today is the day we have been anxiously awaiting....getting our Iranian visa! 3 months ago we submitted our application on line and have been nervously waiting for approval. last week in Dubai we received approval and just hoped there wouldn't be any other problems. turning up at the consulate we were relieved to find our details had been forwarded to the Doha embassy. after the usual theatrics of other locals and our bank debiting £360 ( ouch ) we can collect our visas tomorrow. what was nice was that a Iranian woman passed us outside the embassy and hearing us speak English asked us where were we from and if we had got our visa. when we said yes she said "oh I'm so pleased". clearly people in the past have not been so lucky.
as we were the right side of the city we went to the pearl,a residential,shopping and marina complex . it is one of the few places where expats can buy property. a water taxi took us around the marina,a cooling look at all the boats with the sea breezes. we had a simple lunch overlooking the marina from a shady terrace as the temperature is climbing daily and getting too hot to be fully out in the sun.