London -- Our last stop stop but the genesis of the entire RTW TRIP.....when London was announced as the location 7 years ago. On our first day we saw the final 400 meters of the women's road race which featured a sprint to Buckingham Palace. The next day we visited the Olympic Park and took in Women's Basketball. On Tuesday, we were able to attend the Beach Volleyball (and saw Bronze Medalists Brazil) and that evening the UK-Brazil Women's Football game at We...

Moscow: Moscow had always been enticing destination for me as it was city i couldn't visit for so long. The wait was worth it as we strolled across Red Square and were able to view The Kremlin, Lenin's Tomb, St. Basil's Cathedral (the colorful onion domes) and GUM. The following day we rose early for a morning jog to the square as well a visit to the Kremlin which included The Armoury and the Faberge Eggs. We dined that night at the Pushkin Cafe where we enoye...

Istanbul: we stayed in the Old city which gave us great access to all the historic sites as well as first "walking only" city the entire trip. We also went native with Aaron and i getting haircuts which went smoothly until the barber decided to light a Q-tip with flammable liquid for a final touch-up. I'll never know what the real purpose was as i jumped out of the chair! We also went for a dip in the Bosporus at the end of our morning run. Besides visiting th...

Cairo, The Pyramids and Ta'hir Square : We were worried that we may need to divert from Cairo if some of the post-election protests continued but after meeting someone from the US Embassy in Amman we felt good about moving forward. The Marriott in Cairo is located in a historic palace right on the Nile that offered a dramatic atmosphere that even induced kathy and i to try the Xxxxxx. The next day we went out to the Pyramids which are only 20 minutes outside ...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATHY!!!!!! The Dead Sea and Petra: Kathy once again joined us for her birthday where we celebrated with a ceremonial float! It was a bit surreal as the last time i had visited the Dead Sea I was on the Israeli side 40 years ago! The next day we drove to the ancient city of Petra which was carved into sandstone 2300 years ago and at its height had 30,000 citizens all dwelling in cliff caves that soared up to 300 meters above the desert floor. S...