Blogs from Middle East - page 19

Winter in Europe is something I have never really experienced. I am not big on the European Christmas markets throughout northern Europe. But I am not crazy about cold, wet, rainy, snowy, icy weather. So, even though I start and end this trip in Munich, I am already thinking of warmer climes. This does present a problem with what to pack, whether colder and warmer weather. But I can always ditch the cold weather clothes, meaning donating to either the homeless or to a charity. Or, as my brother often did in our youth, just bring a pair of scissors, and make some instant Bermuda shorts. Given a choice, I would always choose Greece. After all, I have my "adopted" Greek brothers there, Stavros, Giorgos, and Vasilis. And there are many parts of Greece I have ... read more

With the travel day, 3 hour time change and late-night bedtime, it seemed like a short night. I snuck out to breakfast, as Ken was still blissfully dreaming The breakfast area overlooked the pool with a very large selection of arabic (hummus, labneh, grilled vegis, freshly grilled flatbreads with cheese and herbs, etc) and western (eggs, bacon, etc). Ken wandered down and we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, slowly getting into the day. Our plan today was to taxi to the Citadel, and then wander to the Roman Theater and on to the souq (marketplace). Eventually we got going, and soon we were entering the Citadel with our Jordan Pass. Note to anyone visiting, get the Jordan Pass before arriving...it includes the visa and access to most of the major historical sites in Jordan. Very worthwhile! The ... read more

Well, for one thing, I get a free layover of about 18 hours, between my connection from Munich to my flight home from Istanbul to SFO. So, why not take advantage of this layover, spend the night in a decent hotel, instead of spending the night in the airline business class lounge? I was just here in May, 2019, just before the pandemic hit in early 2020. I spent about a week here, with a local guide. He was a friend of a friend, of Mr. Mike. And he was excellent. I was able to hit all of the highpoints of Istanbul, as well as take the harbor cruise throughout the Bosporus. But the real reason for returning is simply for the Turkish Delight. I brought back a kilo last time, thinking it was too much. ... read more

My last blog focused mainly on the issues of travelling around Saudi Arabia, when you don't have your own transport, with a few first impressions thrown in for good measure. What it didn't tell about was the people, which is by all accounts probably the most interesting and important part of travelling. The people! Sights can be impressive and awe-inspiring, but it's mostly the little encounters along the way that stay in ones mind. The interactions, both good and bad. I can't say we had any bad experiences here in Saudi Arabia. The people have been incredibly hospitable and friendly, both the locals, as well as all the migrant workers. To be honest, I hadn't expected anything else. I sort of took for granted that we would be treated the way we were treated. Why? Because ... read more

As mentioned in the last blog we decided to take a few days to do some land travel in Turkey. The night before we were scheduled to leave Bob decided to pour some water in the bilge to clean it out. This should have been just a quick thing to do, but the bilge alarm went off and stayed on! Yikes, something else. Bob was now having to figure out the problem and in the end he decided to put in a whole new unit. Always good to have spares onboard for situations like this as it was 7:30pm so no shops would be open and we have to leave at 8:30 AM the next morning to catch the bus. We actually have 2 brand new units as spares, 1 exactly the same and the other ... read more