Re: Riyadh (or, as Ryan said, “Haudi from Saudi!”)

First of all, to all you guys in UAE and Qatar who spooked us about clearing customs here into the Kingdom…that was kinda mean! Actually it was fine, no hassles or anything---except when the head of the Riyadh customs unit thought my portable hard drives were radar detectors (it’s the wedgy shape). Also when we filled out our entry forms, the tops of which are emblazoned with DEATH PENALTY FOR DRUG TRAFFICKERS!! The flight on Saudi Arabian Airlines was uneventful, although here’s some cool things… You know when you’re flying, and on the video screens they have the map where they show your progress, and the airspeed, and arrival time, and those different screens? Well here, all the flights ALSO rotate in a screen showing you the direction to Mecca. The other cool thing was, last night, as we were taxiing away from the Doha airport, we were treated to a dramatic recorded reading (complete with added reverb) of a supplication that the Prophet Mohammad (Peace Be Upon Him) said prior to traveling. When we got to our hotel last night—-the drive in was like driving from DFW to downtown Dallas---we had a funny whiplash moment….seems that Motorola is having an event at our hotel that they were in the midst of prepping, and the MOTO4YOU signage was everywhere. Yikes! Today, Sunday, was a bustly one in Riyadh. It’s a huge city, like 11 million people we’re told (we can believe it too, based upon a view we got later in the day). First we zipped out to the Community College building project, which is part of the sprawling King Saud University area. Interviewed the Project Manager there, and when we finished I said “cut” as I made my usual signal: drawing my hand across my throat, left to right. Here’s the thing; since the authorities here behead criminals, that motion is not so much appreciated. But, he laughed when I did it and said “please, no!”. Kinda funny, and yet…. From there we drove in to the heart of the city to our next destination; the Kindom Centre. This is I think the tallest building in the city, owned by one of the Princes. It’s a very cool design from the outside---sort of resembles the Tower of Morder, actually, and the three pick-up truck-mounted machine gun emplacements add to the effect---and inside there is a shopping mall (careful guys: third floor is for ladies only!), a Four Seasons hotel, schmancy apartments, and the like. Sultan, the head of security, took us around then up up up to the top; 99th floor. This leads you out to the bridge that spans between the two high points of the tower, and the view is stunning, and goes on and on and on, until the buildings on the horizon melt into the sandy ether. The windows are angled outwards at the top, and he let us go under the railing and sit in them…and you can look straight down, which is both cool and spooooooky at the same time. Anyway, it was amazing, then we walked all around the outer perimeter of the property, getting cool shots (and, using hand signals, we promised each of the three machine gunners that we wouldn’t photograph them…they seemed to appreciate that, but of course if they didn’t, well---they have guns), and enjoying the 90-degree warmth. Now we’re back out at the King Khaled International Airport, chillin’ as we await the flight to Jeddah.