4 ~ Muscat, Oman

 March 28, 2023

We were a little late getting off the boat so the last bus was already taking off.  Fortunately, there was one taxi sitting there offering us a ride.  We asked how much and he said 6 euros per hour so we signed up for 2 hours ~ can't beat that price!  So we jumped in the back seat and had our own personal tour guide!  

Muscat is a beautiful City (the capital and most populated city in Oman). It sits on the Gulf of Oman and is surrounded by mountains and desert.  It is one of the Middle East's oldest cities.

Almost everywhere you went you were surrounded by these cliff-like mountains; the houses and other establishments were just built around them. It was a beautiful contrast to all the buildings which were white.

The far right middle picture is the Al Alam Palace where anyone of importance who was visiting stayed (presidents, dignitaries, etc). It seemed like the only contrast to the white buildings were the many blue-domed mosques throughout the city.

We went to the Royal Opera House. It was big and pretty and it would have been fun to get all dressed up and see some famous play while sitting in the balcony feeling important!

The Muscat Gulf was gorgeous with its many forts overlooking it. We did see many people swimming but not so many in these pictures with the rugged rocks meeting the land.

Like I mentioned before, all the buildings are white ~ ALL of them.  After driving around for a couple hours it felt like nothing was that different because you just passed another white building. Don't get me wrong because it was very clean, bright and was brand new looking but after awhile it seemed almost stark in contrast to other countries.

As we were entering the Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque parking lot there were Palm trees covered with dates.  Our Taxi driver had some dates in the backseat and told us to have some, we declined because we knew he was fasting.  He insisted and they were the sweetest, most delicious dates I have ever tasted!

There is our taxi driver in the upper left corner.  He was super nice and kind! We didn't arrive at the correct time so only Muslims were allowed to go inside the Mosque during certain times so he stepped inside and took a few pictures for me!

As our 2 hour tour (which ended up being 2 hours and 45 minutes because our sweet taxi driver didn't want us to miss seeing everything) I snapped a picture of our humongous cruise ship (far right) and the Kings yacht (far left). His yacht was very large; about a third of the regular size cruise ship (in the middle) ~ crazy!  We also learned that our driver had said "60 Euros" not "6 Euros" < it was one of those "too good to be true" situations 😂, but we still got an excellent deal and got to see much more than we would have seen on one of the excursion and the price was much less, as well! Overall an excellent day!

3 ~ Cruise on the MSC Europa~ March 28, 2023

March 28, 2023

This was one of the longest slides I've ever been on!  It was so fun and went quite fast!

Such fun food each and every day; the buffet wasn't quite as good as the other cruises we've been on but I loved the sit down dinners! Our dinner partners were two sweet women from Scotland. There was another woman who set across from Billy who was from the Ukraine.  She had lost her son, daughter-in-law and 2 grandchildren in the War.  It was so very sad when we visited with her.
CHOCOLATE, CHOCOLATE, CHOCOLATE ~ you can't really tell how big these chocolate creatures are but they were huge! I wish I would have had Billy stand by one of them! The ship was so huge ~ it felt like a Mall! I did eat a bunch of Tobler Chocolates!

There were two shows each night; one at 7pm and the other one at 9pm.  They were only 45 minutes each which made it so nice! The Shows were phenomenal ~ they weren't like the other cruise shows; these were really professional  like you'd see on Broadway.

1 ~ Doha, Qatar/ Abu Dhabi ~ Sat 3/25/23

 March 25, 2023

The Schulthess' were kind enough to pick us up bright and early at 6:45am and take us to the Provo Airport! We boarded Breeze Airlines at 8:40am.  I was very surprised at how nice it was; it was a smaller plane but it had a lot more leg room than the larger planes and was very comfortable. Our flight to San Francisco was a little over 2 hours and then we had about a 6 hr layover. Once we boarded the Qatar Airplane we got nice and comfortable for the 15hr flight. I don't mind flying because I get to:

1) relax and sleep

2) read 

3) watch movies 

4) eat fun and interesting food 

5) meet a bunch of new friends and 

5) I get to sit next to my honey the entire time 🥰! 

Fortunately, I have figured out the exact amount of clothes and items to take on the plane; whether it's hot or cold I am well prepared!  The flight attendant accidentally spilled a half a cup of water on my jeans 😳 but even with this mishap I was prepared!

We arrived at the Hamad Int'l Airport in Qatar and had a couple hours layover then boarded the last leg of our flying adventure to Abu Dhabi.  We arrived in Abu Dhabi safe and sound and took a taxi to our hotel!

Our hotel, "The Crown Plaza", is gorgeous ~ Billy was a bit worried that it wouldn’t be very nice because it was pretty inexpensive! Abu Dahbi is the 15th richest country in the world but unlike Switzerland things aren’t expensive. Everything is so clean and most all of the employees everywhere are foreigners (those that are born here get a very, very large pension so they don’t have to work ~ pretty sweet but perhaps a little entitled).

A few different activities to do in Abu Dhabi

It was the month of Ramadan for Muslims around the world (March 22 to April 22 ~ the 9th month of the Islamic calendar).  This is a time where they fast from sunrise to sunset. They abstain from food, drinking any liquids, smoking cigarettes, intimate contact and even taking medicine, to name a few.          

In the above right hand corner picture, at the Jolibee restaurant, you can see how the windows are covered with paper or curtains; all eating establishments do this in the Muslim community to help avoid the temptation of eating. Restaurants and most stores are still open during Ramadan.

A beautiful city and a fun one to visit!

Sunday Fun~Day 3/19/23

Sunday, March 6, 2023

It's always fun when the kids join us for Sunday Dinner.  This week London and Penny were fascinated that Sarah was pregnant.  They followed her around asking lots of questions!  It was so funny to watch.  Sarah was so very patient with them and answered all their questions!  Such Cutie Patooties!

The big kids went downstairs to the playroom for a little bit and the adults could visit for a few minutes.  The kids never stay downstairs for too long before they come up to see what's going on in the living room ~ too funny!

It has been snowing a lot this winter and we had some flurry's today.  It is so beautiful outside especially when the horses are running around.

I love to watch everyone enjoy each others company!

Timmy is so great playing games with the kids ~ I guess, just like me, there is still that 'youngest' child who wants the little ones to be entertained!  I get pretty worn out so it is nice when he jumps in with them!

Little Annie (T and Sarah's youngest) has come out of her shell and will go around the whole house with the other kids and interacts with everyone.  She used to only stay with mom and dad but now she has no problem socializing with everyone! I love it!