Roundabout Series: "Three Castles Roundabout"

This roundabout is not spectacular and huge compared to the other roundabouts in downtown Al Ain but I think this is the loveliest among them all. Located at Al Baladiya Street and Baniyas Street, fairly far from the Sheikh Mubarak Roundabout, going to the north, almost at the area of Al Hili District. Actually, I coined the "three castles roundabout" because it has no name. I tried my best to find out its name to no avail. Even the gardener cum cleaner of this roundabout doesn't know anything about it.

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The design looks very striking; it has three castles on a rocky mountaintop. Actually, there's a water tumbling and flowing around it. So unlucky that it wasn't working when I was there. I guess, it was pretty early when I paid a visit of the place at around eight o'clock in the morning.

 

As you can see, my shadow is very evident while taking these photos because of my attempt to take some against the light shots. Moving closer to the center of the roundabout, I saw the gardener sleeping during the usual working hours. Leaving him undisturbed, I continued snapping.

Just right after taking all these photos, I saw him standing right in front of the castles and waving his hands. I stepped towards the center of the roundabout and I started my 'usual interview' armed with my basic Arabic. As usual, I didn't get the information that I wanted to know.

 

I also like the flowers, palm trees and the ornamental weeds. It makes the roundabout even more striking. The size and proportion seems just right compared to the other roundabouts that I've seen.

That's all folks. Hope you like the photos.

Word of the day: helwa is the arabic word for beautiful, pretty or lovely. Salaam!

Al Ain National Museum #5

This is the last part of the series, am featuring the Archeological section of Al Ain National Museum which contains finds from the Stone age to the Islamic Period. Its oldest discoveries testifies the human occupation nearly 7,500 years ago.

 (click the images to enlarge)

I truly enjoyed looking at the artifacts like the pottery, stone vessels and copper objects. Most of the artifacts have been dated and they included the place where it was discovered. An extensive collection of old coins, stone lids,  fine arrowheads and  stone scrapers are all great and amazing.

Bronze and Stone Vessels discovered at Al Qattarah

A half-sized  copy of the entrance of the Grand Tomb at Hili Garden and an Um An-nar Stone

Bronze socketed spearheads, daggers, and dirks discovered during the re-excavations at Al Qattarah Tomb in 1988. These are dated 1800 B.C.

Bronze weapons discovered at Hili/North Tomb

from Al Qattarah- a collection of old jewelries, pottery and bronze

Coinage of Abbasid Era and Coinage of Islamic States

Coinage of Omayyads Era

I must say that, if you want to see and experience the real Emarati culture and tradition, go to Al Ain and if you want to experience the western life style while you're in UAE, go to Dubai and Central Abu Dhabi. I told my husband that there's only one place in UAE that I'd like to stay.....it's Al Ain City.

That's all folks. I hope you enjoyed the Al Ain National Museum Series and please excuse me for being so slow these past few days. Am having a hard time with my internet connection here in Daet, Camarines Norte and with the kids around, it's very difficult to concentrate. My blogging activities will definitely return to its normal pace once my vacation is over. For the meantime, please bear with me.

Word of the day: ijahza is the arabic word for vacation. Salaam!!

Have a great weekend!! Click HERE to read the previous post:.

Al Ain National Museum #4

Welcome to the Ethnographical section of Al Ain National Museum!

The ethnographical section showcases the pre-oil history of  the United Arab Emirates. There's a collection of black and white photographs from the 1960's and a series of dioramas that illustrates the diversity of everyday life of the emaratis. I specifically liked the well that existed on the site before the museum was built and the way they presented the relics from the past which exhibits the fascinating culture and traditions of the emaratis. The collection of the weaponry is also superb, I specifically liked the khanjars and saifs. It was amazing to see the old women accessories and I can't help but compare with the emarati women of today's generation.

One thing that I really appreciated was the sitting area located just before the other section. There's a big screen television and they're featuring some videos of the past which explains the culture and traditions of the emarati people. Tourists can appreciate it so well because it is presented in English language. I met some tourists from Austria, Australia, London, France, New Zealand, Monaco and America. Almost all of them enjoyed their visit.

(please click the images to enlarge)

black and white photographs from the 1960's

15 meters deep well (lower right corner of the photo)

a wooden tool used for weaving

 

left: old things that they used in education

right: circumcision instruments

 left:: different types of feeders used for giving water, medicine and milk

right: old jewelries

Left: The flag of UAE carried to the moon aboard Spacecraft America during the Apollo XVII mission in December 7-19,1972, presented to the people of the United Arab Emirates from the people of the United States of America  by Richard Nixon on 1973. The crystal object with a fragment is a portion of rock from the Taurus Littrow Valley of the Moon. It was given as a symbol of unity and carries the hope for world peace of the American.

Right: An Aiba used by the people in the eastern province for keeping their daily life needs during their nomadic activities and a Diri used by the women in keeping their cosmetics.

 

old farming tools

 weapons

old women accessories

household items used mainly for cooking

 yours truly holding an old arabic tea pot called dellah

Actually, there are still a lot of photos that I can incorporate here but I've decided to post the old stuff because some looks new especially the ones that I saw in one small wing which contain gifts presented to the late Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

That's all for the ethnographical section of the museum. Hope you like it. Last but not the least is the Archeological Section of the museum and it will be posted the day after tomorrow. It will be the last part of the series...whew! Click here to see the previous posts.

Note: the information provided for each images posted herein were taken during the guided tour and some are available in the brochures too.

 

Am linking this post to My World Tuesday hosted by Klaus with team members Slyvia, Wren, Sandy and Fishing Guy. Thank you.

Word of the day:  jadid or jadeed is the arabic word for new . Salaam to all!

Al Ain National Museum #3

Continuing yesterday's post about the Al Ain National Museum.....

I am supposed to post the photos for the Ethnographical Section of the museum today but I 've decided to include these photos that I snapped before I proceed to the two main sections of the museum.

Just few steps away from the Sultan Fort, We entered this building to check out the two sections. Hubby paid the entrance fee of  AED 3 per pax and took our ticket. I kept it inside my bag for a souvenir and I'll place it on my scrap book.

I noticed that there's no 'National' included in the inscriptions, just plain Al Ain Museum with UAE logo and there's an arabic inscription too.

yours truly

Walls are painted with images of  fortress in Al Ain City and  there are old photos of the late Al Nahyans in the receiving area.

The Al Nahyan Family Tree. After seeing this, I asked one of the emaratis that I saw in the information desk. I asked why they did not include the female members of the clan because I noticed that only the male members were included in the family tree. He answered me that women are not allowed to be photographed and the late Al Nahyans were very conservative. I had lots of questions but I think that was the most important question that so far I can remember by this time. Oh! I noticed that there were more than one person with the name of Zayed, Sultan, Tahnoun , Saif and Mubarak in the family.

 a majlis (sitting area)

old lamps

the replica of Sultan Fort

A replica of an emarati woman with shela (head scarf) and burqa & the boat which represents the fishing industry of the United Arab Emirates.

 A medium-sized carpet that they placed over the main door going to the Ethnographical Section of the museum with the famous quote of Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan.

to be continued...............

Word of the day: burqa is the metallic coloured object used to cover part of the face of emarati women, and these days, it is only used by the older generation.

A wonderful weekend to all. Salaam!