Artistic merit is one thing but the photos on here have to somehow epitomise the day, and as my journey home occupied the whole of the first ten and a half hours of 4/11/19, this was what had to be shown. It gets the ‘very early monring’ photo count up a notch, as well. Shot taken out of my window seat at 44K on the Jeddah – Frankfurt leg of my trek.
In many cities, the historic districts, with the older buildings, are the most desirable locations to live and stay. Jeddah is not one of those cities. The Old City still covers a decent expanse of land, but much of it is now ramshackle, and Saudis themselves do not live here. Instead the area is home to poorer migrants, such as from Yemen and Somalia, and there are signs of habitation in buildings that in many other places would be condemned. Then again, a reason they are still standing is because the city is now trying to preseve and restore the area, and there are visible signs of regeneration. I thought it was also a fairly friendly spot. Saudi Arabia definitely feels way more liberal than it did when I first came 11 years ago. (Not that I could have a beer with dinner, mind.)
Here I am for the weekend in Jeddah, second largest city in Saudi Arabia and home of some very tall things. For a start, visible here, the world’s tallest fountain, which fires tonnes of the Red Sea some 900 – 1,000 feet high (depending on how it is measured) into the sky. Somewhere not far behind me as I took this was the world’s tallest flagpole as well, and they’re working on what will become the world’s tallest building, apparently. But then again isn’t every modern city with aspirations, these days.
This is the blog’s first trip to Saudi Arabia, but my second. I went to Riyadh in 2008, which I just found weird (but with good food). Jeddah is more liberal, and also a lot more humid than expected. Food’s still good, though.
Being 42 