Weekends lately have been crammed. Sadly we’ve spent a few of them saying goodbye to newly made friends. (something I’m still getting used to, as an expat) But saying goodbye is a great excuse to go out and do something. And do something we did, last weekend. Anish and I headed down to Riffa Fort to take some friends of ours, who are heading to the States, for breakfast at Saffron. Despite them having lived in Bahrain for far longer than us, they’d never been! So it only felt fitting that in their final couple of weeks they should go to one of our favourite breakfast eateries on the island.
Some of the staff from Saffron cleaning up some tables for an event that stopped us from eating outside.
It was also a great excuse for me to take my camera and take some photos. See Riffa Fort is another one of Bahrain’s beautiful forts. Built in 1812 during the reign of Shaikh Salman bin Ahmed Al Khalifa, the fort is a glimpse into how royalty lived in the 19th century. Beautiful architecture that belong to that era. Not to mention the stunning view it has over the Hunanaiya valley.
Stairs, stairs, everywhere.
Sometimes when I’m out with the intention of taking photos I’m too absorbed in getting that shot. I’m so driven than invariably I don’t end up getting that shot and the time feels wasted.
Not this time. It was relaxing. Just walking, stopping, looking and taking it in. That’s something I’m trying to do more with my photos – stopping and looking rather than mindlessly taking shot after shot. Just letting myself take in the atmosphere and the feeling or a place.
Could not get enough of the nigh on perfect sky on that day.
It was fun too. I decided to only take the one lens with me – my Tokina 11mm-16mm ultra wide-angle lens. It’s one I haven’t touched in a while. Certainly made me think, using it. Having such a wide-angle is limiting, but I liked the challenge.
Riffa Fort is incredibly well maintained. Various parts of it have been rebuilt. You can wander freely. And it’s so quiet. Coming from the city, the quiet was a welcome change. Well, relative quiet to the everyday sounds of Manama.
Just look at these doors…
I could do this all again next weekend. And maybe next month some time. But I have a feeling summer’s just around the corner. It was a gorgeous day when we went, but I could feel the sun beating down just a little harder on the back of my neck than it has done recently.
(You might not hear from me in a while on this blog. I’m off to Vietnam tomorrow for a couple of weeks. Vacation time! I’ll be tweeting and instagramming my way through the vacation though. Feel free to follow along. See you in March!)
Wow the sky looks so beautiful in these photos. I just love the colors so much. Have fun on your vacation in Vietnam!
Thanks Jessica! Definitely lucked out with the weather that day – the sky was just so blue.
Lovely photos as usual Jaina. It looks like a scene from Aladdin movie 🙂 By the way I would like to do that too, stop and look before taking photos. Have a nice holiday in Vietnam!
Thanks Leila 🙂 It IS very Aladdin like! Gonna have the songs stuck in my head now 😉
Amazing shots! I also love shooting wide. What camera do you use?
Have a great time in Vietnam.
I always forget how much I love shooting wide. Always! I’ve got a Nikon D7200 – a very generous gift from a very generous set of parents. It’s kinda big and heavy, but not ready to swap out the bonuses of a DSLR over a more compact micro four-thirds yet.
Wow. Love that sky. Love the contrast. Vietnam!!! I’ll follow you on Insta until we get another post outta you. Safe travels, xxoo
Thanks Lani! Had fun taking these photos – it’s been a while since I’ve been able to do that.
“Sometimes when I’m out with the intention of taking photos I’m too absorbed in getting that shot. I’m so driven than invariably I don’t end up getting that shot and the time feels wasted.”
It’s the snapper’s paradox – my Mrs HATES it! Do you just leave the camera in the bag and take your surroundings in. Or get distracted trying to find *that* shot, and risk ruining the moment!? Can’t remember the last time the 11-16 was off my camera – love that lens!
Great pictures, every set of photos you put up from Bahrain feels like you’re in an entirely different country. 🙂
That’s going to be my conundrum for the holiday. I’m always so torn!
Bahrain’s got so many different sides to it – want to cover them all, somehow.
Such a beautiful place! I just love the decorative doors and architecture. Have fun in Vietnam!
There’s a big “thing” about doors here – I really must explore more and take more door photos. Feels like a weird thing to say, but there are SO many ornate doors here.
Please! You could just do posts on doors and I’d be happy haha.
Ah hope you have a lovely vacation! And these photos look soo good my cold feet are warmed 😀
Have fun in Vietnam! I’m sure you’ll get great photos there. And glad you got to enjoy your time instead of trying to get “the shot”. I know how you feel.
Enjoy your trip to Vietnam! Riffa Fort reminds me of Alcazaba in Malaga(a palatial fortification) which is also postioned high up so they could see the enemy coming from a distance
WOW! These are beautiful images!
[…] popular sites and tourist spots. (Though, I could never get bored with visiting either of the two big forts on the […]