President Obama will be in Riyadh today and tomorrow for the GCC summit, and I have heard this is where it will take place, Diriyah Palace. It’s right behind The Ritz Carlton, but until the other day we weren’t even aware of its existence. One of those almost impossible places to photograph from the road, and definitely impossible to stop and point a camera at it.

He’ll meet with the embassy community Wednesday evening, like last time, and once again I am refusing to go. I wouldn’t mind getting some pictures, but I find it insulting that the president of the United States has to be “protected” -- by a four-foot-high wooden fence -- from American citizens who are serving in a hardship and sometimes dangerous post in order to promote his and US interests. If I did go, I would make it a point to try to say something, so just better to avoid the temptation!

Embassy bazaar, posted earlier: