Saudi Arabia Riyadh

We were picked up by Pim, my sisters husband at the Amsterdam airport and had a lovely visit. After Alanna's gourmet coffee and omelette for breakfast, we drove to Blaricum, where Rogers moms family at some time were located as her maiden name was Van Blaricom, (from Blaricum.) It was an amazing town with lovely homes, many of the roofs thatched. The streets were laid with brick, and with canopies of trees along the roads. We had lunch at the Blushing Blaricum Cafe. We were fortunate to be there for the arrival of Sinterklaas  (Saint Nicholas ) We also bought some local beer and sausage infused with coffee, cheese and cocoa for this evening that was made at  LoeKie Delicatessen, Blaricum. Tomorrow we are off to Boston. A thatched gazebo A pipe organ on the street many trees are espalied Beautiful thatched roofs Take a book, leave a book Blaricum Church in the distance Our beer Sinterklass arriving on horse Tamara, A...

It rains 2 days a year in Saudi. This evening was one of them, a cool 21 degrees! We had tickets for the  Illusionists show at Winter Wonderland after Jen was finished work.  It was jam packed with families having fun on extreme rides, playing fair games and several entertainment shows were going on aside from our own. Roger was called up on stage to examine the cuffs, ankle shackles and locks on the Houdini water immersion. It was amazing , especially how long he held his breath for. They were the best magicians from 7 countries. And Roger enjoyed his experience on stage. We bought gas on our way home; it is 50 cents a litre. Jen said that they doubled the price last year. It must have been almost free before that. I swam a lovely 22 lengths in the pool(my daily exercise) One side of the  movie Theatre with a young woman (Lina) who lives in Paris who was visiting her parents here. Roger was doubting whether to wear the Saudi clothes to the restaurant, whet...

Jennifer had prearranged for us all to be picked up at the house to tour the Al Masmak fortress in the old city. It is through part of the Scientists gift program, a non profit that introduces the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's various cultural components to all highly ranked Non Arabic scientists, elite and professionals. It has since been expanded to the Military and tourists so we can better understand the cultural values of the country. Our guides were a fellow who came from Australia when he was 16 (Joseph) who has been educated at the King Saud University where he is currently doing his doctorate in Arabic language and a young man from Suddan (Ali)  who brought his falcon along. ( a retired bird who no longer hunts) We had a fabulous tour through Al Masmak fortress, a beautiful adobe exterior construction in the heart of Old Riyadh. This was where King "Abd al Aziz" in 1902 was able to recapture this fort and then spent the next 30 years unifying the country which in 19...

Last evening we went to the Upside Down event on the Boulevard, a huge event centre that has recently been built. It has a water park, theatre, events, food trucks, stores etc. It was fun to be amongst so many Saudi at one time. Jen saw only one other foreigner. Here are some fun pictures from Upside Down. Little Dad Little Jen On the ceiling Little Dad Ali, Roger, Jen

Early morning Our camping beds with 2 sleeping bodies Ali and Roger in Tharwas Thursday afternoon,  I again went to Jens class at school to help her with a photo session (of still life fruits) with her last grade 3 class. Then we all drove over to her friend Nathans ( who is an airplane mechanic ) for a dinner she organized, ordering a dish from a local restaurant with the help of one of her co_ worker teachers from school when it had to be ordered in Arabic. Nathan helped her re attach her ASSD  (anti sand scooping device) that had come off during her previous camping trip. Without it  on, the sand will fill the rear car bumper and cause it to fall off.  Friday morning (their Saturday) we drove out to Nathans' again with all the camping gear and set out following him to the meet point with the other campers. We filled up with gas, and headed out (20 of us in about 10 cars) towards the Stardunes. You may wonder why so many cars, but the experience e...