Now the couple is readying for Friday, when they travel to Mecca to circle the Kaaba, the most sacred site in Islam.

CNN: U.S. couple from Georgia experiences Hajj pilgrimage

Because many of its rooms directly overlook the Kaaba, the cubical building that houses the Black Stone, and towards which 1.5 billion Muslims turn in prayer, the complex can charge sizzling prices.

ECONOMIST: A Saudi tower

The Nintendo building is just ten years old, but, for video-game fans, who sometimes wait outside the gates for a glimpse of Miyamoto, it is already something like the Kaaba, in Mecca.

NEWYORKER: Master of Play

After the Tawaf - walking around the Kaaba, the cube-like structure at the centre of the Great Mosque in Mecca - we will offer two rakaas or units of prayer, followed by drinking water from the holy Zam Zam spring.

BBC: Aerial view of Great Mosque at Mecca - file 2006