Altoids Robot

Brian's not one to sit idle for very long and as busy as we've been lately, he still managed to find time to build a robot out of 46 old Altoids tins. Each tin is held together with a series of bolts hidden inside and under the lid. How many people would agree that he has to much time on his hands?

Pool Parties and Polo Matches

It's not all pool parties and polo matches in Abu Dhabi, but today it was. Emirates Palace played host to two polo matches between Abu Dhabi's Coutts Team and London's Faberge Team and between Milan's Maserati Team and Buenos Aires' Argentina Team. The day was capped off with a party around the Palace's pool. Such a civilized way to spend a day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Race Day

It's race day!

A very special thank you to Jules, Hatch Engineering, and the Williams Team for the free tickets and apparel!!!

Too Many Beers

Seeing as how we weren't using our Saturday tickets to the F1 qualifying race, we gave them to a couple of friends. One, who shall remain nameless, spent a little too much time hanging out in the Oasis beer garden at the race. Many many hours (and beers) later, he stopped back by our house and then this happened:

It's mostly funny because Zoe has no idea why the drunk Australian is on her pillow. 

 

David "The Hoff" Hasselhoff

Yeah, that's him and yeah, we met him. At the Beach Club's Le Deck restaurant on Saturday. 

Jay Z Concert

Jessica had to work the Aldar Hospitality Suite and entertain clients on Friday. Sounds like a drag, right? Wrong. The hospitality suite was a restaurant at the Yas Viceroy Hotel that her company rented out and the champagne was flowing freely all night. She was able to get Brian in and together, we watched the practice session from the best seats on the track.

The concert line up for this year's race ticket holders was Jay Z on Friday night, Muse on Saturday night, and Depeche Mode on Sunday night. Jessica was just a wee bit excited to see Jay Z and once she was done "working," we hitched a ride on a shuttle from the hotel to the arena. 

And just for the record all you British out there, his name is Jay Z (zeee) NOT, I repeat NOT, Jay Z (zed).

Formula 1 Weekend

It was a big weekend filled with parties, concerts, and race cars. What more could you ask for?

The festivities kicked off on Thursday night, October 31, 2013 with a Yelloween Halloween party at the Monte Carlo Beach Club. Our friends and temporary house guests, Jane and Greg joined us, as did their friend Connie from Germany, who is also staying with us. We've got a full house and we're loving all the activity!

Monte Carlo SBM's 150th Anniversary Party

We were invited to attend the Monte Carlo SBM's 150th anniversary party on October 25 at the Saadiyat Island beach club. SBM is the Monaco royal family's holding company for all the hotels, casinos, and beach clubs in Monaco, which also owns the Monte Carlo Beach Club on Saadiyat Island, Abu Dhabi.

We were treated to ridiculous amounts of champagne and caviar, canapes, live entertainment, and thoughtful gift bags at the end of the night. Our hats off to the event coordinators. Job well done. Very impressed.

 

 

Barcelona, Spain

This was our first time in Barcelona and all we can say is wow! It's such a beautiful city. Amazing architecture, great urban design, beautiful courtyards, and countless alleys lined with shops. Jessica's Lonely Planet book came out and she had us running all over the city to see the best that it has to offer. She was even successful in getting Brian on one of those double decker, open air tourist buses, which until now, he's been reluctant to get on for fear of looking like a tourist. Deep down, he really enjoyed seeing Barcelona by bus on our first day.

Some of our highlights: the Mies van der Rohe pavillion, the Antoni Gaudi buildings, the Sagrada Familia church, and the pedestrian promenade along the coast.

We even managed to do some things organically that weren't listed in Jessica's Lonely Planet book (gasp). While walking around, we stumbled upon a wine tasting event that was taking place in one of the many public squares. The price was reasonable and what better chance to taste some local Spanish wine. And the notion of drinking in public has become foreign to us and we simply couldn't refuse the opportunity.

A little factoid about us that you may not know is that whenever we travel, we try to find a single piece of art that symbolizes the city, country, or culture of the place we're visiting. It's a fun task to undertake and adds a unique memory of our travels to our home. The pieces don't necessarily need to be expensive or rare, but they do have to be unique and original. On this trip, we came across a small art collective set up in a public square. We found one artist's work that caught our eye and picked out the piece that would symbolize our trip to Barcelona.

After 4 days in Barcelona and a total of 10 days of travel, we were exhausted and ready for a relaxing holiday on the beach. Hmmm, where should we go next...