When I first visited the Rasheed Hotel in a heavily-guarded area adjacent to the Green Zone, I was surprised to see that the hotel lobby was relatively well-kept - a stark contrast to everything else here. I went outside into what could only be considered as the hotel's backyard/courtyard. It included a swimming pool, a large grassy area, tennis courts, a helicopter landing pad that also doubled as trash pit, and a VIP lounge that seemed to be shut down.

And a romantic garden.

Hmm, I thought. Hmmm...

What exactly does an Iraqi romantic garden look like? I had to find out.

Using this friendly directory...

I walked down the courtyard, pass the swimming pool (with 120-degree heat, even a pool doesn't draw people outdoors), pass the vacant tennis courts, and then... there it was: the romantic garden.

I wasn't impressed. Desert plants sprouted up like weeds sporadically on hilly patches of dirt that lined a rather unkempt pathway. In the background, two blue outhouses set the mood. A couple of empty benches told me no one was finding romance here. A guard stationed at his post looked on -- a rather unromantic part of the romantic garden, I thought. Two sides of the garden were bordered by high walls with circling barbed wire. More like a prison than a garden. I decided to cross it off my list of first-date ideas.