My trip to Riyadh...the capital of Saudi Arabia

There are three posts dedicated to this trip. Nobody can complain about me not updating for awhile now! haha Here are some random shots from our trip to Riyahd..... A view of the city from the Kingdom bridge. It's a sky-view thing at the top of a huge building.

Our group visiting with some others on the bridge.

A shop-keeper in one of the old souqs. He wanted us to take his picture. We asked permission to take pictures in his shop because many do not allow photography at all. He was more than willing and asked us to take his picture with an old musical instrument he wanted to sell us.

Debbie and I outside on the the forts at the first museum.

Another shot on the kingdom bridge

A shot on the "small bus" that we took around Riyadh. This is only a small part of our group. Debbie and I were amused by the sign as we entered the "ladies only" floor of the mall. There were actually women working in all the stores which is very rare here. In fact the women were asked to "uncover" their faces for security reasons. (to make sure no guy pulls a "Michael Jackson" and enters the floor dressed in an abyaya as a women, I'm sure)

Some beautiful cloth and pashminas in a souq

Some ladies from church organized a little ladies trip to Riyadh this past week-end (Wed. night- Friday night). I really, really had a great time. The Alexanders and Debbie picked me up and we drove to Khobar to a hotel where we got on the bus. It was a nice bus with a restroom, etc. I was nice because there was plenty of leg room. We drove the four hours to Riyadh basically in the dark so we didn't see anything. Got to the hotel, got our rooms and went to bed. I roomed with Lauren and Ameema. Got up the next morning and met for breakfast about 7:45. It was a breakfast buffet. I think there were 24 of us. We had a great day! Lots of shopping at the old Riyadh souqs, more modern mall shopping, museums, food courts, Turkish restaurant, more souq shopping, etc. I wish I were better at picture placement on the blog but I'll just put all the pics at the end with captions. Got back to the room about 11:00 exhausted and ready for bed. The next morning was Friday (the Sabbath day). We all packed our bags and met in the lobby. I opted out of breakfast today in exchange for another half hour of sleep. There was a sweet couple that live in Riyadh who are members of the church who are good friends of several ladies on the trip. They had been with us all day Thursday and had helped us all day getting around from place to place. They were meeting us at the hotel to lead us to church. We were all gathered in the lobby when we heard a crash. We look out and realize that it was that couple who's car had been smashed. At first we thought it was worse than it turned out to be. The man was fine but the wife was pinned in the car, in shock but not seriously hurt. The ambulence came and took her to the hospital. Several of her friends on our trip were nurses and ran to her aid. We got on the bus and went on to church where we later learned that she had been treated and released. Church was wonderful. The building wasn't marked at all. It is a villa in a residential area. You have to go down an alley and go in a gate, then into the building. But inside, the meetings were wonderful and the Spirit was strong. After church we got on the bus and headed home. It stuck me while being in this huge city of over five million people how unfamiler with the planet I really am. I have always been caught up in my "own little world" and not too interested in the rest of it. I am learning that there are kind, wonderful people all over. Our ways of life, religious beleifs, and customs are different but we are all brothers and sisters.