NICE BLOG
A DAY IN ADLIYA: THE ALBAREH ART GALLERY
STUDY AND WRITING SKILLS
95
9.5
Manama is a great city to visit with a lot of exciting things
to see and do. On our third day, we had an
interesting
tour
of the Al-Fateh Grand Mosque, an amazing building on the
outside and even more stunning inside. We then decided
to visit the fashionable Adliya district, often called the
Bohemian part of the city. It is home to
trendy
restaurants,
art galleries and shops. A lot of residents go there to enjoy
the pleasant, relaxed atmosphere and great food and it
was easy to see why. We had a
nice
lunch. The salad was
really good and the waiter was charming and helpful. There
was one
awful
moment when I spilt my coffee all over
the beautiful white table cloth. My friend thought it was
hilarious but I felt dreadful. Luckily, the waiter didn’t seem at
all worried and smiled, kindly as he changed the tablecloth
for a new one. After lunch, we went to the Albareh Art
Gallery. It’s probably Bahrain’s most famous gallery and it
was outstanding. There were many paintings by different
artists but the one whose work impressed me the most was
Nasser Al Yousif. His paintings are influenced by traditional
Bahraini folklore and evoke themes of home, land and
territory. When he was a boy, he was intrigued by shapes
and designs in everyday objects and, when he moved to
Manama at the age of 11, it was already obvious that he
was going to be an artist one day. In his early career he
tried many different styles but the one he uses most is lino
etching. This is a technique where an artist carves designs
into a piece of linoleum, covers it with paint and transfers
it onto paper. The most astonishing things about Nasser is
that went blind in his fifties but he was still able to create
fantastic
pictures. I found the museum fascinating and we
spent most of the afternoon there.
When we left the gallery it was getting dark. We could hear
music playing so walked back towards the restaurant we
had been to earlier. We found out that it was the time of
the Adliya Street Bazaar. During this time, you can listen
to music, watch dancers and other performers and wander
round the market stalls which sell all sorts of interesting
objects. There was a great atmosphere with crowds of
friendly
people wandering around and everyone looking
calm
, peaceful and happy. One group of musicians were
especially memorable. They put on an exhilarating display
with incredibly fast drumming and guitar playing. Between
songs, they chatted to the people watching them. We
couldn’t understand what they were saying but they must
have been
funny
as everyone was laughing. We spent
the evening sitting at a table outside from where we had
a wonderful view of the entertainment. The meal was
excellent too.
It was a brilliant time and we both knew that we would
definitely be returning to this beautiful,
exciting
part of the
city very soon.
Alessandra.com
Comments
È
Frank said …
Great blog, A. Art brings immense joy to my
life.
Terrific
photos.
JUNE 29, 2016 15.00
Kylie said …
Thanks Alessandra. Now I'd really like to visit
Bahrain, too.
JUNE 28, 2016 11.45
