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I spent a week in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, for the grand opening of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology. It was my first time in the Middle East. I hope it's not my last.

I was pretty ignorant of Saudi Arabia before I left. I never really studied the history of the Middle East in school, and my geography is so rusty that all I really knew was that it was next to the Red Sea. I visited WikiTravel and Wikipedia to get some introductory information, but didn't really do more than that. Most of the information was reasonably accurate, so I didn't feel completely uncomfortable there.

It goes without saying that Jeddah is hot. In the winter, it gets down to 32 C (almost 90 degrees Fahrenheit!), and in the summer it gets up to 40 C (104 Fahrenheit), sometimes even higher. It was always sunny while I was there, and I'm told that there's usually only two or three days of rainfall per year. Most of our activities occurred inside, so I most often experienced the heat were when I was walking to or from a taxi. As soon as you leave an air conditioned building, you are assaulted -- literally -- by heat. The abrupt temperature change caused a remarkable amount of condensation on my glasses every time I walked outside. This was also a problem for my cameras!

I took a brief walk around my hotel, Le Meridien, on the first morning after I arrived. The sun was up, and hot, by mid-morning. I was the only pedestrian I saw, and the oppressive heat had me heading back to the hotel after only a couple of blocks. After cooling down inside, I walked across the street to the "super market" behind the hotel. This was, basically, a small-ish shopping mall that also contained a grocery store. Almost all of the shops were closed, with a few people mulling around inside. I learned that many of the shops were closed due to the Eid holiday. The shops don't open until 4 or 5 PM.

I never quite figured out if the shops closed specifically for the Eid, or if that was just coincidental. I heard several people indicate that the Saudis spend much of their day inside, resting or sleeping, during the late morning and early afternoon hours, and that everyday life didn't really start until the sun went down. This made a lot of sense to me, but I didn't get an opportunity to clarify it with anyone.

I didn't have a tremendous amount of free time, but I did manage to get to the souk (market) in al-Balad, or Old Jeddah, a couple of times, as well as drive along the Corniche (the name for the city's beachfront). My overall impressions of the city are extremely positive. I was particularly impressed by all the small (and large!) statues that dotted the meridian between road lanes: there were a lot of statues, in a wild variety of styles and motifs, and it really created a unique feel for the city. I've not seen that much public art anywhere else, I don't think.

I got to go snorkeling in the Red Sea, and met the owner of the private, "foreigner friendly" beach we used. He gave me a free pass to come back any time. Unfortunately, I don't expect that to be any time soon. The water along the beach was surprisingly warm -- as in, really warm -- but it cooled quite nicely when I reached the drop off into deep water. The water itself was gloriously blue, and visibility was terrific. There was a stunning amount of color to behold: corals, fish, and plants made it an almost dizzying experience.

Most of my interactions with people within the Kingdom were controlled experiences. I was there as a journalist, and the PR firm that invited me did a terrific job ensuring that I had a good time there. Volunteers were stationed in our hotel to provide transportation and tourist assistance. These people were all very friendly, and I believe they sincerely wanted to make sure we had a good time in their country. As such, I think some of the answers they gave were a little myopic, as there was little motivation to discuss the less pleasant aspects of their homeland.

Jeddah is known as a fairly liberal city within the Kingdom. Islamic law rules the country, and women are supposed to wear an abaya (black overgarment) and head scarf to shield them from the prying eyes of men. In Jeddah, I saw many women forgoing the headscarfs. This is a fairly progressive thing to do, and not the kind of thing you'd see in more conservative cities like Riyadh. Women are not permitted to drive in Saudi Arabia, but several folks remarked to me that when they do, it'll be in Jeddah first.

As a tourist, I felt quite safe everywhere I went. I felt uncomfortable not being able to effectively communicate, but that happens just about everywhere I go. I didn't worry too much about assault, or crime, and never felt threatened or unsafe. I'm not sure if the women journalists in our party would report the same feelings. To Western eyes, the culture toward women feels backward, almost barbaric, and oftentimes outright rude. It's important for us to remember, though, that there's a deep historical context to their attitudes and actions. We may not like it, but I think it's important that we respect it, in the same ways we would want visitors to our country to respect our norms.

On Friday night I had coffee, and then dinner, with a few Saudi readers of CrunchGear, and had the opportunity to speak a little more candidly about life, culture, and politics (in addition to technology and gadgets!). A lot of Western opinion about Saudi Arabia is based on mis-information and ignorance (as is so perfectly demonstrated in the comments on that CrunchGear post), so getting a chance to speak honestly about things was very illuminating. Not only was it illuminating for what I learned about the Kingdom, but also for what I learned about what the Saudis think of us! The image of the U.S. projected abroad is that there's a gun in every house, and that gangs are on every street corner.

All in all, I had a really wonderful time in Saudi Arabia. It's not a place I ever expected I'd see, so it was a real treat to visit. I intend to get some books from the library to learn a little more about the region, and the Kingdom, so that I might be a better informed global citizen. If you ever get the opportunity to visit, I strongly encourage you to take it!

You can see my photos of Jeddah, the Altayebat International City for Sciences and Knowledge museum, and the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology.

I'm going to San Francisco this weekend. I've been there a couple of times before, and have done most of the major tourist attractions: Alcatraz, Ghirardelli, Fisherman's Wharf, and Chinatown. Surprisingly, I don't think I've ever ridden a streetcar in San Francisco.

My first time in San Francisco was when I was young. I don't remember how old I was. My family went out to visit my mom's brother, and his family. We spent part of a day walking around, presumably doing the major tourist attractions, and a modicum of shopping. While my mom, sister, and cousin were poking their heads into one of the stores, I was left outside with my dad. Like most young kids, I was largely oblivious of the world around me, and began fooling around in the middle of the sidewalk. Most pedestrians simply walked around me, until this towering black man walked right up to me and stopped. He cast a malevolent gaze down at me. I know he said something mean -- and as I recall, it was also rather profane -- but I don't remember what it was.

I remember very clearly staring up at this imposing man, and being absolutely terrified. I was certain that he would hurt me. I was paralyzed with fright. My dad was somewhere nearby, and he quickly snatched me out of this man's way. There was no real commotion to attract attention, but I remember my mom coming quickly out of the store. To this day, more than two decades later, we still talk about this adventure.

I'm looking forward to having a number of new adventures in San Francisco this weekend. I'm very much looking forward to riding a streetcar. I'm looking forward to discovering new places, meeting new people, and making new memories. The more I travel, the more I've come to value the zany stories I can take home to share with family and friends. On just about every trip I've taken, some crazy thing has happened that I want to share. It's these moments -- the things that can't really be captured in a photograph -- that make travel so interesting, and so rewarding.

I actually don't know much about what to do in San Francisco. If you have recommendations for stuff that's off the beaten path, please share it in the comments!

I spent the bulk of the week in Barcelona, Spain, covering Nokia World 2008 for CrunchGear (you can find all of my CG posts here). I was the odd-man-out in several respects on this trip: partly because I didn't already know any of the other bloggers there, but mostly because I was the only one there not carrying at least two mobile phones at all times. Thankfully, most of the people with which I interacted were all great people, and I felt like I got on extremely well with them. There were no real prima donnas in the group, there was no drama at all on the trip, and most of the bloggers were interesting people with a broad range of experiences, making for interesting conversations. Of course, the dominant subject of discussion throughout the weekend was still mobile devices, but it was nice to know that the folks I was with were capable of talking about more than that! Finally, the Nokia folks did an absolutely stellar job in coordinating and executing Nokia World.

I generally don't like to travel alone, and I really dislike site seeing on my own, but I didn't let that stop me. After checking into the hotel AB Skipper on Sunday morning, I set off for a brief walk to reconnoiter the neighborhood. Despite my dad's caution that Barcelona is the pickpocket capital of the world, I felt extremely safe and comfortable my entire time in the city. I wandered past Sagrada Familia, the gigantic cathedral in the heart of Barcelona, and on my way back to the hotel nearly ended up trapped in the Barcelona Zoo. Sunday night the bloggers had tapas for dinner, and then most of us called it an early night.

Monday afternoon we had lunch at Cal Pimxo, where I had my first real paella. Mom used to make paella a couple times a year, and I always enjoyed it. I've long yearned to have honest-to-goodness Spanish paella, and the real thing did not disappoint! The lunch conversation was interesting, and prompted me to post Is Print Dead? at CrunchGear. Monday night we had a terrific dinner, and were joined by a number of Nokia employees involved with the new Nokia N97 device that was to be announced the following day. We got a lot of hands-on time with the new phone, and a fantastic opportunity to ask questions from the folks directly responsible for it. It was an entertaining and informative evening. Afterwards, Eric, Kevin and I set off looking for a bar that they thought was in the area. We never did find it, and ended up at the hotel bar, where I stayed up way too late talking to still more Nokia folks.

Tuesday morning I was up early (painfully early, given how late I had gone to bed!) and off to Nokia World, where the N97 was formally announced. After the keynote sessions, we retired to the Social Media room, where the Communications team at Nokia arranged for a series of conversations with even more Nokia folks, covering the spectrum from research to environmental affairs and more. It was an information-rich day, but the Nokia team did a great job scheduling sessions so as not to completely overwhelm us. After a brief rest back at the hotel, we all shuttled over to the Nokia World Party. Highlights include lots of free beer, the Nokia House Band, an air guitar competition, and karaoke.

Wednesday morning I slept late, wrote up a few pieces about stuff from the day before, and then set off back to Nokia World. I browsed around a bit more, looking at stuff I'd glossed over from the day before, and then took a cab to Park Güell. A couple minutes into the cab ride, something started beeping. The cab driver reached between the front seats and -- I presume -- pushed something to silence the beep. A few minutes later the beeping resumed. Again the cabbie reached between the front seats and the beeping stopped. She then made a call and spoke for a long time with someone. She hung up, and then used her CB to speak to someone else for a long time. At the end of this conversation, she pulled over to the side of the road and said "You must get out." I was too surprised to ask why, or to inquire whether another cab would be dispatched to take me to my destination, so I merely exited the cab and watched her drive away. I had been deposited at the outer edge of a very busy roundabout, and didn't see any other cabs approaching. I turned around and was surprised to see a large flea market in full swing behind me. Beyond this I could see several other roads. It was with a sense of adventure that I struck off through the flea market toward some other road from which I might hail a cab. I should also mention that I had left my map in the hotel room, so I was absolutely clueless as to which direction I should walk in order to get at least a little closer toward my ultimate destination.

I finally did hail another cab, and made it to the park. Although it wasn't quite what I had been expecting, I'm really glad I took the time to go. The architecture is wonderful, and the view of Barcelona and the coast from the top of the park is simply stunning.

My time in the park was somewhat curtailed because I wanted to join the others for a trip to Sagrada Familia, and I didn't want to miss that. We gathered at the hotel, took a bus to the cathedral, and spent an enjoyable couple of hours wandering about the premises. It is absolutely huge. It was probably the second most awe-inspiring church I've seen, second only to the Duomo in Milan. Our group splintered as we wandered about taking photos. The view from the tower was breathtaking, and was made all the more amazing when we realized that where we stood would eventually only be the halfway point for the entire edifice!

After the Sagrada Familia we returned to the hotel to collect those who opted not to join us, and then went to a closing dinner with the Nokia folks. It was a nice cap to an excellent week. Afterwards, I joined Eric, Molly and Mayme at an Irish pub for a few pints, and some off-the-record discussion. Molly was surprised to learn that she was, in fact, a "handler" rather than a "social media communications" professional, but she seemed to take the title change in good stride. We retired late, got up early, and spent all of Thursday traveling. Thankfully, the travel was uneventful, and I returned home safe and sound.

Molly's Barcelona wrap-up is a pretty good overview of some of the more entertaining highlights from the week, too!

At blogOrlando this weekend I took some good natured ribbing about living in Columbus, Ohio. It's a common opinion -- even amongst Columbus residents -- that this is "Cow Town, USA" with nothing to do. As a life-long resident, I disagree emphatically with that notion. Columbus is the 15th largest city in the United States, and the greater Columbus area has just under two million residents. Columbus is within a half-days drive of over half the U.S. population, making it easy to reach for many people, as well as making it a good layover for a long drive to another destination. Tourism related sales were $7.2 billion USD in 2007, and according to a Longwood's International Study the central Ohio region had 55.6 million trips in 2007: 44.3 million day trips, and 11.3 million overnight trips (so the answer is "Yes, people do visit Ohio!"). The Ohio State University, which has anchored Columbus for more than 130 years with a rich history, has more than 50,000 students, which brings a wide variety of activities to town, including arts and cultural events, and concerts at the Newport Music Hall and the Schottenstein Stadium. If you can't find something to do in Columbus, the shortcoming is your own, and not the city's! Be that as it may, I'd like to share a short list of my own favorite features around Columbus.

Historical

The Ohio Historical Society has a number of permanent and rotating exhibits showcasing various aspects of Ohio history. The Ohio Historical Society also maintains the Newark Earthworks State Memorial, "the largest system of connected geometric earthworks built anywhere in the world". Constructed 2000 years ago by the Hopewell culture, the Great Circle Earthworks is "nearly 1200 feet in diameter and was used as a vast ceremonial center by its builders." The mounds are all very cool, and definitely worth a visit.

Several famous figures were born in or near Columbus. The Thurber House offers a terrific literary museum dedicated to the author James Thurber. Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon, is an Ohio native, and if you don't mind a short drive, you can visit the Neil Armstrong Museum in Wapakoneta, northwest of Columbus. Warren Harding, 29th president of the United States, was born in Ohio, and you can visit the Harding Home to learn more about the man and his life.

On the Scioto River in downtown Columbus is an authentic replica of the Santa Maria, the ship Christopher Columbus used on his search for a trade route to the Indies.

Museums

The Columbus Museum of Art is a nice, easy-to-visit museum in downtown Columbus. It's certainly not the Louvre, but it has a decent selection of artwork in a variety of mediums, and a variety of works produced by Ohio artists. You can easily visit the museum and still have time to do something else in town. Admission is free on Sundays!

COSI, the Center of Science and Industry, is a favorite for kids of all ages. With its terrific mix of hands-on activities, there's a lot to see, do, and learn at COSI. I can easily spend a couple hours here, even without attending any of the Extreme Screen theater presentations. Be sure to check the schedule for the various demonstration exhibitions -- they're a terrific and interactive experience.

The Wexner Center for the Arts, on the OSU campus, has an eclectic mix of exhibitions. Modern art, performance art, film and theater, even comics, have all been showcased at different times. There's almost always something going on at the Wex, and it makes a great showcase event for any tour of the OSU campus.

Eating

Columbus has a number of world-famous dining establishments, as well as a lot of local favorites.

Nancy's Kitchen is my own personal favorite for breakfast. It's a small, cramped diner with first-come first-served seating. On most weekends, the line waiting for a seat stretches out the door. The menu is simple, and the environment is extremely comfortable. Diners are welcome to get up to refill their own coffee, and long-time customers have been known to ring up their own meals on the cash register. It's cash only, but you won't pay too much, and you'll be plenty full when you're done.

Schmidt's Sausage Haus in historic German Village is a favorite spot for many tourists, as is The Spaghetti Warehouse. Both are a little more corporate than I usually prefer, but you're sure to get a good meal and have a good time at each.

The Thurman Cafe is the place I keep meaning to take all of my out-of-town friends when they visit, and almost always fail to do so. The place sits about 40 people, and has a waiting room that holds at least that many. The waits usually aren't too long, and they're definitely worth it.

The world-famous Thurman Burger absolutely has to be seen to be believed.

And of course, Columbus is home to White Castle, where you can get their famous Sliders by the sack. White Castle hamburgers is one of those things that you either love, or hate: I've never heard anyone say "Yeah, they're okay". Personally, I love Sliders, and always have. I have fond memories of my dad and I holding competitions to see who could eat the most burgers.

Drinking

I'm not much for night life, usually, and Columbus certainly isn't known for its club scene. That said, there are a number of watering holes I like to haunt with my friends. Bob's Bar, the Cultural Hub of the Midwest, looks like any other neighborhood bar from the outside. Inside, it still looks like nearly any neighborhood bar, but it offers a tremendous selection of fantastic beers. It also has a terrific jukebox. Bob's Bar has a special place in my heart because I used to go there over a decade ago, when it was a bland hole-in-the-wall. Roy, the bartender, would offer you a glass of their finest draft beer. It was Stroh's, which was, in fact, their only draft beer. But at a dollar a glass, one could hardly complain. Back then, they had the world's bumpiest pool table, but that didn't matter because they also had the world's most crooked pool cues. Today the pool tables and cues are in fine shape. Bob's gets busy on the weekends, and the crowds have always been friendly.

MoJoe Lounge is a relatively new venue, and I don't go there too often. The one downtown is pretty comfortable, with a number of great beers on draft. MoJoe makes a good half-way meeting point for me and a couple of friends, and their free WiFi makes drinking-and-coding extremely easy (albeit somewhat dangerous for the projects on which I'm coding!).

O'Reilly's, a joint about which I've written a number of times here, has always been one of my favorite establishments. It's your traditional Irish pub: unassuming with a simple menu and a reasonable selection of beers. It was convenient for me that it was literally a hundred feet away from my old house, so you can understand why it was my de facto choice. If you visit them more than two or three times, the bartenders should remember you, as well as your drinking preferences. That's the kind of personal touch that really sets O'Reilly's apart from many other places.

The Surly Girl Saloon is my favorite bar with a pirate-cowgirl theme. In fact, it's the only pirate-cowgirl themed bar I know! The beer selection focuses on women-brewed beers, and is sure to please any palate. The kitchen also offers a great selection of food. They host a variety of interesting events, like an open mic comedy night, and Punk Rock Aerobics.

Events

The area between downtown Columbus and the OSU campus is known as the Short North. It's filled with a wide variety of bars, art galleries, and shops. The first weekend of every month sees the Gallery Hop, in which all the galleries stay open late and pedestrians wander down High Street into and out of the various galleries. This is a favorite event for many folks in town, and a great way to see some cool stuff.

ComFest is probably one of the better showcase events for Columbus. A weekend of local music, art exhibitions, and community coming together. It's been going strong for over 35 years, and really is worth attending if you can. Bring a blanket, hang out on the lawn, and listen to great local music. Or walk amongst the hundreds of booths showcasing local artisans and their crafts. Enjoy a variety of delicious food from local establishments. Or just walk around and marvel at the variety of people.

Every year, Columbus hosts the Origins Game Fair. If you're into games, this is the place to be. I attended for the very first time this year, and had a pretty good time. I'm seriously considering attending again next year, hopefully earlier in the weekend so that I can try a pick-up game or two.

2008 saw the first PodCamp Ohio. Hopefully this event will continue for a couple more years, as I think the unconference format will work well for Columbus.

Miscellaneous

One of the most joked about locations in the Columbus area is the Field of Corn in Dublin. It's a weird thing to see, and doesn't make much sense on its own. In fact, it's an art installation celebrating the development of hybrid corn in the area.

The Columbus Zoo is a fun way to spend a day. Many people are probably familiar with Jack Hannah, our zoo's emeritus director, from his many appearances on Late Night with David Letterman. My personal favorite is the reptile room, but just about everything is worth seeing, as is the case at most zoos.

If sports is your thing, Columbus is home to the Blue Jackets NHL hockey team; the Columbus Crew MLS soccer team; and the Columbus Clippers Triple-A baseball team. Plus, the Ohio State Buckeyes athletics programs have a huge number of collegiate sporting events and competitions every year. I particularly like the women's ice hockey.

For more Columbus information, visit the Experience Columbus website!