Announcing the 2020 Colorado Springs Hafla

Announcing the 2020 Colorado Springs Hafla

BY Aramco ExPats / /

Annuitant AXP readers will be delighted to learn that dates have been set for the 32nd Biannual Aramco Hafla Annuitants Reunion. Mark it on your calendars: the 26th through the 30th of September 2020. The place? Cheyenne Mountain Resort in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Ageless: Arabian Art Through the Ages

Ageless: Arabian Art Through the Ages

BY Aramco ExPats / /

For some 5,000 years, civilizations as we commonly understand them have come and gone, waxed and waned. An enduring measure of their character and legacies is the genius expressed in their art.

The Seven Natural Wonders of Arabia, Part I: Elephant Rock

The Seven Natural Wonders of Arabia, Part I: Elephant Rock

BY Aramco ExPats / /

In November of last year we began our Seven Wonders of Arabia tour with a visit to Madâin Sâlih in the Al-’Ula region of northwestern Arabia—the Kingdom’s first inscribed UNESCO World Heritage Site. Two thousand years ago...

Aramcons Challenge the Euphrates, Part VIII: Deliverance

Aramcons Challenge the Euphrates, Part VIII: Deliverance

BY Aramco ExPats / /

At the conclusion of the previous installment in this series, our Aramcons adventurers had floated past armed Turkish sentries guarding the construction site of a new dam, ignoring their orders to stop. We pick up their story there...

Coming Soon: The Seven Natural Wonders of Arabia

Coming Soon: The Seven Natural Wonders of Arabia

BY Aramco ExPats / /

In AXP’s recently-concluded series, The Seven Wonders of Arabia, readers were taken on monthly visits to seven of the most outstanding historical sites in the Kingdom. The tour began in November of last year with a stop at the rock...

Konstantinopel Rare and Fine Books - Making the Impossible Possible

Konstantinopel Rare and Fine Books - Making the Impossible Possible

BY Aramco ExPats / /

A wonder-filled gathering place on the world-wide-web for bibliophiles interested in the history of the Middle East is the website of Konstantinopel Rare and Fine Books. Readers may recognize the name, as Konstantinopel has been a loyal supporter of this website for some time.

Aramcons Challenge the Euphrates, Part VII: Confrontations

Aramcons Challenge the Euphrates, Part VII: Confrontations

BY Aramco ExPats / /

At the conclusion of the previous installment in this series, our doughty band of Aramcons had just made camp for the night after completing a spine-tingling run through the most treacherous stretch of the Grand Canyon...

Arabian Honey: The Best of the Best

Arabian Honey: The Best of the Best

BY Aramco ExPats / /

Bees and the honey they gather are among nature’s greatest wonders. Take away bees and the role they play in pollination and much of agriculture as we know it would be devastated. Take away bees and the honey...

Taif Emerges as Top Local Tourist Destination in Saudi Arabia

Taif Emerges as Top Local Tourist Destination in Saudi Arabia

BY Arab News / /

Taif governorate has gained the lion’s share of the Kingdom’s domestic tourism volume, crowning it as the city of roses and the best Saudi summer city, due to its mild climate during summer and natural landscapes especially in the Al-Shifa and Al-Hada areas.

Walking the Plank in Old Jubail

Walking the Plank in Old Jubail

BY Tim Barger / /

Who can forget those fantastic dhow trips out to the islands? I particularly remember the ones I went on before they turned Jubail into a super-port - when was that? Somewhere before 1980, I would guess. Back then, Jubail was just a little fishing port and the dock for the fishing dhows was quite tiny and set behind a group of old custom buildings.

Coffea Arabica: Cultivating the Coffee Culture

Coffea Arabica: Cultivating the Coffee Culture

BY Aramco ExPats / /

Since it was first introduced to the Arabian Peninsula from Abyssinia in the fifteenth century, coffee and the rituals surrounding its enjoyment have been important components of daily life there and all across the Middle East.

The McGinley Family Winery

The McGinley Family Winery

BY Pam Markham / /

Positive change is happening all over the Huntsville area, but at the top of the list would have to be the opening of the beautiful wine tasting and dining venue at West Sandy Creek Winery located at 1773 FM 1791, just a few minutes South West of Huntsville, TX.

Aramcons Challenge the Euphrates, Part VI: Scylla and Charybdis

Aramcons Challenge the Euphrates, Part VI: Scylla and Charybdis

BY Aramco ExPats / /

In the previous installment of this series, a party of Aramcons had just run a daunting bedrock rapid at the entrance to a stretch of the upper Euphrates in eastern Turkey known as the Serpent’s Mill. We continue here with their story...

Mosques that Host Some of the World’s Largest Eid Congregations

Mosques that Host Some of the World’s Largest Eid Congregations

BY Arab News / /

Muslims will soon observe Eid Al-Fitr, the festival that marks the end of Ramadan. Eid Al-Fitr, which means Festival of the Breaking of the Fast, will see Muslims gather for the congregational prayer in mosques or special prayer grounds around the world.

Dates: The Miracle Food of Arabia

Dates: The Miracle Food of Arabia

BY Aramco ExPats / /

Absent the camel, the history of Arabia and the world would have followed a far different course than what it did. Much the same can be said of the date and its impact on humankind.