My husband emailed me on his way home from work telling me that the window fountain (both inside and out) was operating at the Palace of Culture. This was one thing I had been wanting to see – and at night, wow! -- so as soon as I was finished with work we walked up there with Sahraa. Well, I knew as soon as I saw all the police cars along the way that something big was going on and said it would probably be impossible to get any pictures of the fountain. Indeed, there were several police cruisers parked right in front as well, and I figured it was hopeless. But we walked past all the dignitaries into an arcade to the right of the plaza, from where I could get a sort of straight shot of the fountain (not as good as from in front, but I just didn't have the nerve to attempt that). I guess I managed to get some of the figures inside as well... I have no idea who these people were or what was going on, but it was only men, some in white thobes (long Saudi male dress), some in black cloaks, and some with gold cloaks, one of whom was greeting the guests as they came up the stairs. I suspect that person was somebody very important. There was another person in a gold cloak outside greeting guests as they arrived. I figured photographing them would be pushing my luck a bit too far, even though there was an official photographer there snapping away. As we left, we peeked through a window and saw an elaborate banquet being set up.

This isn’t the most elegant picture, but I was very excited to get it, for reasons you might understand, as I'm not that daring a person ;-). I loved the fountain – the water runs down the outside of the windows and down wires inside, both visible in this shot. Seeing it in the daytime would be a letdown after this adventure ;-).