The Diplomatic Quarter is a very large gated community in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Before we arrived in the kingdom over a year ago (hard to believe it has been that long already!), I thought it was just foreign diplomatic personnel who lived here, but in fact many Saudis are residents of the DQ as well. The majority of embassies are situated here, along with their housing, but there are also a few stores and commercial enterprises, a restaurant, a Starbucks, a gas station, several sports clubs and a number of schools.

The DQ was described as a "ghost town" on one blog I read, but personally I like it here -- it's not crowded, there's no traffic, it's quiet -- but best of all, it's incredibly green with its many parks. I'm not sure yet how many there are, but I read somewhere about 30, so I decided to dedicate a gallery to the parks of the DQ and will be including some previously posted pictures and adding to it as I can. Some may not look like "conventional" parks -- sometimes they're just walkways amidst greenery -- but they're all a refuge from the unrelenting heat and are enjoyed by residents in the evening hours or just as a pleasant detour on a walk someplace else.

NEWER IMAGES ARE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE GALLERY.