Thursday Morning in Istanbul

This pic is looking out my window at the Hyatt Regency in Istanbul. Not bad! It's located across street from the Intercontinental Hotel, where I've usually stayed, in Taksim Square area.

The 2am to 6am flight from Riyadh was no fun, but business class helped. Now, we'll see if I can stay awake all day. Getting off the plane in 60 degree weather helps though - that's different than the 90 degrees at 7am for the past two weeks in Saudi.

Favorite Things in Saudi Arabia

Here are pics of my favorite things here: Kingdom Center and the Red Sea!

Sunday Morning at the Radisson in Aqaba

I'm finished with 3 days of work here, and off this evening to Riyadh. The Radisson Hotel here is way south of the city, so a long bus ride into town if you want to go. I didn't - thought I'd likely seen enough cities recently.

And, finally, after almost three weeks (from back in Beirut) I've kicked off the cold I had. Finally had to go to clinic here at resort and get some antibiotics and stronger stuff than the drug stores had. But, good news is, I can talk in a normal voice again!

Tuesday, Leaving Rome

Wow - what a place Rome is - it's like a big, outdoor museum. In fact, I think that's in their tourist literature somewhere. Every block has old stuff on it or in it - amazing. It would take forever to see all this place - because I guess it's been here almost forever. Something about being the eternal city, I think.