Shannonogans: Doha Diaries: Part 3

Doha at it's finest - the Intercontinental Hotel. Wendi, Ashley, & I were treated to a lovely experience at a nice hotel in Doha. Donna, Wendi's new buddy, kept the boys until Nick took over the duration of our stay. We went on a Thursday and came home Friday. So lovely, and such great service. I took a TON of photos of these 24 hours, so I'm breaking up this experience into 2 posts. hey, I have to make the magical #7, so I must pace myself. I think I am almost halfway through shuffling my massive amount of photos.

We checked into out hotel, got a roll-away to complete the bedroom with three individual beds, put on our swimsuits (that was a scary moment - first bathing suit outting of the spring/summer), and took our white bodies outside to get a tan. I didn't bring any sunscreen, but I didn't want to burn. So I applied the only sunscreen we had, which was SPF 30. Let's just say that I am still that same white body when I returned home to Texas.

A view from the pool looking at the beach. How nice is it that Nick & Wendi live so close to a beautiful beach?

Another view from the pool. We changed seats 4 times during our laying out time. Why not - so many choices and lovely scenery. My hesitation in my swim suit went away quickly as I realized that bikinis really did come in sizes for bodies that should have known about 1 pieces. And I mean very large bodies in bikinis. Definitely confused about how to be modest. Apparently women in Doha don't believe in sucking in.

I found a goldmine in a lady sitting down that I asked to take our photo. She said her husband had a nice camera, and as she started working it from different spots at the pool, I knew I had a good one. Here we are hiding in the water.

She took lots of photos, including some "in the moment". I included this to show the swim-up bar in the middle of the pool. Saw some interesting choices of swimsuits there as well.

There was some construction down the beach. This lovely machine was driving right past our beach. Such a lovely sight to see at a nice resort.

Normally I wouldn't post a swimsuit full-lengther for everyone, but the skyline, with the beach, was such a pretty photo. The lifeguard, after much instruction from the camera owner, did a good job of at least centering the photo.

A view of the hotel from the beach. Starting to get a little overcast at this point, but with very little humidity, the 88 degree weather was absolutely perfect. Not that it mattered with the 30 SPF that I was wearing. I truly just didn't want a sunburn on the flight home, plus we were going to be at the beach the following day.

I needed to take a photo of my new camera bag from Tracy Joy. I love it - half the time I use it as my purse and just put my wallet and cell phone in it. Thanks Mary Beth & Tom for the birthday money! Some of you have asked me recently what kind of camera that I use. Sorry I haven't emailed you back. Basically, it's not the camera as much as it is the lens that I use. I only have a Canon Rebel XTi, but my lens is the ticket (as well as my flash that I got recently). So after taking a class in Houston, and reading lots of blogs, I figured out the direction I wanted to go. So go get yourself some instructions, and a 50mm/f1.4 prime lens (doesn't zoom, but stays fixed), and you'll be going in the right direction. It's all about the ISO, aperture, and shutter speed. I know that's a lot of mumbo jumbo for some, but there's so much to say about it. It's all in knowing how to use your camera, not necessarily the camera you have. Get yourself a good SLR camera and you'll bemoving in the right direction.

Ashley, don't kill me. But I love the candidness of this photo. I was playing with my camera and took this shot. Caught her off guard, but it's such a natural smile.

Just being goofy taking a photo of our water bottle from the hotel. Can't drink the water, so a nice water bottle with a label on the beach makes for a cheesy photo.

I bumped my shutter speed up to 22 to get the sun beams coming up off the hotel.

This bride and groom combo walked around the entire hotel all day. And they wore their outfits, all day. We even saw them 5 hours later for dinner. Never saw the wedding party. We just laughed.