Year in Review 2010

Highlights

OIG Inspections of Embassy Sanaa, Consulate Dubai and Embassy Abu Dhabi in February/March.

In Sanaa, we stayed at the embassy hotel (The Sheraton) and were pretty much confined to our rooms in off hours, but did get to watch the Super Bowl and attend a Marine happy hour at the embassy.  We did manage to visit the market in Sanaa one afternoon with tight security.

Arriving in Dubai we stayed over the weekend in the super plush Emerald Palace hotel before leaving for Abu Dhabi. The Burg Khalifa in Dubai had just opened but we couldn't take the elevator because of electrical problems.  We stayed at the Hyatt Regency in Dubai and I did play tennis with an Iranian a couple of times at the hotel tennis courts.

Most of the team stayed an extra week in Dubai while I continued on to Abu Dhabi where there was more work for me being the embassy.  We stayed at the Holiday Inn in Abu Dhabi. There was no much to do in Abu Dhabi I did find a Starbucks at the Shangri-La Souq, a modern housing complex with shops and restaurants and visited the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque.  Additional photos and narrative can be viewed at:        
boothwjtravels.blogspot.com/2011/02

http://boothwjtravels.blogspot.com/2010/02/sanaa-yemen.html
 





 

• In April/May we visited our friends Steven and Fran Carignan in Vienna, Austria and travelled with them by train overnight to Venice, Italy and to Budapest, Hungary by boat.   Doris and I travelled by train from Vienna to Salzburg, Austria; and other trips to Bratislava, Slovak Republic; and Prague, Czech Republic .

  

   

  


  

 

For more photos and narrative see: Doris and Bill Travel Adventures Blog Spring 2010 Timeslide 

• In June we visited Morris Island and Fort Wagner with the Low Country Explorers.  Morris Island was heavily fortified to defend Charleston Harbor, with the fortifications centered on Fort Wagner. On January 9, 1861, the first shots of the American Civil War were fired from cannons by cadets of The Citadel at the Star of the West as the ship tried to resupply Fort Sumter.  It was the scene of heavy fighting during the Union Army's campaign to capture Charleston, and is perhaps best known today as the scene of the ill-fated assault by the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, an African-American regiment. The regiment and this assault, where it suffered over 50% casualties, was immortalized in the film "Glory".

 



  

• In October we took a Mediterranean Cruise from Istanbul to Monte Carlo with stops in Kusadasi (Ephesus), Mykonos and  Santorini in Greece; Messina, Sorrento and Capri, Amalfi, Rome, Florence, Cinque Terre, Italy; Sanary sur Mer and Castellet and Monte Carlo in France with three additional days on the Cote d'Azur (French Rivera) visiting Nice, Cannes, Antibes, St. Paul-de-Vence; Villefranche sur Mer and Villa Ephrussi de Rothchild.    

 

   

   

 

 

For more photos and descriptions see our blog:  dorisandbilltraveladventures.blogspot.com/2010/10/

• In November we visited Mepkin Abbey for the 8th Annual Creche Festival featuring the Jean and Alexander Heard Creche Collection.

                                            

 

News of the Nation

Arizona Immigration Law Pushes the Limit • Health Care Reform • Landmark Financial Regulation Bill • Midterm Elections • A New Era for U.S., Russia, and Nuclear Arms • The Official End to the War in Iraq • Passing the Buck on "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" • Same-Sex Marriage Ban Temporarily Overturned in California • The Supreme Court: Personnel Changes & Major Decisions • Tea Party Victories

News of the World

Few Signs of Progress Lead to Protracted U.S. Involvement in Afghanistan • Greece and Ireland Battered by Financial Crisis • The Ground Shakes in Haiti • Undaunted by Sanctions, Iran Continues to Pursue Nuclear Program • Iraq Struggles to Form a Government After Elections • Peace Remains Elusive for Israelis and Palestinians • North Korea provokes South with brinkmanship • Anti-Government Protests Continue and Turn Deadly in Thailand • WikiLeaks Release of Secret Military, Government, and Diplomatic Documents Sparks Outrage and Controversy

Read more: Year in Review, 2010 — Infoplease.com http://www.infoplease.com/news/year-in-review/2010/#ixzz1o8z8sXIr

Movies

"The Hurt Locker" won the Oscar for best picture at the 82nd Academy Awards.
Jeff Bridges won the lead actor award for "Crazy Heart," and the lead actress Oscar went to Sandra Bullock "The Blind Side."  Monique, "Precious" and Christopher Waltz, "Inglourious Bastards" won for supporting actress and supporting actor.  


Super Bowl

In Super Bowl 44 the New Orleans Saints defeated the Indianapolis Colts 31-17.  The game was played on February 7, 2010 while I was in Sanaa, Yemen staying and confined at the Sheraton hotel.  The Saints, who lost their final three regular-season games, are the first team to take a three-game losing streak into the playoffs and win the Super Bowl.  With the loss by the Colts and Manning, the last five regular-season MVPs to reach the Super Bowl have lost the game.




World Series

The Giants made franchise history Monday night with a 3-1 triumph in Game 5 of the World Series over the Texas Rangers, ignoring their underdog status to capture the 106th Fall Classic, four games to one.  Edgar Renteria, who is contemplating retirement after enduring a season in which he played a career-low 72 games, belted a seventh-inning home run off Texas ace Cliff Lee to account for the Giants' scoring. Renteria was selected Most Valuable Player for the Series after hitting .412 (7-for-17) with two home runs, six RBIs and six runs scored. It was a fitting career bookend for Renteria, whose Game 7 single won the 1997 Series for the Florida Marlins.  Tim Lincecum, the reigning two-time National League Cy Young Award winner, struck out 10 in eight mostly spotless innings. He surrendered three hits, including Nelson Cruz's seventh-inning home run. Lincecum improved to 4-1 in the postseason, including 2-0 in the Series.
Not only did the Giants win their first Series since relocating from New York to San Francisco in 1958, but they also earned baseball's biggest prize for the first time since 1954 -- ending the Majors' third-longest dry spell. The Cubs (102 years) and Indians (62 years) are left to look upon the Giants enviously.

Recap of 2010 Grand Slam Tennis Tournament Winners

·         Australian Open Men's Singles. Winner – Roger Federer defeated Andy Murray

     Ladies Singles. Winner – Serena Williams defeated Vera Zvonareva

·         French Open Men's Singles. Winner– Rafael Nadal defeated Robin Soderling 
           Ladies Singles. Winner– Francesca Schiavone defeated Samantha Stosur

·         Wimbledon Men's Singles. Winner – Rafael Nadal defeated Tomas Berdych

          Ladies Singles. Winner – Serena Williams defeated Vera Zvonareva

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     US Open Men's Singles. Winner –  Rafael Nadal defeated Novak Djokovic
         Ladies Singles. Winner – Kim Clijsters defeated Vera Zvonareva