our little venice
Villaggio Mall ,DOHA

It is the number one shopping and entertainment centre in Doha . At weekends it is so crowdy though only families are allowed to enter here .What is so attractive here ? You enter and you get the impression of being in Venice there's a canal gondoles , the faux facade of the buildings ... then it is packed with European cafes , Paul - the French cafe ,Le notre , Columbus as well , Ristoretto Italian , cafe Vergano Italian etc. ... you . Besides the usual places that you would expect from a mall( ice rink cinema complex) there is a part which looks like a palace full of exclusive boutiques where you would not want to spend your hard earned money still it is nice to take a rest at the fountain at the center - or go to a VIP restroom where you are allowed even if you forgot your VIP card at home !

Visit my online shop . You can find bright colored neckties all the year around not only in summer !

Swimsuit shopping in October


Excuse me ! Where can I find the swimsuits ? I remember two years ago you had large selection !

No madame - it is winter -we do not have swimsuit for winter !

It is 38C outside .
What could we do ?WE bought some warm caps . They had really nice selection of that at Sana store .

Doha souq is on fire

When looking out of the window in the morning I saw black smoke emerging in front of us -around 1 km far from al Khaleej street ... then it turned out that it was in the souq Dera near Rawnaq shop ... the faulty A/C is said to have caused the problem and it is still out of control ... more than four hours after it started I still see the smoke but it is smaller

Update :the fire was put out after four hours fighting . Read about the shops which were gutted here .

October Clothes Shopping

orange leaves Cap by alma wad

It is fun to see the warm winter clothes in the boutiques when it is still over 30 C outside at noon . Winter collections are displayed at this time of the year - but they are really wanted only when the temperatures drops under 20 C .
I remember a November which was quite windy and cold and a December when it was 34 C on Xmas Eve .
I remember a year when the cold season did not arrive at all - and we were using our AC -s almost all the year .
But the most probable is that you will need warm clothes in December ,January .
I started my clothes hunt at the Evans - really there were some items that I liked -just they were too short as tops or they were at too vivid colors - and I might wear a carrot colored blouse with a cream skirt in Budapest - but not here where so many women are dressed totally in black ...
Let's see H&M . What a great feeling ! Really I can have these light green and blue hoodies for $15 ? I bought quickly one ... and I am still happy with my choice only I feel sorry that I bought one color only ...
Zara - many nice sets but no one for my size ! Punt .Roma - Oh My so many wonderful designs - that is the place where all my design dreams came true . And they are selling large sizes as well ! I wonder if they were always selling these sizes or only this is a new thing from them ! Finally I bought nothing as they are not cheap at all I decided that I would come back in a month when they might have some sale .
Then I was thinking about the question of sizes . Why is it so difficult to find large sizes ? I am not the only one who needs it on the globe ! And most boutiques offer ridiculously small sizes . My best friend in Hungary is a real petite lady - some say that she is too thin and she must be sick .. She is 150 cm tall .And still she finds items which are too tight for her at designer's boutique :)
Or shall we rather cry ? Read this story on how the fashion industry is trying to label young , healthy and beautiful models as overweight !

Let's see Carrefour .I would like to scream when instead of ladies clothes they offer mammas clothes for my size ! After some kilos we are not ladies anymore ?
But I had no time to think too long on those things . There was a mini man with me who was very much fed up with all the clothes hunt .He was screaming because he wanted a toy Mercedes from the Mercedes shop ( more than 300 rial) .I tried to make him silent by a set of cheap cars and I chose a set of clothes for home mammas size .
This turned out to be the wrong size .I might soak it into hot water then if it shrinks I will give it to my big daughter !
I am totally exhausted .I consider clothes shopping online in the future !

SWINE FLU PREVENTION HOLIDAY


Schools did not reopen as scheduled last week . The local authorities decided to keep kids at home .People arrive here from all over the world . They might bring in the virus . One week is enough to see who is sick or who is not .
It seemed to me a wise decision . Parks were full of kids and parents .We all need sunshine = vitamin D . One of the best prevention !