Oh, there were a lot of colorful photos to choose from today!
My friend, Nathalie, and I went to the Plant Souk downtown today. Nathalie, like me, is craving experiences. She doesn’t know how long it makes sense for her family to stay here in Abu Dhabi for a variety of reasons, so she wants to take it all in while she can.
At the Plant Souk, there is every variety of plant you could want: herbs, tropical flowers, trees, shrubs, et al. The selection supposedly rotates with the season. Today, was all about winter plants–meaning plants very normal for me to see in the summer selection at our one stop plant shops back home. The souk bears no resemblance to Lowe’s or Home Depot back home where lots of us buy plants. The most interesting difference is that if what you want is NOT out there on display, and you ask for it; some helper will run back somewhere, and they always seem to find pretty much close to what you came looking for?! It’s crazy! I guess if you asked for something really unusual, they couldn’t run back to their deep recesses of wherever to get it, but I was asking for pretty normal stuff. I want herbs and colorful, fragrant flowers for my balcony. I settled for basil, spicy chili peppers and thyme for an herb box. I bought an impromptu morning glory in full bloom, because it was a paltry 25 AED ($6). Even though it’s a weed back home and seems silly to purchase, I just had to buy it. These “weeds” conjure up east coast memories for me. I love them. I am not so worried about the herbs, but this just does not seem the right place for morning glory.
Today, however, I am posting a hibiscus. It was the best photo I got, and I guess you might sense that the I dig complementary colors. Tomorrow, I will try to post my actually loot from the plant souk.
Hibiscus