Back Home, where a new life awaits...
Christmas in Saudi Arabia, part co-eight (29th-30th XII 2024)
The final day of our stay in Saudi Arabia was the most leasure-like in terms of planning, because beside the flight back we had nothing on schedule. Therefore we decided to spend it riding through Riyadh once more, by car and then-newly opened (just on the 1st of December) capital metro system. The idea was to drive around before leaving the car on company parking in the office building and then heading to the subway. After some time we were to have dinner, then pick up the suitcases from the hotel’s reception (the clerk was very kind to store our baggages back there for a couple of hours) and head straight to the airport terminal. The last one also by subway, as everybody was returning home. Having thought of that we began to follow the plan.
And how was Riyadh bidding farewell to us? At first with a calm traffic. We drove next to the new royal palace, the armed guards weren’t encouraging to take pictures. Then it was the home stadium of Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr team. It got more interesting when we got underground to a metro station near the hotel. Because the local “Tube” launched just four weeks earlier, everything from the floor through the benches, gates and toilet rooms to the ceiling and information was dripping with freshness and struck the eye with its novelty and beautiful workmanship.
The typical station consisted of three to four levels, looking like the one closest to our hotel known as “Officers’ Club”. It was an underground stop, to which one could get via stairs, escalator or lift. -1 Floor was the Mezzanine Level, containing restrooms and benches plus few info-boards. Below it was the Station Lobby Level, the proper waiting area with entrance gates, information point and tickets booth. There were also maps of the whole network, important buildings in station’s whereabouts like offices and mosques as well as the graphic with the station plan. The final level was the platform(s) proper, where the trains stopped.
We bought the tickets in the booth. To ensure we’d make it without problems we took not the shortest two hour, but next on scale three days long ones. I thought then they have to add more times between those two, as the solution seemed suboptymal. The tickets were saved on a plastic card, which we had to scan on the gate’s detector, where we went next. And that was the moment where thinking left-handed backfired. Placing the ticket on the scanner I did so on the left side, opening the next gate. When I saw my mistake the system had already marked my entrance and closed the gate, preventing me from passing through and waiting for checking out. I needed help from the very kind station guards, who let me in by a side gate for disabled. After that experience I avoided such adventures.
The station had one or two platforms, separated from the tracks by windows and movable doors that opened only when the carriage stopped there. The exchange of passengers was made easier by inscriptions on the floor suggesting that those getting on should stand on the sides, so that those getting off could move smoothly to the platform. To find the direction one had to look on the markings above the glassed barrier. The entire system of Riyadh metro is automatic - the trains are controlled by the program suprevised by the engineers, so they don’t have the drivers on board. The typical wagon, manufactured by Siemens or Alstom, consisted of three spheres: The First Class (premium, riding there was permitted only for those purchasing the special ticket), Family (the section for parents with children) and Single (the class for those travelling alone). Despite dividing the train the zones weren’t blocked from one another, but there was at least one guard per wagon and the locals were obedient to the rules, so we decided to step into First class only for a snap photo. Beside standards seats there was also some space for luggage, and some of the chairs were reserved for the elderly or pregnant women. The passengers information system was present in form of boards with the way and female voice announcing the stops’ names and which doors to use in Arabic and then English.
We travelled both under- and overground lines (respectively for example green and red, purple) as well as mixed (i. e. blue), without major plans except reaching at least one end of the ride and checking the route to the airport on the yellow line, as we elected to get for the flight by the subway system. When the train wasn’t in the tunnel the view outside the window provided a sight of rapidly developing city, new buildings, roads and future line trails, everyday traffic jams and people rushing in their interests (the latter also present inside). We only skipped riding the Orange line, but it wasn’t a huge reason to be sad. After checking few courses there and thereabout it was time for dinner.
The final meal in Arabia we ate in lebanese restaurant located on a busy street in the city centre, not too far from the promenade we strolled on two days earlier. The food has been delicious as always, even if slightly less than yesterday in Food Farma. Coming back to the metro after the meal we were amezed once again by the city’s architecture and the “Eye of Sauron” in the distance, comparing the appearance of some skyscrapers to those in downtown Warsaw. And so we jokingly figured out that an expensive hotel in a yellow building was “little Palace of Culture and Science”, as skyscraper with arched side finial being the “pseudo-Złota 44”, and the rectangular edifice of the train station with double towers above it was for us “a mix of Warsaw Central Railway Station and unconstructed double tower of Srebrna st.”. The entirety of this block or two was humorously nicknamed by us “Little Warsaw”.
As it was Sunday, despite being in a foreign country where there aren’t publicly accesible churches or other Christian temples, we wanted to have at least a glimpse of a Mass. So we headed once more to the just now empty office and listened to one on the big screen in the conference room. Then we walked to the hotel and reclaimed our luggage, on our way to the final destination of the day. To get to the airport we needed two interchanges. It was getting dark and everybody was mentally either in the plane or at home, not expecting any surprises.
And then the most extraordinary thing happened to me. We were on our way to the airport when I noticed two young Arab women in traditional costumes pointing at me and staring at me for a long time with their beautiful, deep black eyes. At the same time, they seemed to want to tell me something. Remembering the messages from my father and Antek, I overcame my innate shyness and approached them to ask if I could help them with anything. Then one of them who spoke English complimented my look saying I appeared beautiful and asked what was the secret behind it. A bit taken aback, I replied that it was nothing special, I was just trying to put enough care to personal hygiene. For her kind words I complimented them on their perfume and received a sample on my wrist. We then talked on our purposes in Riyadh and whatever we planned to do after flights, and so I learned they headed to Qatar for some fitness competition. We then exchanged follows on Instagram and chatted on DMs for a while, until it was time to part ways between the terminals. We talked for a bit after the New Year, but the contact proved to be too fargile to last longer. The whole event was very pleasant for me, but also melancholic, because in my case, acquaintances made on the street never lasted long.
When we got to our terminal, my dad explained to me that social media exchange was a way for young Saudis to flirt. I felt very happy to hear such news. It was surprising to me, just like the seeing that one briefly met on Holidays Arab girl was more genuinely liking my style of clothing and hair than most of my acquaintances back home. It's fascinating that an appearance that is common in my country turned out to be curious here. And for that a big Shukran! Though as unfamiliar with the conventions I regretted a bit that I didn't know how to conduct such a conversation in the local style.
While awaiting our flight we met dad’s former colleague with his family and few other Poles and had a quick snack in fast food, looking around the King Khalid Int’l Airport. It was evening, sometime before midnight and the start was scheduled for 1:45 Monday local time. Ultimately we departed around 2 a. m. The flight was for us mainly spent on trying to get some sleep, with taking breaks for meals provided by the attendants. We landed in the country around 7:00 a. m. CET, left the plane and walked through the almost empty Chopin Airport to the exit, where we waited for dad retrieving the car from the parking lot. When he came to the door we packed inside and rushed back home, which we reached after approx. three hours/
The well-known sight of the house meant the end of a very pleasant journey, but also a pretty intense trip, which although exciting was also a bit tiring. The relief of returning was tampered a bit by one question - where’s the cat? Initially it didn’t come at the sound of the opening garage door, but after a while it found us and seemed to really miss us, wanting to accompany us everywhere, even in the bathroom. The rest of Monday we spent relaxing and recharging (both methaforically and literally) for the New Year Eve’s parties on the following day.
So interesting. I forget, why did you decide to spend your holiday in Saudi Arabia?