Travel Books and Maps Aplenty at Stanfords
I had been looking forward to visiting the famous travel shop near London’s Covent Garden with much expectation and anticipation. From everything that I had read about the place it appeared to be a kind of mecca for travelers. I’m happy to report that when I was in London a couple of weeks ago I […]
Tour of Brick Lane and street art in East London
I have just returned home after an enjoyable European trip with my wife and daughter that included three days in London. We stayed at the Holiday Inn on Old Street in Shoreditch, in the Borough of Hackney. This is not an obvious location for tourists, most of whom visit the city to explore central London’s […]
“Roads of Arabia” Exhibit at Houston’s Museum of Fine Arts
The Roads of Arabia traveling exhibit is currently residing at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston (MFAH), until March 2014. The exhibit displays historic artifacts from Arabia, including from present day Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Yemen and Oman, as well as from Persia and the Roman Empire. For me, the most interesting item on display […]
Road to Fellini Caffè, Houston, Texas
My writing for this website has been rather sparse of late due to an unexpected personal event. I was diagnosed with cancer in October 2013 and I then I had surgery in November. I traveled to Houston with my family to have further tests and treatment earlier this month. Fortunately, my situation does not seem […]
Packing for lightweight travel
I was fortunate to find a first edition copy of Judith Gilford’s book The Packing Book (1994) in my local library and have been reviewing the author’s advice for traveling with just enough personal items to have everything one needs to travel in comfort but without being weighed down with a lot of unnecessary stuff that probably […]
The Excitement of Hofuf Camel Market!
We recently visited the camel market in the desert just north of Hofuf in the al-Ahsa/al-Hasa district. Although the market is located in a desert area, much of the area around Hofuf consists of date farms that make up the largest oasis in Saudi Arabia. The area exports dates harvested from approximately 3 million date […]
Discovering Hilltop Riffa Fort, Bahrain
Since I had some time off from work for the Islamic holiday of ‘Id al-Adha I took my family to Bahrain for four days. I was a little apprehensive about driving there because on previous visits I had always taken a bus. Since I had witnessed the chaotic rush of traffic as it squeezes through […]
Visit to Qatif and Tarut Island
Last week my family and I explored some of the sights of Qatif district, about a 45-minute drive north of Dhahran, where we live in the Eastern Province. Qatif is a geographically large area that includes many towns and villages. It has a colorful history dating back 5,000 years. Qatif was known to the ancient […]
Moving my family to Saudi Arabia
I traveled back to Saudi Arabia with my family earlier this week. We have all been together here for a week now and I finally have had some time to reflect on all the preparations and efforts we went through to make the move successful. During the two weeks that I was in Houston we […]
Visit to Fascinating Souq Waqif, Doha, Qatar
On my way to Houston, Texas, I decided to stop in Doha, Qatar, for a couple of days. We live in interesting times. I arrived in the city in the midst of a major terrorist alert, with the U.S. having closed many of its embassies and consulates throughout the region, including in Doha. But if […]