Hello everyone and Happy 2020!

​We have been slacking a bit and haven't posted for some time so it's time to get caught up!  As we have a lot to update for the end of 2019, we will break this post into a couple smaller updates.
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Here comes part 1, which has pics and stories from the end of October with a group trip to Abu Dhabi and the start of November for another group trip to Oman.

Reminder - scroll over pics for captions and click them to view/enlarge.  Click videos to view them.

Here we go...

We went to Abu Dhabi for the October 25/26 weekend for an Eminem concert.  We went with our friends Dave, Nicky, their daughter Mia, Luc, and Tracey.

The event started off on the right track as soon as we cracked our duty free bottles for the trip to the hotel,  The first night ended with someone being a bit sleepy.

The Eminem show was at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi in front of 40-50,000 people, and was a great show where he played all of his hits.  Pretty cool to see a show like this in the Middle East!

The next day, we ventured over to Warner Brothers World, acted like kids with the characters and enjoyed the rides.  

​A great weekend away with some awesome friends!

A quick story to put this into context... we are drinking in our pool on a Friday last July with a group of friends.  The conversation gets onto "what are you doing for November long weekend?"  Someone mentions that we should all go to Oman.  By the following Tuesday, we had 10 of us booked into Oman for the weekend and hence, the "Oman Shitshow" was born.

Finally, in November the time was here and we flew off to Muscat for the quick drive out to our hotel.  We went with Jeff, Sara, Dave, Nicky, Hayden, Christy, Waco, and Tosh.
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We had been given a heads up that due to a religious holiday, there was no booze being served all day Friday and up until 6PM Saturday.  No problem, duty free will solve that.

We all went on an excursion Friday to Wadi Shab.  A wadi is a large valley that is dry until the rainy season when it fills up with some shallow water you can swim in.  It was beautiful!  Pics are below.  We also stopped at an authentic Omani restaurant and a sink hole park that was created by a meteor crashing into earth.

The rest of the weekend involved fun times with great friends on the beach, playing a massive Jenga game, and having a ton of laughs.

The last day posed a challenge...a 7PM flight home and a lot of duty free still waiting.  As expected, Shitshow rose to the challenge and got after it early on the beach.  This lead to a mad scramble to pack, get a bus back to the airport, and the outcome?  A great remixed version of "The Gambler".  See the video below.  Yes, "you need to count your blessings" has become famous....stay tuned for more on this in our next blog update!

Once again, a great weekend with some awesome people!

You can see that life in the Middle East can be quite amazing if you allow it to be.  Many great places to visit and of course, you meet some amazing friends along the way.

Taking a break from the blog now to book some 2020 travel.

Update part 2 with Dubai, South Africa, Thailand is coming soon.

Thanks for reading....

​Love, L&J

We are wishing our friends and family a Happy Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. Missing the big turkey dinners and drinks with friends as well as the beautiful colours as the leaves change. Hope you all have a great weekend! Very thankful for everything!

We took advantage of an August long weekend and went to Abu Dhabi August 24-27.  It is the capital city of the UAE (United Arab Emirates) and is often overshadowed by it's neighbour Dubai, which is an hour away.  

We loved Abu Dhabi and it's people, making it one of our favourite places to visit in the Middle East.  Great beaches, amazing architecture.  Jeff was excited for some BBQ food at Famous Dave's BBQ and Lisa was pumped to get soup, salad, & breadsticks at the Olive Garden.

We stayed at the Sheraton on the corniche, enjoyed some pool and beach time, and took a boat ride along the corniche to see the beaches, buildings, and beautiful palaces.  

The Abu Dhabi F1 race is coming up in late November with many great concerts - Calvin Harris, Mumford & Sons, and of course, Pink.  Would've been a great time.

Next trip to Abu Dhabi we will visit a couple of big parks they have - Ferrari World and Yas Waterworld.

Enjoy the pics...

We are excited to visit Bahrain on October 20th for another round of Tribfest.  Outdoor music festival with tribute bands and a full bar.  10AM-10PM...this signals trouble!

We have a couple of trips remaining in 2017...

​October 30-November 8 - Dublin and London
We are excited to visit the pubs and attractions of these 2 cities and to see some friends we haven't seen in some time

November 23-25 - Dubai
Celebrating Lisa's 20th anniversary of her 20th birthday in Dubai with an Ed Sheeran concert.  Should be fun!

As for 2018?

Then we are off to another one of our favourite party places - Miami, Florida.  Love it there!

June 14-19 - Maldives
​We are booked into the all-inclusive Constance Moofushi for a fun trip with beach, snorkelling, and more.  Should be something amazing.  Have to get to the resort on a float plane!

Here are a few random pics to close off with.  Hope everyone is doing well!  Will update the blog after our trip to Dublin & London.

​Cheers and love...J&L