We needed to collect M's birthday present necklace that was being made up - gorgeous Amazonite pendant on white gold chain - very fitting for a 13th birthday present!
The Gold Souk is in the old part of Riyadh and is made up of lots of small shops - shops is rather a grand word really they are stalls but they sell the most amazing pieces of jewellery - 18 and 24kt gold and white gold are the main metals plus LOTS of diamonds!
Diamonds are big business in Riyadh and so much cheaper than London - you basically pay for the karat weight and clarity and don't really pay anything extra for the design or workmanship ( the same applies to the gold - all priced by weight!) Years ago (12 to be exact!) DH bought me some diamond ear studs after daughter was born ( he bought them from the very same gold souk in Riyadh) and I have pretty much worn them every day since then. It seems I am a very lucky lady as he decided I needed an earring upgrade and fortunately Unit 27 had just the ones I loved!! ( Remember readers it is our 17th wedding anniversary in 2 days and my birthday in 8 days - February is hugely expensive for DH)
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| LUCKY, Lucky, Lucky ME!!! Diamonds really are a girls best friend! |
After I'd wiped the sweat off his brow at spending so many Saudi Ryals in one hit when we have just paid 2 lots of school fees, flights and builders in Norfolk it was time for late brunch.... Luckily we bumped into friends ( also shopping at Unit 27!) and they took us to eat at Cafe Bateel in Riyadh Centre (there are a few of these cafes throughout Riyadh - we went to the one at 235 Tahlia Street bizarrely it is also called Prince Mohammed bin Abdulaziz St.!!!!)
Unusually for Riyadh restaurants all the tables in the Family Section ( single men cannot eat with women and children so if you are just Ladies you go in through the doors for Families, if you are with your husband you go into the Families section also ) were open plan and not sectionned off into booths with curtains surrounding the table and a little bell to ring for service... it was just like being in a Lebanese/European Cafe - so light and airy with great service and delicious food. Having only eaten a slice of Gluten Free banana bread for breakfast I was HUNGRY - I had chicken and avocado sale which came with a great balsamic dressing. I will definetely been coming back to Cafe Bateel! DH had a seafood risotto and agreed it was delicious. However, the best was yet to come....
Coffee and Teas were served with the plumpest juiciest coldest dates I have ever eaten - pure deliciousness. So we had to visit the shop on the ground floor selling dates and chocolates...
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| Dates with Orange Peel |
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| Dark Chocolate with Strawberry cream |
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| Beautifully Packaged |
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| Plump and Juicy... there are numerous varieties of dates. The Bateel groves in Saudi Arabia produce more than 20 varieties of premium dates and these are sold in the Cafe - some are fresh, some dried some stuffed (the best I tasted were stuffed with caramelised almonds!) |
We ended up buying a mixed kilo ( who knew we needed that many!!) of plain and filled dates and I'm still eating them as I type this!! Thank god I am off to Pilates on Saturday morning!
Happy weekend from Rainy Riyadh
(Some images courtesy of Bateel.com)
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