In brief: Alongside the skyscrapers and new developments in Manama, the older parts of the city sit comfortably.
(For our take on the older and oldest parts we loved in Bahrain, click here to go back in time.)
Manama, the capital of the Kingdom of Bahrain, seems very comfortable with balancing the old and the new. Bahrain, essentially a collection of islands, is overall much smaller than its Arabian Gulf neighbors with only 1.5 million people, half of whom are from elsewhere. Like the others, it is not shy about growing flashy skyscrapers and multiplying dazzling shopping malls.
But it has kept an urban core that burnishes the feel of the past rather than let it disappear in all but memory. We loved wandering through the spider-web of narrow downtown streets, with its commercial signage pushing jewelry in one district, clothes in another, electronics nearly everywhere, and so on. Clean, but still a bit grungy in feel. Comfy like an old sofa, we thought, and very human-scale.
The most notable of Manama’s skyscrapers, the World Trade Center, with its spiky variation on a twin tower building – and its wind machines filling the gap. Other Gulf cities can be very densely packed with contending high-rises, but Manama’s more dispersed towers keep a human scale.
Suddenly, as we walked into the central city, that stunning black and white watchtower stood boldly against the older and newer beige structures around it.
One of the narrow streets downtown. This one features jewelry sales of all sorts, like the famous Bahraini pearls on the right, and gold or diamonds on the left. Plunked in the middle along the right side rises the renovated watchtower of an in-town mosque.
Another pleasant city block with a mix of merchandisers. A few such streets went straight-ish (or in this case curving) for several blocks, while most butted into others at intersections with odd angles or T’s. Walking them was fun, like meandering a maze.
The very colonial style entrance to the old souq, Bab al Bahrain, from 1949. Along with the formal market area, it has been renovated and cleaned up since then, but still presides over the district from its site in Customs Square. In reality, the whole central district of interlocking streets is a bazaar, or souq.
This section of the old Manama souq, like others in the Arabian Gulf, has been polished up and rebuilt since the old days – here, given very contemporary touches like these hanging chain-like things.
Unfortunately not open for dining while we were there, this charming eatery in the central city mixed an ancient style with modern décor.
We found this Indian temple occupying a large plaza hidden behind buildings and gates, and tucked into a nearly impenetrable set of streets and alleys. It serves the many Hindu workers that live in the city. Around the temple are a host of flower shops, like the one noted on the sign, offering arrangements for personal wear or weddings or adorning the temple.
In the consular section of town, many other countries hearkened to older styles, like the Iranian embassy channeling ancient Persia.
A typical, older apartment block outside the city center…nothing fancy.
Unlike dry Kuwait and highly restricted liquor use in Qatar, Bahrain offers open sales in state-authorized stores. The busiest of these BMMI stores is just a 10-minute ride from the heart of the city. On a Christmas Eve, the traffic outside in the parking lot here – and inside in the huge store – was frenzied. But that is normal around weekends, we were told.
A glimpse of the Grand Mosque of Al Fateh, lit up from the outside. We didn’t have a chance to go inside its spare but elegant interior, one that is consistent with its exterior.
These fanciful camels trotted along in various spots around town. This one appeared to be waiting for its owner to finish a latte at the Costa Coffee shop nearby, or perhaps to mount the peaks of the World Trade Center in the back. Western franchises are ubiquitous in the Gulf States, even ones that seem to have vanished from the west: KFC, McDonald’s, Chili’s, Raising Cane’s, TGIFriday’s, and on and on.
(To enlarge any picture above, click on it. Also, for more pictures from Bahrain, CLICK HERE to view the slideshow at the end of the itinerary page.)
