Qatar National Day 2015

I spoke with some friends about attending the parade and was told that I'd be lucky to get a seat if I arrived at 5:30am so I should aim to be there earlier. Before 5:30am? Ummmm, I gave that a pass. So I did what many people do and watched it on TV. (the photos are at a bit of an angle -- that's just how I roll. :) )

What about the rest of the day? After Friday prayers I met a friend at Tim Horton's for lunch. I made sure I had National colours on for the day.

At lunch I received a text from a Qatari friend to come to his majlis tonight. Sounded like a plan! Gone was heading to Souq Waqif to fight through the crowds to watch the fireworks.

So the evening was spent at my friend's majlis. A number of guys were there that I not seen in a while so it was good to catch up. One of the guys there was on weekend leave from mandatory military service and he got to be in the military parade so he was quite happy about that (apparently the training for the parade was tough though, marching drills are not easy).

We passed the time chatting, eating, drinking arabic coffee and playing Brazillia.

I hung out until after midnight, had I tried to go home any earlier I would have been stuck in the outrageous traffic that occurs near the Corniche and the Souq on National Day. In other years I've witnessed gridlock at 11pm. Anyone going to attend the fireworks really needs to plan accordingly.

All in all a great day. Happy National Day Qatar.