Looks like I made it... (or, in other words, What Have I Gotten Myself Into?)

Welcome to the long awaited, awe inspiring, breathtaking, drool inducing, astonishing inaugural post of my new blog - coming to you all the way from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia!

I've christened it: Russell of Arabia,  aka: My Persian Excursion  (cue the Lawrence music here)

Yes, it's true, after months of preparation, I'm finally here.  I can prove it.  Look at this (I can read the squiggly at the top.  It says Dhahran International Hotel.  Aren't you impressed?):

That's the letterhead of the hotel I'm staying in.

But I can hear you saying, "Nah, he just pulled that off the Internet."

Ok, well, how about this from the promotional material in the room:

Still not good enough?

Well, there's always:                            

the view from my room

or the top of the stairs

or the hallway by the restaurant

or the lobby garden

or my room 

and what's the thing on the right for?

Yes, it really looks like I made it.  All kinds of stories oughtta come out of this...

Oh yeah, when I was in Amsterdam I had to rush to catch a connection.  I realized almost too late that I hadn't taken any photos!  Fortunately, I was able to get one from the plane.  It really illustrates the landscape in the Netherlands, don'tcha think?

More to come...