Pat and Guy's Travels

Bahrain, Baby and Camels

2009-02-23T07:07:00.000-08:00

I'm your GRANDPA - That's who!

Welcome world - Here is Elizabeth Riley Combs (Elsa) and her Grandpa getting acquainted.

and the proud Daddy - Chris!

little Elsa - Sound Asleep and Content

Now - some Bahrain Information that you've always wanted to know: We spent the first day in Bahrain at the "Mall" a brand new structure that has all the stores from home - we could have been in Grand Rapids other than some of the signs in Arabic. We purchased a card reader at an electronics store (so we could do this blog) that reminded us very much of Best Buy - Here are some stores dear to our hearts:

Hush Puppies! Wow - Becky, Pat and Elsa are taking a look at some of the new styles

and for Claire - here is "Grandma Pat" in front of her very own store here in Bahrain.

We then visited a Camel/Agricultural Farm today - it is the most amazing system of irrigation for the crops - here are some photos...

Pat looking at a cabbage patch - all irrigated by gravity from hundreds of years past.

Pat petting a camel - Wow - were there ever a lot of camels here!

Don't do this at your local zoo - here is Guy petting a camel - see all the others in the pen?

Our friend the camel - isn't he cute?

Here is a camel with a "+" brand and a heart on his back leg

The talking camels - hundreds of camels of all ages were taking a look at us!

Becky, Pat and Elsa... with our friends the camels checking us out!

Guy, Becky and Elsa...

and a special surprise - a little white donkey

The "girls" - Becky, Pat and Elsa taking a walk through the Camel Preserve

Grandpa Guy and Elsa - A matched set! Else wearing her outfit by "Hip Violet" - thanks Jesi!

Pat and Elsa having a little chat - what a great little girl. Guy and Pat have had the chance to do a little babysitting - she has been calm and looking around - a real cutie!

Here is what we have been doing since coming to Bahrain - Guy in his PJs holding Elsa and checking his messages on the internet!

More to come...

Egypt and the Pyramids

2009-02-22T11:47:00.000-08:00

WHEEEEEE! It's the Pyramids

We arrived in Cairo, Egypt on February 18 in the evening - we met our guide for our stay - Marco - and headed to the Marriott Hotel and Casino in Downtown Cairo. It was a long (and night) of flights and airport stays. We actually had an 8 hour layover in Amsterdam where we took the train into the city - walked around the town a bit (bu-r-r- we were not dressed for freezing weather) visited the Rijksmuseum and headed back to the airport for our flight to Egypt. Tip - don't fly Egyptair unless there are no other airlines available!

Here is our first day out "on the town" and our first stop was the Great Pyramids in Giza. It was very windy. Dust (and trash) were blowing everywhere and so was our hair - so pardon the photos.

Guy standing on the first rung of the Great Pyramid

Pat touching the top of the Great Pyramid
(I know - touristy shot - but, oh well!)

Pat and Guy on camels - First Day out

Ah, Camel Travel is the Best!

Another view of the desert, the pyramids, a camel driver and Pat

Guy and his camel say HI

A closeup of the top of the pyramid - you can see where the pyramid had been coated with a smoothing protective layer that thousands of years of dust storms (and humans) have stripped away.

Ah, The Egyptian Cuisine!
We had a lovely lunch overlooking the Nile River. See the charcoal grill setting on our table - with shish kabobs and Egyptian Bread on top! It was delicious and a novel idea for us in the USA. Somehow I think actual table sized charcoal grills (with real fire and charcoal) might not make it through the safety check at the restaurants. Stella (Egyptian) beer was great.

Almost every restaurant had their breadmaker and oven constantly turning out Egyptian bread - this was at a very upscale restaurant on the Nile.

At the Citadel

Here is Pat overlooking Cairo at the Citadel - a very old fort high above the City.

Guy, too! No, that is not snow on the roof - just lots of old dust

Carriage Museum at the Citadel

Look closely and you will see horse's heads decorating all around this Carriage Museum (no they were not real - just plastic horse heads) The Museum was really interesting! All of the old ceremonial carriages are inside (sorry no photos inside).

We had two lovely days touring with our guide, Marco - who we highly recommend. He met us at the airport - got us Visas - brought us through customs and dropped us off at our hotel. Each day he picked up up from our hotel and took us touring - getting close to all the sights and having insights on how much to tip, etc. We went to the Egyptian Musueum (no photos) where we were amazed at all the OLD (over 5000 years) aritfacts. King Tut's treasures were spectacular!

We went to the Coptic Christian area and saw the Church of St. George and the Dragon plus the church where Jesus, Mary and Joseph were said to have fled to in exile after his birth. The Nile was wide and interesting (although in Cairo it seems to be filled with dinner tour boats). So we did see Mosques, Shopping Streets, etc. But our favorite were the pyramids - we talked Marco into taking us back one more time so we could see them without all the sand flying.
Here they are once again.

Pat and Guy on their camels

Guy discussing the price of a camel ride

Guy, the Sphynx and Pyramid

Pat, Sphinx, and Pyramid

Here is a great composite so everyone can see how close the sphinx and the pyramids are to each other. The sphinx is very close and in the same area of Giza as the pyramids are. There were a lot of folks around all of these beautiful sites selling trinkets - books, postcards,mini-pyramids made of sand,hats, t-shirts, whatever anyone has ever thought up - you can buy it around the pyramids.

And they are so awesome and grand... that you pay no attention and enjoy them for what they are - a true Wonder of the World!

We left Cairo and headed to Bahrain on Saturday the 21st of February. The weather in Cairo was cool the entire time (around 50) and the wind was pretty strong. The Eyptian people were very friendly and we did not find much begging on the streets. A lot of folks selling trinkets at all the sights - but our walk along the Nile and our walk around the streets of town were very quiet.
Lots of tipping is expected - so we needed to take a lot of small bills along.

On to Bahrain and a visit with little Elisabeth Riley Combs!!

London

2008-03-23T19:40:00.000-07:00

Last stop on our adventure is London - each stop brings us closer to home by time zone, language and food. Here is Guy overlooking the Thames River with Big Ben in the background.

This view of London is from the London Eye - a huge Ferris Wheel which overlooks the City.
Another Bird's Eye View of the Thames
The Parliment and Big Ben
Guy and the tower bridge just outside of the Tower of London

Pat and the Tower Bridge
A boat trip down the Thames River
The London Eye - a new look on the skyline of London
Inside Westminster Abby

In case our cell phones were not working - we could make a call in this traditional old London telephone booth.
The local color in London are the Beefeaters wandering around the Tower of London - Here's Pat with her new best friend

And Guy gets a photo op as well The Tower of London - lots of murders and hangings - interesting history here!
This is the extent of our wildlife experience - the lion was one of 4 in the Square in London

Big Ben - London
Pat at the London Parliment
Guy by the gates of Westminster Abby
In the mews of Westminster Abby - beautiful ironwork - lots of tombs!

India/Bahrain/Istanbul/Budapest - We're on the move!

2008-03-09T23:07:00.000-07:00

Just so everyone would know that we were still working while we were on our adventure - we paid close attention to the real estate offices in Budapest - they were on all the main streets and we took a photo of one!
Here is Guy becoming one with some artwork on the streets of Budapest
Pat is standing by a fountain in a lovely little park across the street from our hotel - the Kempinski of Budapest. We really enjoyed the hotel and the lovely city of Budapest!
Our last evening in Budapest we ate at the Golden Lamb - traditional Hungarian food and a wonderful folk group playing traditinal Hungarian music - what a treat.

Special Becky edition: Here's Becky recovering from her bout with Delhi Belly! She was admitted to the hospital with 102 degree temperature. What a trooper!!! She smiled that big dimpled smile through the whole thing!

Special addition: Jesi complained we didn't include Bahrain hospital photos so here they are totally out of sequence, but here nonetheless. Guy is getting an IV to restore fluids lost to "Delhi Belly", better known as staring at bathroom walls!!! Pat got a little faint seeing Guy get an IV and was put on bed rest temporarily! Ah, the joy of travel!

Budapest - What a lovely European City! This is the interior of the Parliment - very awesome. This building was finished in 1904 - so is one of the newest we have visited - very lavish!

The original King's Crown and accessories. These were smuggled out of Hungary before WWII and had been kept in the USA at Fort Knox until their return after the war. These are solid gold.
The Parliment itself. Very modern - there is a voting system built in where each member of congress has a card with a chip built in - they insert this card into their desk and it activates their voting machine.
Where else in Europe would you see this unique feature - Cigar Holders. In it's day many members of Parliment smoked Cuban Cigars - most of the same brand. They were not allowed to smoke in the House of Parliment - only in the hallways - so each of these cigar holders is numbered and when you went in to vote, you could leave your cigar here and know where to find it again. There is still a lot of smoking going on in Budapest. There are very few Non-smoking areas and most restaurants are all smoking. Even the airport is a smoking airport. Pat at the Danube River checking out the unique sculptures made up of bronze shoes.

A Heiniken break at a street fair in Budapest! The food was awesome too - heavy and European - We shared fried chicken, fried potatoes, turkey shish-ke-bob, fried veggies - all cooked outdoors in huge outdoor frying pans. Very Heathy I'm sure.
Guy on the Chain Bridge
The Danube River with the Gallery of Art across the River
At the tram stops - Budapest was the first country in Europe to have a metro system - these are lovely old streetcars still running
Babies in the baskets - the early form of a merry-go-round - I don't think we could get this past the inspectors in the USA

Here is the greatest new Fair Food we found. The grill is hot and cooking over it is bread dough encircling a wooden spool and spread with butter. After it is grilled it is sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar and up in a bag - where suckers like us buy an entire loaf and eat it in one sitting. We tried to import the grilling skewer but it it is too big to fit into any of our suitcases and we didn't think we could make it through security as a carry-on.
The street fiddler in the middle of the street fair
Hungarian Pizza

It was a celebration of Hungarian Independence day when we arrived - Here on one of the most bustling squares in the City were a bunch of horses ready for their re-enactment of the battle of Independence.

Re-enactment soldiers getting the cannons ready
Guy on the Chain Bridge - they closed the bridge for the day for their celebration - loads of families and kids came out
The Danube River
Traditional Hungarian Dancers teaching the young folks the handkerchief dance.
Istanbul Bunnies worked for a living telling fortunes on the street.

Time to check for messages on the boat trip along the Bosphorus
Old Istanbul from our boat
Back to Budapest - St. Stevens Church
Interior of St. Steven's Church - Most of this was destroyed in WWII - so has been recently completely restored

Dolmabahce Palace - Istanbul - This is a very famous staircase with the spindles all made of Baccarat Crystal.

The baths in the Harem at the palace
The Sultan's private baths - Here is the ceiling of his bath
and this is his steamroom - Lots of marble and gold!
Guy is standing in front of Mile Market One of Turkey. From here all miles are counted all across Turkey.

Our little dinner friend at the Rami Restaurant in Istanbul. The cat ended up on Guy's lap - but not for long.
Interior of the Rami Restaurant - great food and unique setting with fireplaces in every room
Guy buying essentials (shaving cream) in the Grand Bazaar
Gate at the Palace on the Bosphorus in Istanbul

Here's Pat at the "wailing wall" of St. Sophia - The superstition is that one puts their thumb in the hole and turns it around in the hole for good luck. This huge sanctuary was built in the sixth century as a Christian church with beautiful mosaics - was taken over as a mosque with the mosaics hidden under the plaster - they are now being restored

More interior shots of St. Sophia
Basilica Cisterns under the streets of Istanbul - Acres of columns under the City - where they originally stored their water. A little spooky!
The cisterns were built with old columns and building materials from pagan temples. Here is a statue of Medusa with it's head upside down as the base of one of the columns. You can see it sitting in the water. There were also a lot of fish in here plus water was still dripping down.
Lighted columns in the Cisterns
Spring has sprung in Istanbul. We spent the morning in a fabulous Palace - Topkapi Place - where since the sixth century the sultans and their harems lived. Here Pat is with a bunch of primroses in the gardens of the Palace.

In the Topkapi Palace were these beautiful marble bathrooms for the wives and concubines - gold fixtures too!
The Sultan's waiting room in Topkapi Palace
Here we are back in the St. Sophia where some of the original mosaics show Jesus above the main dome.

Exterior of the Mosque

Guy guarding the entry way to Topkapi Palace
Here we are on a balcolny at Topkapi Palace overlooking the Bosphorus - We are standing where many Kings and Queens and Sultans and their women stood.
Wildlife at the palace. This is what the crows looked like at the palace.
Here is Pat - Under the golden Sulten's viewing pavilion - high in the Palace overlooking the Bosphorus.

Pat and Guy at the entryway to the Grand Bazaar - a Shopaholic's Dream! Over 4,000 shops selling everything you can imagine. We did a fine job of shopping - to our guide's disappointment we did not buy a Turkish Rug

Here is the main dome of the Blue Mosque in Istanbul
We highly recommend this lovely hotel. The location is fabulous (across the street from the Topkapi Palace). Here is a photo of it. Our room was in front and although small was as clean as could be. The restaurant on the top floor had fabulous views of the water and city. Wonderful breakfasts and a good dinner too. Hotel Valide Sultan was great

Here is the view out our front window - these are the walls of the Topkapi Palace

Here is the exterior of the St. Sophia

Now, the hotel was clean - but a little small. Here you can see how much room we had between sink and toilet

And the shower was a bit of a squeeze

Here is the exterior of the Blue Mosque with Guy and our self-directed guide Mehmet - discussing the fact that the Mosque was closed due to prayers but would open in an hour.

(He was also probably discussing when he could show us some Turkish rugs)

A very interesting part of the prayer ritual in a Mosque is the washing - which is very much a ritual - here under the main floor of the mosque were a row of faucets where men were washing for prayers.
Some fine bellydancing outfits which we could buy from the bazaar

Just before Istanbul was Bahrain - our R & R stop. Becky and Guy were recovering from Dehli Belly and it was a good thing we had some resting time at Chris and Becky's apartment so we could get well again. Here is a photo we took for my Dad to show how him the men in the middle east sit around and talk and hang out - just like the guys at the DOMC in Glen Arbor

Here is a photo of Chris and Becky's Apartment Building. They park at the bottom and they are on the 2nd floor. It is a wonderful apartment - very new and clean and spacious!

Here is a sunset from Chris and Becky's patio. You can even see the water from here!

We had an opportunity to tour a Mosque and get a first hand view of the Muslim religion. Here is a member of the Mosque doing a call to prayer on the loudspeaker. These calls to prayer are done 5 times a day and each Mosque does them. If you are in an area with a lot of Mosques it is very loud and a bit confusing. It was a wonderful chance to meet with some representatives of the Mosque and add to our understanding.

Here is a photo of the interior of the Mosque in Bahrain

Here we are in the ancient fort in Bahrain. It is being restored. It is within walking distance of Chris and Becky's apartment.

We enjoyed a day out with Becky's sister - Melissa and the star of the show - Willa - . Here is Chris and Willa a lunch.

We took a tour of Bahrain and came across the tank doing training out in the desert - it remined us of the photos of Iran and Iraq - but the soldiers were friendly and waved to us.

Just around the corner from the above photo in the desert is the following tree. It is famous in Bahrain and is called the Tree of Life. There are no other trees anywhere around there and even scientists don't really know why it lives. Here we are in front of it to show you the size of the tree.

Chris and Guy under the Tree of Life

The truth is we did spend a day trying to get back on our feet after some illness - and as you can see our feet were up on a lounge chair on a beach at the Ritz Carlton Club in Bahrain (Chris and Becky are members there). We were lounging for the day while Becky spent the day in the hospital recovering from Dehli Belly.

Ground Breaking Photo. Guy and Chris are standing by the site of the first oil well in all of the middle east - this is where it all started!

Guy enjoying Chris and Becky's apartment

Here we all are in India - what a ride. We are at a deserted City just outside of Delhi - on our way to the Taj Mahal. Wherever we went there were 10 or move little or big people wanting to sell us something - Here is Becky just trying to say no.

You never knew what you would see on the road in India - Here is a decorated elephant!

All you guys eat your heart out - these jeeps are not for sale in the states!

We got ourselves into a parade one evening while coming back from our Tiger Safari - We were innocently riding down the street and a parade was in front on us and we just joined in. Here was the other float in the parade.

Well, It is pretty hard to say NO to those cute little people who keep trying to sell you things - but I think I have the technique down!

This is the site of the Tiger Safari - We did see deer and monkeys and peacocks and did see tiger footprints in the sand - but, no live tigers this trip.

This is our safari wagon we shared with a bunch of cool folks from Valparaiso University (yes - can you believe we went all the way to India and are sharing our vehicle with folks from Indiana). I did get special treatment as a Valpo Mom! Anyway - here is a photo of us having to get out of the wagon because they couldn't get up the hill - they drove - we walked - and loaded back up!

India - Wow what a phenominal country. We were in Bangalore for some meetings and met the most wonderful folks from India. They have come together with with 7 Associations to form a National Realtor Organization - NAR-India. After our meetings we left Bangalore - flew into Delhi and the photos you will see are all our sightseeing in India.

More explanations - very progressive for so long!

We are at Agra Fort looking through the window at the Taj Mahal

Of course, we have to show a little bit of wildlife on the trip. Here are 2 Parrots on the window at Agra Fort.

Ah, The Taj Mahal with Chris and Becky in front - what a phenominal spot.

The Taj Mahal at sunset - notice the light reflecting from the marble building

Pat and Guy at the Taj Mahal - you really have no idea how many photos we actually took of this building - lucky for all of you that we chose to limit the numbers on our blog.

A Little bit of trick photography - Our guide in Agra and at the Taj Mahal is a native of Agra and lives down the street from the Taj. As a young boy he used to play on the grounds - so he has seen it from every angle - and he had us try our hands at holding the Taj in our hands.

Pat and Guy, Chris and Becky and, of course, the Taj Mahal

The next day we left Agra and headed out of town. On the way we stopped at this abandonded City built in 1571 by Akbar - The City is named Fatehpur Sikri. It was huge and it was occupied for only 19 years and then abandonded. Our guide is with us standing in front of the main gate.

Ladies at a well on the side of the road. Every little villa had a well where folks gathered at to both bathe, wash dishes and clothes and to carry back to their homes.

camel pulling a cart - we saw loads of camels, elephants, donkeys, horses and even people power pulling carts and driving down the center of the road

An elephant jogging down the road

I'm sorry this photo is so blurry. I wanted everyone to see the brightly colored saris that all the women wear. They don't just wear these for special occasions - but even working out in the field harvesting grain. They even wore them while working on a street project.

Here is the India Gate in Delhi

More posts to come - We have been living with Chris and Becky in Bahrain for a few days as we get a little R & R. Unfortunately, Becky and Guy got what is termed Delhi Belly - you can imagine what it is like if I tell you it is like Montezumas Revenge in Mexico. Becky is currently in the hospital (we visited her this afternoon and tonight and is doing very well) and Guy went into the emergency room this evening and got an IV of liquids and a bunch of meds to try to stop this! Chris and I were on antibiotics at the time and possibly didn't get it - thanks to those pills. We think we all got this either where we stopped for our Tiger Safari or at the airport in Delhi. Bahrain is really cool - weather is beautiful (mid 60s). We are going sightseeing tomorrow.

Paris - Day Two

2008-03-02T20:55:00.001-08:00

Jim Morrison's (The Doors) grave in Pere Lachaise Cemetary

Guy at Pere Lachaise Cemetery

Ghost crawling into a grave

Pat at Chopin's grave (we were hanging out with dead musicians - the latest Parisian fad!)

The most interesting grave in the whole cemetery. Note the picture and the bottle of wine.

text

Guy checking out the rental bikes

Pat overlooking the Seine with the "Kissing Bridge" in the background. You make a wish and kiss on your first trip beneath the bridge!

Piano player on the Isle of Saint Louis (he was quite good!)

Headless accordian player at Notre Dame. Very Gothic with Gargoyles and all!

Pat with the Notre Dame Catheral in the background

Pat at the Cartier shop on Champs-Elysees Boulevard (only window shopping!)

Arc de Triomphe from the Champs-Elysees Boulevard

Here is Guy along with two other great American (French) heroes - George Washington and Lafayette - at the Square of the United States !

Paris - Day One

2008-03-02T19:21:00.001-08:00

Welcome to Paris! Here is our great gem of a hotel, the Sofitel Trocadero Dokhans - very quaint - very Paris - (very small rooms). The location was perfect to kick off our 2 day layover in Paris before we head to India.

Breakfast, of course, at a little street side cafe!

And a visit to the Eiffel Tower - Aren't we sweet!

Pat in front of the Eiffel Tower looking very "Frenchie" in her Merrells!

Guy in front of the Eiffel Tower with the Museum of History as a backdrop.

"Combes" name on the tower (one of 72 names which appear). These were distinguished Parisians who were recognized by Gustave Eiffel for their contributions to French Society. Emile Combes was an engineer and metallurgist.

The d'Orsay Museum from the Seine River. We took a river cruise and got an interesting view of the sights along the Seine.

Guy and Pat in front of the Moulin Rouge night club. We, of course, needed to go inside to take a closer look and really enjoyed the show!

Startup Photo

2008-02-24T05:19:00.000-08:00

Honeymoon in Bermuda! Here is where the adventures begin - April 29, 2006