Hanging out in London

We have arrived here in London. Jim and I walked around the city all day and had a great time. Our plan is to depart on Friday back to Saudi, but for now we are just going to be relaxing here. Tomorrow I'm hoping to go to Stone Henge, a friend of mine went there and it looks awesome.

Sitting in Riyadh

We arrived here in Riyadh a few days ago and haven't moved. Jim and I have gone to the mall a few times but other than that we have just been sitting here at the Marriott. A BBQ in a compound that Chanel invited us to tonight was a great change from the norm. You would think a compound would be similar to some sort of military bunker but compounds here in Saudi are Oasis's that westerner's can live in and enjoy their own cultures. Chanel's friends invited us share their homemade wines and BBQ which were great. I just received a text telling that we will be flying to Dubai and then on to London, on Sunday and Monday.

Back to the other side

After a phone call at about 8:30 Thursday morning informing me that I had a flight sending me back to Germany, and a crazy morning of running around to make it, I'm back on the other side. I first flew to Washington D.C. to pick up my passport which was having a visa put in it, then headed to Berlin. The flight from Seattle to D.C. seemed very short since I slept from takeoff to landing. The next day I caught a flight to Frankfurt which was also pleasant. I sat next to a girl that had practically the same blue North Face backpack and identical blue neck pillow as me. I was blown away when I found out that she was from Seattle and had bought her pillow at the same shop that I did the day before. Anyway, I am now here in Berlin, then on to London and Riyadh later this morning. The journey continues, it will be fun finding out where I may be going this time around.

Berlin, Germany then back to Seattle

We flew the plane to Berlin, Germany for maintenance and had a chance to do a little touring around. Steve had a flight out the first morning, so Lina and I ventured out. Berlin is a nice city that reminded me a little of Geneva. The climate is much the same as Seattle. There is a destroyed church in the center of what used to be West Berlin. The damaged tower is a symbol of Berlin's resolve to rebuild the city after the war and a constant reminder of the destruction of war. We also came across pieces of the Berlin Wall which are placed around the city for historical and remembrance purposes. We caught our flights home the next day, my flight was first to JFK in NY then on to Seattle, a total of 14 hours of flying. I am so glad that my company airlines me on business class otherwise the flight would have been a little torturous.