Kuwait Towers and Desert Flowers

You know how easy it is to live some place and avoid ever going to see the things that are special "attractions" for visitors? Like people who live in New Mexico and never take the Carlsbad Caverns tour? (I have taken that tour.) Or people who live in New York City but wind up watching the ball drop every New Year's Eve on live broadcast instead of hoofing down to Times Square? (I have not seen the ball drop in Times Square.)

I think most places have something about them that make them different from other places. Jackson, Mississippi lies along the Natchez Trace Parkway, which is a beautifully restored 444 mile walking/driving/biking trail running along a historical route used by people for thousands of years to cross difficult terrain. The area also has a petrified forest park, as well as the Mississippi Craft Guild, an Agricultural and Forestry Museum that includes, among many other things of interest, a masonic lodge and a working smithy, a Museum of Natural Science, a Museum of Art--you begin to see where I'm going with this.

Jackson Mississippi is full of surprises for people who have an outdated image of the deep south....which is basically everyone who hasn't been there in the past 25 years. Jim Henson, creator of the Muppets and a personal hero of mine was from Mississippi. The state is the birthplace/home of an incredible array of talent in everything acting, popular music, world class ballet, great literature...it's hard for most people to come to terms with this treasure trove of cultural output as it conflicts so harshly with the toothless, politically inverted, impoverished image that so many people love to cling to. And yes, you WILL find that in Mississippi, just like you will find arrogance, ignorance and criminals  everywhere.

Mississippi is much, much more than that though, and most of the people who live or have lived there are looking for a way to change that image. In fact, there has been a campaign called "Mississippi: Believe It!" --created pro bono-- that is geared "to share little-known facts about our great state [Mississippi] … and the people who make it great."

All of this is a digression from my post topic, but please bear with me as there is a very important point to it. 


Since Miles and I arrived here in Kuwait, Scott has mentioned several times that he wanted for us all to visit the Kuwait Towers. They are a sort of "National Symbol," like the Eiffel Tower, but on a much smaller scale. The website describes them as "An urban monument that symbolizes Kuwait’s progressive and economic renaissance as well as a World cultural and touristic landmark."

We have been here since December 9th, so about three and half months. Almost every weekend, when we are asking each other what we want to do for the weekend ("I dunno, what do you wanna do?"--Lame, but all too frequently heard in our little apartment--) the option of visiting Kuwait Towers has come up. That weekend free time is very precious to us. My husband and Miles' father--same guy, fyi--is gone from us 14-16 hours a day working 12 hour shifts 5 days a week. We usually choose to do something besides going to static landmarks, because we want him to relax as much as possible and give Scott a low stress, enjoyable break from his daily routine.  Still, Kuwait Towers is a standard, regularly mentioned option for our weekend excursions.

The thing about landmarks, though, is that they are landmarks. They aren't going anywhere. You can always go see them "next time." This is how people who live in Arizona can manage to live a few miles away from it without ever actually going to see the Grand Canyon. I've never seen it, though I have spent most of my life living in the American Southwest. Just thinking about it even now I could kick myself.

Source.

And that's the thing about landmarks, though--that they are landmarks. Most of the time, it's for a very good reason, too. The Grand Canyon is worth making the effort to go see. It's magnificently gorgeous, even in pictures, and there's nothing else it like anywhere on the planet above sea level.

So we finally went to go check out the Kuwait Towers. We weren't expecting much, but we didn't want to keep putting it off.  Before we did that, though, we stopped by Marina Mall to grab some lunch. We planned on going there because Lenôtre has a Lebanese breakfast buffet that Scott has been wanting to take us to.  We took our time getting ready, too much time as it turns out and we missed the buffet, but Scott was happy so I was happy. All I really need is coffee until about noon anyway. :)

Even though we missed the buffet, we decided to stick to the plan. We had been there once before after dark, and remembered seeing plenty of restaurants to choose from. Scott and I were leaning towards Au Bon Pain but Miles had been wanting to check out Johnny Rockets since we got here. I keep telling him that we didn't come half-way around the planet to eat burgers and fries. Yesterday morning we decided to let him try it. He's been growing into a fine young man, being more responsible, helpful and observant and we felt like it was his turn to pick the restaurant. Besides, we'd taken him to an Indian restaurant Friday night and he didn't complain once. Scott and Miles both had standard diner fare, and I ordered a green salad with a scoop of tuna on top and ranch on the side. I REALLY enjoyed that salad.

When we were finished eating we strolled up and down the marina side and took some photos. It was a lovely day. The sky was blue and the air was clear. I could just make out the skyline of downtown Kuwait City.

There was a slight breeze so that even though we could tell summer was about to it we were still pleasantly cool. I tried to get some good shots of the boats in the Marina, and to capture the lovely green color of the water here. I have always known the ocean to be greyish-black with blue tinges. Here, near the shore line where it's shallow, the water is a gorgeous green. When it gets deeper it turns a gorgeous deep blue. I will try to get some shots of that for a later post.

Marina Mall is actually two separate buildings connected by a pedestrian overpass.

Like most malls in Kuwait, it's big and shiny. Sitting on the water as it does, the Marina side definitely makes the most of the wide brick walkway to provide a lovely cafe atmosphere for restaurant goers to enjoy as they dine. In these photos I managed to capture some of the covered tables in the distance without disturbing anyone's privacy while they enjoyed their meal.

 

Lunch along at Marina Mall was a nice way to start our day out. I should note here that in Kuwait the work week runs from Sunday to Thursday, but Scott works the typical American week from Monday through Friday. What this means for us is that traffic is terrible on Thursday nights, and things are a lot less crowded on Sunday than they normally would be on a weekend day. It was pleasant, as I said.

From there we went straight to Kuwait Towers. They are open from 9:30 in the morning until 11:00 at night. That might seem a little late for an urban landmark to stay open for business, but Kuwaitis keep very late hours. I suspect it has something to do with the 130 °F that can be reached in high 
summer. Scott tells me it doesn't really cool off at night, either. I guess we should definitely make 
the most of these mild temperatures.

I tried to get some good photos of the Towers from the road. There just too many light posts, trees and buildings in the way. I have to say that they were much prettier up close than I had expected. I have seen photos of them online, but until I got close I never realized they were so colorful. I love the sea blues and greens. I couldn't tell if they used ceramic tiles or industrial glass or even paint to get the effect, but it was truly beautiful sparkling in the sun. It reminded me of a mermaid's castle, perched on the edge of the sea. An obviously Kuwaiti mermaid, that is, since she is so proudly flying the Kuwaiti flag.

As an interesting aside, something I have seen all over Kuwait and Dubai is light strings used in outdoor decorating. They are strung in different colors, usually white but sometimes also red and green as a show of Kuwaiti national pride. At the ticket kiosk I noticed some were strung on one of the poles using cable zip-ties to arrange them into a clever design. I had to point it out to Scott because it was so practical and efficient, and I might add, neatly and precisely done. 

Check it out-->

And the flowers! I grew up Gothic in the Texas, so I am quite used to finding beauty in aridity, thankyouverymuch! When I moved to Bloomington, Indiana in 2008 so I could go to graduate school in the SPEA program it was a revelation for me. Flowers were everywhere, and I fell in love with all. I especially love my house there, but that's for another post. Let's just say I have been missing the glorious blossoms of springtime in Bloomington. I certainly was not expecting the lovely swaths of color I found at the Towers. There was a lot of care that went into that landscaping, and I for one appreciated it immensely. I gladdened my heart to see these blooming things next to the shoreline. 

That tunnel thing is a covered walkway.

I wish I could have gotten a better shot of the wild looking blooms in the foreground of this one.

I just had to stand there and stare at this scene for a minute. Breathtaking. 

It didn't cost very much to get into the Towers. I think it cost about one KD (Kuwaiti Dinar) per person. Last time I checked, 1KD=$3.60. So, not free, but still not expensive for a national monument. The elevator attendant took our tickets and took us up to the 19th floor. There are actually 2 levels to the observation deck, and both levels are well supplied with ash trays. I didn't see anyone smoking on the first level. Unfortunately, most of the sea-side windows were opaque with maybe dust, or maybe something else. I still managed to get some good shots of the skyline, though. By the way, I must mention how absolutely amateurish my photography skills are. Thank goodness for auto-focus, or you all would have to rely on my descriptions for all of this. 

For those who might be interested, there appears to be *quite* the water park behind the Towers--and is that a go-kart track I see? Why yes, yes it is. :)

As we were reminded by plaques and pictures on the wall, Kuwait was invaded by Iraq about 20 years ago, and the Iraqis did everything they could to vandalize, destroy and otherwise break the spirits of the Kuwaiti people.

There really isn't anything I can say about those images. I think they speak for themselves. Miles was deeply troubled by them. His innate sense of justice was offended, and his first reaction was "Hey! They can't do that! Just because they have guns and tanks doesn't mean they can just come and destroy things that belong to other people...war is horrifying..." He's 10 years old. It's a pity some grown folks never even get that fully evolved.

I obviously have a wonderful, wonderful child that I am extremely proud of and lucky to know.

The upper level of the observation sphere is up a short set of stairs. There are 2 separate sections: and inner, stationary section and the outer, rotating section where the tables are attached. It moves so slowly that I didn't notice it at first. After did, I have to admit it was a bit disorienting. I ignored it long enough to take some more pictures of the skyline. I thought it was interesting that someone had put label decals on the glass. Since it spins, surely there would be many situations where people would get home and find "Arabian Gulf" labeled on their downtown skyline photos. It worked out well for me though. Guess our timing was fortuitous. 

I don't know if you can make it out, but the label on the left says "Arabian Gulf."

This is a good shot of the 2 different sections.

Once we had descended again I tried to capture some of the more interesting buildings in the skyline, but I am not sure how well they will translate to the blogosphere. Maybe you can make some things out.

More skyline....and More FLOWERS!

So that was the end of our visit to the Kuwait Towers. Over all, it was not what I expected. Ok, maybe it was a little bit of what I expected, but there was a lot more to than just that.
Remember my earlier ramblings about Mississippi and how inaccurate most people's perceptions of it are? OK, now think back to my earlier comments about the difference between Kuwait and Dubai.

I still see Kuwait in much the same way, but yesterday we got to drive around some parts of Kuwait City we have never seen before. Those parts were much better kept and much less frontier-esque than the parts I am most familiar with. Granted, the parts that were better kept are the parts where the rich people live and where the international business community visits, so of course they are going to put on the pretty-face. Still, I begin to worry that I have been hasty in my assessment of the country as a whole.

Several times I have been out driving around Kuwait and noticed what can only be damage from heavy artillery.  Seeing those plaques makes me wonder how much of what I have been seeing as carelessness and poor planning might be (at least partially) because I live closer to the oil fields than downtown, which is near the coast. Even there, I saw entire buildings that were burned, bombed and disused. I will get back to you guys as my opinions begin to coalesce into something more structured and sophisticated.

Speaking of sophisticated, I would like to thank VictorianKitty (of  Sophistique Noir) for the encouragement to post about flowers. I love them, but only when they are still in the ground or on the branch or vine.  I like them to live and thrive, but I wouldn't have thought to post about them without her April theme. Incidentally, if you like fashion and/or costuming, you should go check out her blog!