Friday, October 28, 2011

Mark hates running!

























A couple weeks ago Gail found that there was a 10k the following Friday in Abu Dhabi. She asked me in a cute little voice, "would you run with me". Naturally, I said yes. How bad could it be, right?

Never being ones to miss an opportunity for a night out, we booked a hotel room about a half k from the race, which was held at Sheik Zayed Sports City. The hotel is called the Aloft, and we've been there a couple times for sundowners at the rooftop bar. It looks like a really nice place at first glance......upon further review!

Thursday evening the adventure began. I had an evening meeting, and once I wrapped it up we snagged a cab and headed to the hotel (which is really only a 15 minute drive).

We got to the hotel and realized that we had forgotten our passports. They are required for checking into hotels if you don't have a UAE National card. So, I jumped back in the cab and made the trip back to the apt, grabbed the passports, and headed back to the hotel. I was anxious to get checked in and head up to the rooftop for a nightcap. We got to our room and threw are bags in and, "What the hell is that smell?" Our room smelled horrible! After a little research I found water damage and black mold on the bathroom ceiling. If we were staying any length of time we would have turned around and demanded a new room. The ironic thing was, this was an upgraded room to make up for the inconvenience of having to make the special trip for the passports.

We had our nightcap....crap service, and headed to bed. We looked to see if there were any movies. The only English speaking channel had no audio! It's now around 10:30, and with a 5:15 wakeup, we decided it was time for lights out. Thing is, our upgraded room is directly over the pool deck...which has a live band playing until after midnight. Once they stopped, we laid there and listened to the AC louver rattle as we tried not to inhale any black mold spores. I had the alarm set on my phone next to the bed, and at 3:00am it starts buzzing. It was an email from my boss! WHY THE FACE! (Random Modern Family reference)

Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep. 5ish we rolled out and started prepping for the pain, and headed down to find a cab around 5:50. Thing is, it's Friday morning (which is akin to Sunday in the US) and this hotel is hell and gone from any main roads. We hoofed it to the road that was on the way to our final destination and has a little more traffic, and were rewarded by a little silver present from above (a Toyota with an empty back seat).

We got to the race with plenty of time to spare and started praying...I mean stretching. It was already 87 degrees at the 7am start and felt much hotter. Half way through the first lap I told Gail to take off. No need for me to drag down her time. Half way through the second lap I came to the realization that it wouldn't be safe for me to attempt to finish after exactly three training runs on the treadmill. Luckily the race was four laps of a 2.5k circuit and I bailed after two laps. I felt bad at first, then took the approach that I finished my own personnel 5k. They did have a guy collapse and go to the hospital. Glad it wasn't me!

Gail rocked it in one hour and 6 minutes! A nice brunch at the facility followed the run, then we tracked a cab down and headed for the pool! BTW, the pool was really nice!  As we got back, Gail and I asked if we could get a late checkout, and were told "no problem" we had until 1pm instead of noon. You can guess what happened next, right? We head up at 12:40 and are locked out of our moldy room! So we paraded down to the front desk in our swim suits.

We got it sorted out and packed up and headed out to grab a cab. I have a habit of checking my pockets a lot, and fortunately I did that right before we got in the cab. My keys were missing. I knew I had put them in my pocket, but searched the bags anyway..nothing. Back to the front desk to get a temporary key and back to the room. There they were, sitting on the floor. Tragedy averted!

So, back to our cozy apartment for an afternoon of moaning and groaning due to my ever-tightening muscles.

This entire episode took place in under 20 hours!

Life is an adventure!


Friday, October 14, 2011

Two days and a night at the Fairmont and a dinner cruise
















I just finished up a Mark King triathlon, (stationary bike, treadmill and dip in the pool) and thought I better get to writing this update, as I've been promising Gail I would do it for a couple weeks now!

Every summer, many of the ladies that have husbands working in AD go home to escape the blazing heat and visit family. The ladies network here plans a big "welcome back" function every September. This year they planned it at the Fairmont, a five star hotel, located on the creek across from the Grande Mosque.

Not to be ones to miss an opportunity for a night out, we booked a room at the Fairmont for the night. It surprised me how few of the people we talked to did this! Our friends, Dan and Karen were on the same page as us and got a room also.

To expand on the adventure, we decided to get up early and go kayaking on the creek in front of the Fairmont and Shangri La, and across from the Grande Mosque. Dan and Karen have their own kayaks and were able to borrow a two seater from a friend. It was a beautiful paddle up the creek and back. It is still incredibly hot here, but we put up with it for an hour or so.

You should have seen us pull up to the fairmont with the kayaks strapped to the roof. We got out of the car in the smelly, wet clothes that we kayaked in and trudged into the five star hotel trailing sand behind us as we walked. Too funny! The reception guy was incredibly nice and told us not to worry about it. He even walked us down to the pool, as our rooms were not yet ready. It's the little things, right!?

The pool was awesome, and we took full advantage for the next few hours. At two we showered, dressed and made the short drive to the Shangri La for brunch. By far, the most impressive spread of food I have ever seen! I made a complete pig of myself! Shrimp, oysters, sushi, salmon...nothing was safe. Strange that I started getting a little stomach ache on the drive back! By the time we got back to our hotel I was nearly doubled over. It was by far the most expensive stomach ache I've ever had!

A couple hours of down time, and I was right as rain. An hour prefunc in Karen and Dan's room, then off to the party! It was great to mingle and to meet some of the gals that Gail hangs with. My life is mostly, up early, home late, repeat...so it was fun to make some new friends.

The next morning we were moving a bit slow and spent about six hours at the pool..nice!

Story two:

The next Friday we were booked for a dinner cruise along the Abu Dhabi corniche. We headed to our friends Mary and Jim's apartment for sundowners with another 4 or 5 couples. They have the perfect place for watching the sunset.

I had some great conversation with some of the guys I hadn't met yet, then it was off to the marina. In all, there was about 20 of us. It was great being out on the water and getting that perspective of downtown AD. We had a great time with new friends and still made it back for survivor!

The whole time I kept thinking that I would love my b-town friends and family to be on the boat with us! As porky pig says...that's all folks!

Turkey in three weeks!

Saturday, October 8, 2011

Girls gone wild in Bahrain!








I never would have dreamed that I would have a stamp in my passport from Bahrain!

We did our homework, and after much discussion regarding the protesting and unrest in the small island nation, we planned a non-stop 2 day adventure.
Bahrain is a fascinating archipelago of 36 islands, with rocky deserts, lush green vegetation and sandy beaches. We really had no idea the vast history we would find. Archeological evidences dates from 50,000 years ago. Bahrain has been visited and sometimes occupied by Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Greeks, Romans, Persians, Portuguese and British. WOW!

From 3200 to 330BC Bahrain was the seat of the Dilmun empire. It became a center for trade and commerce, due to it's location with copper and pearls. So much history! Feel free to do your own research, it's fascinating.

Our first day was to be spent dolphin watching, snorkeling & pearl diving, oops......change of plans. On arrival it was far to windy to spend any time on the sea, so we dove right into the cove at our hotel and beached for a couple of hours until our van driver arrived.

We walked all over the Bahrain Fort. It is still in the process of being excavated. Over thousands of years, a fort has been built and destroyed over 4 times, either by harsh elements or invasion, but it still stands today. So many discoveries are still being found. We visited two museums, and the Beit Al Quran, with it's rare collection of Islamic prints and books. We checked out the souqs for some shopping, (just plain crazy), a maze of tiny shops and a lot of people!

We surely packed in a full day of fun! A late yummy Bahraini dinner, glass of wine poolside then off to bed to get ready to do it all again.

Our guide drove us into the desert so we could take in the beauty of the "Tree of Life".
This mature mesquite tree has survived over 400 years in the harsh elements with no apparent source of water. How it survives remains a mystery. Our guide says it is believed to be a descendant from the original Garden of Eden. Truly breathtaking! We spent some time touring a pottery shop, and purchased some of the crafts made in Bahrain. The burial mounds take up over 5% of the island, from a very young age your tomb is being continuously constructed. The larger the mound, the more prestigious the family.
We had a very jammed packed trip, and it was wonderful, from the history, the people and most of all, the company. Thanks ladies and most of all, Karen, for all you hard work making our trip amazing and memorable. One of the first trips I have been on, and I only had to show up. Great job!
Where to next?????