Day 3 Jeddah

We slept in considering our late arrival and jet lag. After we woke up enough to get our bearings, we needed        something to eat. There were no eateries close to our hotel and the $14 breakfast buffet was already concluded, so we walked a few blocks to a set of small restaurants, which included a Dunkin Donuts. We had decided not to eat anywhere in any American chains, sorry DD. Fortunately, a local lunch counter, for lack of a better term, was next door and we opted for that establishment.

I had a very good fried shrimp and Don had a local chicken sandwich; both came with French fries. After eating we took off walking. Not seeing the King Fahd Fountain, we remembered this only spewed at night and planned to come back that evening. We walked to a nearby hotel to find a taxi which we took to the old city area of Al Balad, a neighborhood of merchants.  We were in luck! This was Saturday so most vendors were closed; so we weren’t harassed, could walk about at our leisure, and avoided the normal daily crowds. We did find a mix of new, modern architecture in mosques and of old houses built with coral stone bricks.

We encountered three other tourists, two from France and an American gentleman who was living in Rijhad. They offered to show us around his city. if we were going there. Unfortunately, this was our only stop in Saudi Arabia.

We enjoyed seeing the old historic section of town. Jeddah may be striving to display a modern city while maintaining some of the ancient charms; however, it has not fully achieved these lofty goals. Jeddah does have exemplary modern highways, high rises, and a lot of American branded stores including Chili's and Texas Roadhouse among others. It remains very much a Muslim city with many mosques and regular calls to prayers from the myriad minarets with poorly maintained public spaces in areas away from the main show areas.

We returned to our hotel by another taxi. In cutting across a traffic circle to our hail, the taxi driver almost got broadsided when he swung over to get us. Drivers are crazy there, and, as in India, traffic laws are viewed as suggestions.

We asked at the front desk of our hotel for a good seafood restaurant. He recommended the al Saed Fish Market, which is owned by a fellow Egyptian. We walked down to the waterfront again and saw the King Fahad Fountain, a royal gift to the city, which required 3 years to build to become and remain the highest, spewing fountain at over 240 meters (800 feet) of its type in the world. Luckily, the restaurant was directly across the street from the park where local families, couples, and youth were gathered to enjoy the view and cool respite of the site.

Once inside, we discovered this was a combination restaurant and fresh fish market. We first selected our iced fish a 3 pound sole or flounder from the counter display, fried was the option of the day. At our table, our waiter took our order for the rest of the meal; we chose to add a local rice dish and a fish soup. Before the soup, appetizers of bread and French Fries were brought, we hadn’t expect those excellent additions. While waiting for our food we met both the owner, Mosheh, an Egyptian, and a Yemini worker, Ahmed. The coated and fried fish was served, in all its glory, with lemons and a couple sauces. Although served bone-in, we appreciated the head had been removed. We enjoyed our veritable feast.

After dinner, we walked among the locals in the park and found room for a dessert of swirled chocolate and vanilla, soft-serve ice cream cones. We then started to walk back to the hotel. I miscounted the blocks, so we got lost until we stopped at another hotel where they gave us directions. We made it back safely.

Time for bed and the end of our third day.