Sunday, January 2, 2011

Has King Abdullah returned to Riyadh?

King Abdullah was recently discharged from a New York hospital after full recovery from his back surgery. He was planning to stay a while at the Waldorf Astoria hotel but no news of his return to Saudi-Arabia has been released.

Something weird happened today and I started suspecting wether the King has in fact already returned quietly to Riyadh or planning to come any day now.
I was having my lunch at the hospital park when suddenly low flying jet planes appear in the sky just above the city center. I suspect it was the Saudi Hawks, part of the Royal Saudi Air Force. They were flying in formations and started drawing figures with the fumes in the sky, huge loops and what looked like some kind flower formations! I had to rub my eyes when two of the planes came together to make a heart shape and the third proceeded to fly through it as if an arrow had punctured it. It really made me smile imagining these Saudi air force guys showing their "soft side" depicting hearts over Riyadh! So was this all in the King's honor or just a spontaneous air show? My husband commented that it was just the air force rehearsal..hmm I wonder is this part of the Air force curriculum?

Another sign of the King Abdullah's return could be the preparations being taken in the hospital. I wrote a post on treatment of VIP patients before, but the King gets some extra special treatment in the hospital. He not only has his own entrance, helicopter landing area and whole ward, but there is also an ICU designated for the ruler only. All this is being prepared anticipating his possible need for the facilities in the near future.

I wish the King many healthy years to come, inshallah he will be able to continue his reforms and make Saudi a better place to live for everyone! Read more on his reforms on women's issues in my previous post.


I snapped some pics from the "airshow" with my mobile, sorry for the bad quality!This is the heart

5 comments:

Noura said...

The Saudi Hawks were practicing for an Air Force graduation ceremony taking place this week. Perhaps the hospital preparations had something to do with this as well, as HRH Prince Sultan often attends these graduations, and I understand that he is still quite ill.

I love your blog, and read it often. Thanks so much for providing a view of life in Saudi that few people get to experience.

:)

Layla said...

Thanks Noura for the info!
I saw them practising today too, this time they made a red heart :D
Do you know when the graduation ceremony is going to be?

Sultan said...

It's exactly like what Noura said. In addition, you might keep seeing them on daily basis for the whole week, especially early afternoon.

Lavender © said...

I have been hearing and seeing them fly over my house as well.. it can be rather LOUD and annoying.. lol.. especially when its nap time for the kids :D

Lovely pics..

Layla said...

Hi Sultan and welcome to my blog!
Thanks for the info too.
Did anyone see the actual show? I never heard of them again after that week!