost ran onto the plane. Now tell me, have you ever looked at people who run onto planes at the last minute and shook your head thinking 'Why would anyone be so un-prepared as to arrive just at the last minute', well this was us and I will never judge again inshaallah.

We sat down, unloaded ourselves of the too big a load of hand luggage I had dragged on with me just in case the kids got bored and strapped in. BREATHE. Wow. Not where I thought I was going to be 2 hours ago. Now...here we were, leaving our life behind, everything I knew to a place and a life I couldn't imagine. Mind blowing. 

As we fly let me give you the short lo-down of me if you don't know me. I am a muslim revert, with 2 kiddies mashaallah. I had researched Riyadh, Saudi a little before hand but all I could find was expat blogs and most about non-muslims so I really didn't know what to expect.I am chatty and quite European in my ways so hoped I wouldn't face too much of a culture shock.

Kids quiet, we were served lovely food, and we got some fab gifts for the kiddies  (note to self, don't bother packing toys next time) ps (do pack more clothes) as my daughter managed to throw up all over me in the first couple of hours, nice.

Hours and a stop over in Dubai later we arrived in the land where most men wear white thobes and most women are in all black, wow, its very different than home. 

Driving out of the airport my first experience of the desert. A lot of ... sand... white cars... and sand coloured buildings dotted around. Date palms line the roads but that really was all the greenery I could see. Having hit the floor running I finally felt I was putting my breaks on now. Very surreal. I was where I had only dreamt of going and where so many dream of going. Alhamdullilah, Allahu Akbar.