We Are Safe

Hey everyone!

Here is a quick note to say we are perfectly fine! There has been nothing really serious in our area. The news sometimes makes things seem worse then they are. The entire Kingdom is NOT covered in tear gas. The demonstrations have been mostly peaceful. The news does not tell you that there are demonstrations in Bahrain about three times a week and have been for years! I just want you all to not worry about it too much because most of the events have been on the other side of the island. Honestly the worst I have seen is honking and flag waving which does not even compare to the activities in Italy when they win a football game! We love you all and thank you for the concern. For now please don't worry we will let you know if you need to worry.

Love,

Curt and Tiziana

PS. Prayers are always nice though!

Muscat, Oman

Wow... Muscat, Oman. Really! It may not be what you expect! As with many middle eastern countries you may think it is a wide world of sand and desert but not a chance! It was a very beautiful place...

This is The Chedi Hotel

The beautiful presenter of course is my wife.

You always have to make time for a walk on the beach, right?

The flowers and scenery are gorgeous here.

This must be the world's largest incense burner! It is beautiful in the day and at night!



 The mosques always seem to be photogenic...

 Even cruising by at a cool 120...

Poor Tiziana must have tried a million times to get a picture of this mosque. The first day she couldn't get her camera out in time (the signs say no stopping on the road). Then the camera was left in the room. Then came the perfect opportunity and just as we pull up to the mosque... yes, you guessed it, the camera died!

Amazing...

 and a stop at the Royale Palace is a must. There are so many flowers here and greenery which you come to miss when you live in Bahrain.

Then we head off into the mountains on a whim... we hear about a fort off in the wild.

It was almost like you had to walk through other people's houses to get there though.

Then we decide to head off to some village with a watch tower... we did find big old thing's of fish and other dried creatures. I believe we may have been the first foriegners to just stop by in awhile though. I felt a little out of place to say the least.

 We did find the watchtower... how to get in????

Then off to old Muscat... really beautiful looking waterfront!

 Then who could say no to some shopping at the old souq???

Well there is so much more... How can you fit everything into this tiny little blog... especially when we somehow ended up with about 482 photos and I was working day and night the entire time!?!?!

I must say you have to go see this place... don't let people scare you away! We had a wonderful time in grand ole Muscat!

Love always,

Curt n Tiziana

Tiziana - Ibn Batuta or something like that

Nothing like a day of shopping to put a smile on my girls face! Actually I think it was something like "why in the world is he taking so many pictures" and "doesn't he know my feet are killing me in these shoes!" Well it was a nice time anyway... Thank you baby! Ti amo tantissimo!

-Curt

Darin's B-day Weekend Day 2

Well the day started off pretty normal... Kids in the bed. Housekeeper locked out. Breakfast finally established. Freezer still not fixed so nowhere to put the ice cream birthday cake for Darin. And by days end the washer hose spouting out water (which I finally found a place to buy that, since the maintenance apparently won't help me with). You know, the everyday normal stuff that just happens.

The kids tried their first chicken shawarmas and were not impressed. Although Christian ate the whole thing.

So we decided to go to the camel farm and a movie for Darin's Birthday weekend. While there we figured hey why not take a couple pictures for the Flat Stanley project Christian's school sent out but I didn't receive until 2 days before they came out here.

The boys didn't seem to be very enthusiastic about the whole affair at first...

But they eventually warmed up to the idea...

The camel keepers even let us in to see the baby's... which became an up close and personal event.

One Darin wasn't as happy about... especially when this one week old fella decided to try and take a lick.

Christian pretty fine and took a couple licks and almost donated an ear to the cause. The little guy really licked him and wanted his shirt as well. YouTube videos to follow.

Well that was about as eventful as the day got... besides the boys learning how to pop the clutch to start the car once. They were amazed at what our malls contain here and Darin scored big at the little candy machines where you use the crane... anyway... so much for no candy!

Well another day accomplished with kids in bed and ready to go for the big day tomorrow! Yeah... ice cream cake and a trip to see what is going on for the 4th around town.

Have a wonderful day in paradise... we will see you next time!!!

Love,

Curt e Tiziana

Darin's B-day Weekend Begins

Darin and Christian hit the streets of Bahrain today to begin Darin's Birthday weekend. The agenda was simple a stop for groceries, trip to the Tree of Life, the F-1 track for Karting and Applebees for dinner.

The first mistake was a plan was made.

We woke up to the boys yelling the house was flooding. Well the pool was overflowing and the entire front garden flooded. So after a little mucking about we said the sun will dry the rest and went in for breakfast.

Dad made some eggs and pancakes to order of the youngin's and we went off for groceries which actually went off with out too much of a hitch. Then the day became interesting.

The directions to the Tree of Life would have been great had most of the signs in the directions still been there. One the directions through the Sitra causeway area are skewed by construction. Then at the second round about in Riffa there were no signs (visible to us) leading us to a golf course. In the end we found a shorter (faster) route to the Bahrain International Circuit. So we cut the Tree of Life ordeal and settled for Karting.

In the beginning Darin was too short to reach the pedals. After a couple of inovative modifications to the Kart Darin was on his way to becoming the shortest F-1 Kart Track racer. His only hold up apparently was Dad. As long as Dad was beside him he continously ran into every obstruction (as fast as possible). He has absolutely no fear of speed (much like his Dad!). But once the track guys told me to stay away from him he flourished in his racing endeavours. By himself on the track he never wrecked once. He is obviously a pedal to the medal kind of kid making me wonder if he should perhaps have a very slow car when he becomes a teenager.

Christian was like a racing pro only one accident which we have no idea how that one happened. But he got the most laps in out of anyone. Awesome job Chris!!!

After that dinner and bed...

Okay still working on bed but I am going now to fix that problem... LOL

Love you all,

Curt

The Dubai Trip

The
Dubai
Story
as
promised!

The city of Dubai is amazing... there is so much to do and see you can't even take it all in. The buildings are amazing and when they say "we will do what no one else can" it certainly appears they mean it. I am sure I will butcher the names of some of these places but you just have to see them. Here are some of the amazing sights around town from the view of a taxi (recommended transportation). To the right is the tallest building in the world Burj Al Kalifah. You can easliy get lost in the sites here. What a place to explore!!!

So what do you do when the day just gets too hot?
Well head in doors for lots of shopping, skiing, ice skating... whatever you need to do to cool down!

Whoever imagined a winter wonderland like this in the desert? and freezing.......!


And I did mention the shopping... right? Whether it the Dubai Mall to the left or the Old Town Souq to the right... there is something for everyone!!!

In the Dubai Mall there is even the aquarium which you can explore along with the Underwater Zoo! or the amazing water falls!

Then it is back outside for some more sights!

Another interesting thing to do is check out the local Henna! Girls apparently learn this in their homes from a very young age. There is Arabic Henna and Indian Henna done at this shop.

When the day is done there is nothing like finishing with a coffee at the Dubai Riverfront...

This is amazing!!!

Then it is back to the Hotel to relax after the exhausting day...!!!

I hope you all enjoyed... Love you all and hope you come to visit one of these days!!!

-Curt & Tiziana