As quickly as Christmas crept up on us all, it was over.
After Matt and I had exchanged gifts on Christmas morning, he went back to his place, and I FaceTimed home before getting ready for brunch.
I genuinely think the Grand Hyatt brunch is the best I've been to - give them an occasion and they go all out for their guests. Christmas Day brunch was no exception.
When we arrived at the hotel, the lobby was completely packed with brunch-goers, glammed up from head to toe in pretty dresses, suits, smart shirts and Christmas jumpers - there was even a fully grown man dressed as an elf.
We collected our tickets and made our way outside to our table.
On the way, I completely forgot that I am 27 years of age. It's Christmas, after all!
The gardens had been laid out with table after table, all sheltered from the 24 degree sunshine by gazebos. The tables had been set up with festive placemats, crackers, and giant Champagne popper bottles (I don't know what they are called, so I'll have to demonstrate with a photo later on in this post!)
Whilst we waited for the rest of our party, Matt and I took a wander round to check out the food stations. Seafood, BBQ food, pastas, pizzas, puddings, and of course a roast turkey, Yorkshire pudding and stuffing station.
Look at that amazing chocolate log - a work of art!
After a good scout around, we picked up a sneaky plate of sushi to tuck into while we waited for the others and made our way back through the winding paths of the Hyatt garden, which had been decorated with faux snow, to our table.
I think we may have had the best view out of everybody at the brunch. Not a bad place to spend Christmas Day eh?
Soon, we were joined by Joao, his parents, and his brother, who we had spent the previous evening with. After their fantastic hospitality, it was nice for them to be able to sit back and enjoy themselves.
It wasn't long before it was time to pull some crackers!
Just in case you wondered, the Christmas cracker jokes are even worse in Doha than they are in the UK!
The rest of the afternoon seemed to fly by in a sea of excessive turkey consumption, cracker pulling, terrible joke telling, and wine drinking. By the end of the brunch, everybody was singing and up dancing to Christmas songs. The Grand Hyatt always has the best party atmosphere!
Time to pop our Champagne popper bottle!
Being the useless blogger that I am, it was at this point that my camera ran out of battery. So typical of me to document the run up to the big day, and forget to charge my camera for the main event!
After brunch, we went up to Dunes bar for one final beverage and a dance, before heading home to FaceTime our families. Matt and I then crowned off Christmas day by watching Elf - my first and only Christmas movie this year!
Christmas in the desert will always be a surreal experience, and will never compete with Christmas at home, but we had a lovely day, and I'm very lucky that I got to spend it with this one.
Instead of spending Boxing Day lounging in my pyjamas, eating leftovers, today was straight back into work. There is so much travel to organise for January, it's going to be one busy month!
I'm up to my usual procrastinating tricks now by writing this blog post - I have a suitcase to pack as I'm heading home to the UK for New Year on Sunday - but clearly I'm trying to put it off!
How did you spend your Christmas? I hope you had a good one, wherever you are and whatever you got up to!
After Matt and I had exchanged gifts on Christmas morning, he went back to his place, and I FaceTimed home before getting ready for brunch.
I genuinely think the Grand Hyatt brunch is the best I've been to - give them an occasion and they go all out for their guests. Christmas Day brunch was no exception.
When we arrived at the hotel, the lobby was completely packed with brunch-goers, glammed up from head to toe in pretty dresses, suits, smart shirts and Christmas jumpers - there was even a fully grown man dressed as an elf.
We collected our tickets and made our way outside to our table.
On the way, I completely forgot that I am 27 years of age. It's Christmas, after all!
The gardens had been laid out with table after table, all sheltered from the 24 degree sunshine by gazebos. The tables had been set up with festive placemats, crackers, and giant Champagne popper bottles (I don't know what they are called, so I'll have to demonstrate with a photo later on in this post!)
Whilst we waited for the rest of our party, Matt and I took a wander round to check out the food stations. Seafood, BBQ food, pastas, pizzas, puddings, and of course a roast turkey, Yorkshire pudding and stuffing station.
Look at that amazing chocolate log - a work of art!
After a good scout around, we picked up a sneaky plate of sushi to tuck into while we waited for the others and made our way back through the winding paths of the Hyatt garden, which had been decorated with faux snow, to our table.
I think we may have had the best view out of everybody at the brunch. Not a bad place to spend Christmas Day eh?
Soon, we were joined by Joao, his parents, and his brother, who we had spent the previous evening with. After their fantastic hospitality, it was nice for them to be able to sit back and enjoy themselves.
It wasn't long before it was time to pull some crackers!
Just in case you wondered, the Christmas cracker jokes are even worse in Doha than they are in the UK!
The rest of the afternoon seemed to fly by in a sea of excessive turkey consumption, cracker pulling, terrible joke telling, and wine drinking. By the end of the brunch, everybody was singing and up dancing to Christmas songs. The Grand Hyatt always has the best party atmosphere!
Time to pop our Champagne popper bottle!
Being the useless blogger that I am, it was at this point that my camera ran out of battery. So typical of me to document the run up to the big day, and forget to charge my camera for the main event!
After brunch, we went up to Dunes bar for one final beverage and a dance, before heading home to FaceTime our families. Matt and I then crowned off Christmas day by watching Elf - my first and only Christmas movie this year!
Christmas in the desert will always be a surreal experience, and will never compete with Christmas at home, but we had a lovely day, and I'm very lucky that I got to spend it with this one.
Instead of spending Boxing Day lounging in my pyjamas, eating leftovers, today was straight back into work. There is so much travel to organise for January, it's going to be one busy month!
I'm up to my usual procrastinating tricks now by writing this blog post - I have a suitcase to pack as I'm heading home to the UK for New Year on Sunday - but clearly I'm trying to put it off!
How did you spend your Christmas? I hope you had a good one, wherever you are and whatever you got up to!
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