EXPERIENCE ALULA FULL

Today, the townвЂ™s main thoroughfare-the вЂњIncense RoadвЂќ-has been restored, as has its citadel, central plaza, sundial, the mosques AlZawiyah and Hamad bin Yunis, and homes on the southern edge of town. Although it had been open sporadically to former residents in the past 40 years, the Old Town in 2017 was shuttered by the RCU for three years of restoration and conservation on sections of the townвЂ™s closely packed stone and mud buildings. The Old Town is thought to have been inhabited since the 12th century, and it had full-time residents until the 1980s, when they left for modern housing. On March 7, AlUlaвЂ™s fifth main draw-its labyrinthine Old Town-reopened to visitors with body temperature checks and hand-sanitizing stations. Another sandstone monolith, the three-story-high Jabal AlFil, or Elephant Rock, is named for itsВ resemblance to the pachyderm. (Hegra was also the вЂњsecond cityвЂќ of the Nabataean Kingdom, which called Petra, in Jordan, its capital.) Dadan, a second ancient city, was once the capital of the Dadanite and Lihyanite kingdoms and pivotal to local trade routes.В Jabal Ikmah, a remote mountain close to Dadan, is a вЂњlibraryвЂќ for its thousands of pre-Arabic inscriptions inВ Aramaic, Dadanitic, Thamudic, Minaic, and Nabataean, making it the area with both the highest concentration and the highest variation of languages in Saudi Arabia. вЂњI imagine myself as Alice walking and discovering these places.вЂќДЄlUla has five primary attractions: Hegra, a 52-hectare ancient city, is a UNESCO World Heritage site with 111 intricately carved cliffside tombs, and is thought to have been the most southern outpost of the Roman Empire. вЂњI call it a Saudi wonderland,вЂќ says Mashail Makki, the first woman tour guide in AlUla and the fifth woman tour guide in Saudi Arabia. AlUla is a key component of Saudi ArabiaвЂ™s broader Saudi Vision 2030, which looks to reduce the countryвЂ™s dependence on oil and fortify its recreation and tourism offerings.

EXPERIENCE ALULA FULL

Yet if you are unfamiliar with AlUla, you would hardly be alone: Saudi Arabia itself only began issuing tourist visas for the first time ever in 2019, and the Royal Commission for AlUla (RCU), formed in 2017, only opened AlUla to visitors full time in phases in October 2020 after undertaking a вЂњsensitive renewalвЂќ of the region. a bustling outpost criss-crossed by caravans carrying spices, incense, beads, and ceramics along the trade routes from Arabia to Jordan and the Mediterranean. вЂњItalians live and breathe seasonality and freshness, so it was important when designing these menu items that we respected and celebrated the traditions of the cuisine and RomeвЂ™s deep history.вЂќ Qantas Chief Customer Officer Stephanie Tully said Australians were gearing up for their first European summer in two years, and added the airline was extending the Italian dining experience to certain domestic business-class lounges to вЂњwhet the appetite for international travel.Those familiar with AlUla have called it вЂњan open-air museum the size of a countryвЂќ and an вЂњoasis in the desert.вЂќ At roughly 8,710 square miles-bigger than Slovenia-the area in the remote upper pocket of northwest Saudi Arabia was from 900 B.C.E. In a statement, Neil Perry said the dishes were inspired by his own travels to Italy, and the countryвЂ™s rich food culture. Meanwhile, the business-class inflight menu will feature regional recipes such as spaghettini with prawns, garlic, chili, slow roasted cherry tomatoes and pangrattato (crispy flavored breadcrumbs) along with traditional tiramisu, transporting passengers to a restaurant in Rome even before they touch down. Passengers taking off on the new services will experience la dolce vita in the sky with an Italian-inspired business-class menu paired with Australian-grown Italian wine varietals such as Montepulciano and Vermentino selected by Qantas sommeliers.Д¬urated by Neil Perry, the celebrity chef who also serves as QantasвЂ™ Creative Director of Food, Beverage and Service, the classics served in selected Qantas First and Business lounges include buffalo mozzarella with heirloom tomatoes and basil, and salumi with bocconcini, semi-dried tomatoes, olives, and pecorino-crushed peas. Italian favorites are available across selected Qantas lounge and international inflight menus this month to celebrate the debut of a direct PerthвЂ“Rome route on June 25.

Experience alula