Thanksgiving in Dubai

Okay so as you can see from the title we went to Dubai for Thanksgiving.  Started out with a nice flight on Emirates airlines. I have to say they economy class seats were good size and plenty of leg room.  Service was great and the flight was only 2.5 hours.  So no problems there.

We rented a car but unfortunately the only drivers license I had with me was my Saudi license.  Fortunately, Jolene had her US license so she put the car in her name.  That was great for her since she can't drive in Saudi it was a chance for her to get behind the wheel for a few days, and a nice break for me.  So we checked into our Marriott hotel and got upgraded to a 2 bedroom apartment.

We were told about a gold souk so of course, Jolene and Crystal wanted to go check it out.  The gold was between 18 and 24 karat and this place is strongly regulated by the government for quality.  Needless to say I'm done Christmas shopping for Jolene.

One of 3 enterances to the souk

Lots of large breast plate like designs

And a little silver shopping too..

All I have to say here is Merry Christmas!

A few 24k bracelets

oh! and some gold!!!

With a few diamonds

and other people shopping.

So needless to say there is shopping to be done in Dubai.  After the souk and walking around all morning we went to a little desert dune riding in a Hummer and then a Bedouin meal.  This part was just okay, but the dancers were really good.

 This was the entrance to the desert area.

 Crystal found an Aussie friend to hang with 

 No trip is complete without riding a camel 

And that wrapped up a long day.  From here it was like an hour and half ride back to the hotel for a nice night of sleep and sleeping in.  After we got up and moving our first order of business was to find a Starbucks, Jolene and Boo need their Starbucks... and from there it was time to get wet at Wild Wadi.

And the view was pretty good from the high slides

The water park was really fun and it was nice just to run around and play in the water.  They had some really good slide and one that the bottom dropped out from underneath you and free fall a good deal of the way... Good times!

So after the water park it was time to go to the movies since there are none in Saudi Arabia.  We went to the Mall of the Emirates and saw Catching fire.  That pretty much rounded out our Thanksgiving, no turkey no table to sit at, just a bit of time in another country where the girls could where what they want, I could have a beer at a restaurant in public and Jolene could drive.  Kind of funny what you're thankful for when you can't have something you used to take for granted.

Cheers!

Beach and Balls

So today we made it out to the Silver Sands beach and it was just beautiful.  Two thumbs up for me.  Crystal said it was like paradise, a place where she could where her bikini.  Jolene and I think the beach is "Travel Magazine Ready"  Something like you will see in resort adds in travel magazine.  No for those of you that know the Silver Sands in NY, yeah this is much better.  Today is an American holiday, but not for the locals so it was a perfect time to go to the beach.  We pretty much had the place to ourselves, me Jolene, Boo and one of the Marines, which I think we are adopting.  Crystal will have another big brother.... I think we'll get one at each post to help keep an eye on her.

So here are the pictures that I took with my iPhone.  I'm sure Jolene will be uploading some to Facebook too.  We did swim out to the island and found a crab on the rocks.  It was perfectly intact but dead and all red.  Honestly it looks like it climbed out on the rock and cooked right there

So the other part of the title... Balls....I'm sure you're wondering where that is relevant.  Well a friend of a friend came back from Turkey and brought some gum back with them.  It is supposed to be extra sour, but I only thought it was fruity.  It was kinda like Double Bubble in that it was good for about 30 seconds then you are ready to spit it out.  So here is the gum...

I thought it was funny as hell.  So what else, we are settling into work, Jolene is trying to update things in her job, I'm cruising along and Crystal is off for yet one more week, but we will make a trip into the school sometime this week to get her new school uniforms.  Picture to be posted later.

We went to a dinner party with another consulate family and two families that live here, one from England and the other guy is from Chicago and his wife is from Iraq.  She made authentic Iraqi cuisine and it was awesome.  I don't even know the name of the dishes but they were great, and then she made this Turkish desert that was, well awesome too.  No idea what it was called, I know it have pine nuts in it and ice cream and sugar and something else that had a grainy texture.  No pictures of the dessert, but Jolene got pictures of the table before we ate so look for those on FB.

Cheers for now.

Long Time No See

So about a year ago when I found out we were going to Moscow for our first assignment, I posted on Facebook that fact and put out an invitation for anyone to come visit.  We had some half hearted interest by some, but one said she would definately be here.  Well Connie was true to her word and came out last week.
We started with a bang on the 4th of July.  After a bite to eat and a walk down the pedesterian Old Arbat Street.  From there we met up with Jolene and wound up at an after party at some cafe and from there we took a cab to some other bar that was decorated in Red, White and Blue for our Independence day.  Needless to say it was a VERY long day for Connie, but she hung in there.  We also met another American visiting from Turkey (I think).  He tagged along and came out with us.

We were up the next morning (not to early) site-seeing over the next couple of days, taking in all the touristy sites and some off the beating path.  I took her to see the Changing of the Guard at the Eternal Flame, Red Square area, the Armoury and the GYM (pronounced GOOM) mall.  We also made it out to Gorky Park and the nearby Statue Park.  The embassy community had an Independence Day picnic and I think Connie had fun there too, as you can see.

Unfortunately the first couple of days, Jolene had to work, but on Friday night, she was able to head out with us.  We made it to one of our favorite cafes SIM-SIM, for dinner.  

All in all, I think Connie had a good time and it was nice to see her again after 21 years... yeah we hadn't seen each other since high school.  It was nice to catch up and hear about everyone.  And thanks again to Jolene for being such a good sport too!

So hopefully in the next week or two we will be finding out what our next posting will be and the offer will be out there again, anyone wanting to visit and see the country we are in, just let us know!

Out and about in Moscow

These were taken out and around Moscow, the first few pictures where taken when I was out on a bike ride along the rive.

 These next pictures were taken on a walk Jolene and I took in the Southern part of the city.  First up: Tzar Alexei's Palace.  This is a 700,000,000 Ruble (approx $2.2 million) reconstruction of what was once called the 8th wonder of the world.  I have pictures of the inside on the online Picasa album.

Below is John the Baptist Church at Dyakovo and the surrounding grounds.  This church was built in the mid 16th century, commissioned by Ivan the Terrible

Click on the picture... how many crosses do you see?

... and around the corner, down the path, then down a few stairs...

And then up a similar stairway...

To the Ascension Church, built in 1532 to mark the birth of Tzar Vasily III son, Ivan.  Better known as Ivan the Terrible

 You can't see it here but there is a throne on the balcony that allows for a view of the river and the country side.

Not far away is the blue-domed Church of Our Lady of Kazan

and a short jaunt through the woods will take you to Peter the Great's log cabin.

I should have offered to buy that painting right then...

Oh well maybe some other time...