A few days in Dubai

We have been here in Dubai for about ten days now and I think we are all ready to start working again. Fortunately for Jim, his brother has been here vacationing the whole time we have been here. The first night, I went out to dinner with Jim and his family at a great restaurant and then up to the lounge at the top of the Burj Al Arab hotel, the self proclaimed only seven star hotel in the world. Chanel has a few friends here also. I was able to hang out with her crowd with dancing, BBQ, and live music. We are heading to Saudi for a couple days, then to London and then on to Geneva. I can't upload pics for some reason in Dubai so I'll do it when I get to Saudi.

Pyramids of Giza

We made it out to the Pyramids of Giza yesterday and had a great time! When we arrived in Cairo we had another flat tire. The problem has been diagnosed to the anti-skid system which is holding pressure on the brakes when we release them. Anyway, we decided to make use of our time on the ground and did the tourist thing. On our way to the Pyramids we crossed the Nile River then met with a man that arranged for a tour guide named Mohamed and a boy named Ali to lead us around the site on horses. I am so glad we got the horses, I've ridden before but not for this amount of time. I named mine Harold, he was a good horse and liked it when I scratched him behind his ear. The first thing I noticed about the Pyramids is how close they are to the city. I have always felt that they would be a bit away from the city. I snapped a shot from the car that may give you a little perspective. Mohamed let us know that if we wanted to buy anything we should tell him since we would be overrun by the merchants if we started pulling money out of our pockets. We first rode near some under ground structures on our way to the three largest pyramids, (The great Pyramid of Khufu, Pyramid of Kafhre, and the Pyramid of Menkaura). The guide wanted us to touch the great pyramid so we got off our horses and took a couple pics. We then rode to a vista point where we could see the pyramids from a distance. On our way Mohamed had each of us speed our horses up to a gallop. At first I was riding wrong (bouncing up and down) and my butt is feeling it today. After that we headed down to the Sphinx. I gotta say, it was an unbelievable day of site seeing. In the afternoon we headed to the airport to receive our new wheel/tire assembly and then flew the plane to Dubai to be repaired. We should now be here in Dubai for a few days which is cool because a large Airshow has come to town and will be performing. On another note, Costco has told me that they really liked me but I need a little more time before I can work with them, therefore I have accepted a great offer from my old company and will be heading back down to the bay area at the beginning of the new year.

Stonehenge

We rented a car and drove out to see Stonehenge today. It is a pretty amazing site and the weather was perfect for it. London is overcast quite a bit like back home in Washington, but we've had a couple nice sunny days while here. Tomorrow we head back down to Saudi and from there, it's anyone's guess.

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.