Having only completed our move from Australia to Cyprus at the beginning of the year, we thought it was time to settle for a while. But when my wife received an offer to move on to Saudi Arabia, we just couldn’t refuse! The past decade we have always accepted these offers, regardless of the risk, and to date it has always ended up better than expected. So, we packed our boxes again and took the leap into Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. This will be our first time living in the Middle East and we couldn’t wait to immerse ourselves in a totally new culture!
Flying in it is obvious that you’re in the middle of the desert. Sand dominates the landscape, there is a constant haze on the horizon, and we are surrounded by an area known as The Empty Quarter. A week in and I can confidently say… we love it! The locals have been extremely kind and helpful, and even though our arrival coincided with Ramadan, it has been a pleasure to be able to witness the Eid celebrations!
Hitting the ground running, our first adventure was to Dir’iyah and the ancient city of At-Turaif. Founded in the 15th century, At-Turaif District in Ad-Dir'iyah was the first capital of the Saudi Dynasty in the heart of the Arabian Peninsula. In the 18th and the early 19th century, its regional political and religious role increased, and the citadel of At-Turaif became the centre of the temporal power of the House of Saud. As our first experience of the Najdi architectural style, which is specific to the centre of the Arabian Peninsula, we were amazed by the play between sand washed buildings and the harsh desert light. Hard shadows and blue skies gave this scene a clean simplicity I had not seen before. After wandering around for a few hours in the afternoon heat we called it a day… this weather will take some getting used to!
We have barely scratched the surface of what this beautiful country has to offer, and we are so excited to plant some roots here and explore more!
