Home sweet home

I'm sitting at home on the couch watching tv, life in America is good haha. I'm happy to be home, it's a relief really. Being in a place where everyone speaks my language, I know the area, and fit into the culture is quite comforting. Not to mention, seeing my family and friends(which I haven't yet actually) is awesome. I absolutely love traveling, and the middle east was amazing, but I'm glad to back.

The story of how I got here is fairly interesting. Wednesday morning I woke up in Cairo for my last day in Egypt and the middle east. I went to the Saladin Citadel in the center of Cairo to meet up with my friend Mostafa. The citadel was built by the legendary Muslim general Saladin to defend the city against the Crusaders. He eventually moved from Egypt to conquer much of the crusader held territory including Jerusalem. The citadel itself is pretty awesome, the mosque inside is gorgeous. I'm not a Muslim, but being in these incredible mosques did make me feel something. I'm not sure how to explain it. Mostafa is a really cool dude too, and it was great to hang out with him for awhile. It's too bad we didn't get to spend more time together, but I'm sure he'll come to the US soon enough.

After the Citadel I said goodbye to Mostafa, and his country. I headed back to the Cairo airport to start my journey home. I was given a bit of a hard time trying to board to the plane because I had a one way flight, but hey I'm going home. The flight to London, yeah I didn't have a direct flight unfortunately, was painless and I saw a couple decent movies. Once I was in Heathrow Airport though, I had a ton of time. 13 hour layovers ftl haha. But I met up with my friend Thomas, and we hung out at a 24 pool hall/bar. It was a lot of fun and I got a taste of London for a few hours. Tom is awesome and hilarious too, it was good meeting him. Oh and it was so nice to be in a place where people speak English, well I guess THE place where people speak English.

At 6 in the morning I headed back to Heathrow to finally fly home. The flight sucked, I couldn't sleep. When I finally made to Newark I was really happy to be home. My dad picked me up, and an hour later I was home for the first time in weeks. The trip was amazing, one of the best experiences of my life. I did and saw things that blew my mind, I met awesome people, and experienced cultures very different from my own. شكرا תודה Middle East, you've been great to me. All that said, I'm excited to pick up my life at home.

A crazy end to a journey in a crazy part of the world

Yesterday I woke up feeling better than the day before. Perhaps it was the massive amounts of bottled water I drank, or the less than $1 Egyptian antibiotic that I took, I don't know. Sleep may have helped as well, and I didn't get up until about noon yesterday. I decided to go to Coptic Cairo, the oldest part of the city. For those of you that don't know, "Coptic" refers to the Egyptian Coptic Church. Yes there are still Christians in Egypt, about 10% population, and the Coptic Church may very well be the first church ever. It's amazing that it still survives to this day. The first thing I saw was the Coptic Museum, which was awesome. So many artifacts from the Roman, Byzantine, and Islamic periods really gave me a pretty good idea what Coptic life and worship was and is like. The collection of icons was particularly impressive, but I really like icons in Eastern Christianity. My favorite thing was the bible in both the Coptic and Arabic languages, really cool to see. Oh, when I was walking in the security guard gave me a dirty look and said, "You Jewish?". I told him no and he said "Oh my Christian brother welcome!".What would he have done if I said yes?

After Coptic Cairo I met up with Marnie in Tahrir Square and explored the urban space which formed the backdrop of the revolution. There isn't much to say about it that hasn't been said, pictures say more. The exhibit about the revolution done by AUC, helmed by Sean with contribution from Marnie and others is quite inspiring and very well done.

The night ended with a Tannoura show, which is like a whirling dervish. It was amazing to see, but again not much to say. I'll upload the video to Facebook eventually.

Finally, this brings the blog to today. I did a lot and have crazy stories, and am too tired to get into all of them. But here is a brief overview. I went to the pyramids, both at Saqqara and Giza. Saqqara is older than Giza and actually the oldest pyramid in Egypt. This is also the oldest still standing stone building in the world, pretty amazing.

Then it was onto Giza. I know you've all seen a million pictures of the great pyramids. They are the only still existing wonders of the ancient world, possibly the most famous landmark on the globe. Huge tourist trap as well. But the impact that standing in front of them has really can't be recreated with a photo or description, they are simply awe inspiring. Here's a fun picture:

Most ridiculous story of the trip award goes to this though. When entering the pyramid complex tourists and locals alike are hounded by people relentlessly trying to get you to give them money. Some have things to sell, mostly crap. Others are fake guides. The most annoying are those that want to give you a photo opportunity. A guy came up to me on a camel offering me a ride....about a hundred times. He is not licensed and I would have only been able to ride that camel for about 10 minutes, but he claimed it was "no charge". I refused time and time again. So he then resorted to offering me a pose with the camel for a picture, which I again refused. This guy would not leave me a lone though! When I stopped at the third pyramid to go inside this asshole snatched my camera out of my hand and said "Yes picture, I take picture". My guide started yelling at him in Arabic to give back my camera, but he was having none of that and I was getting super pissed. Instead of giving my camera back this dude called his friend over who came up behind me, picked me up, and threw me on top of the camel. Yes, some strange Egyptian asshole lifted my fat ass off the ground and literally threw me onto a camel! The other guy took pictures, then he said "Now you have to pay me to get down". I told him I would, got down and got my camera back, and gave him 5 pounds(less than $1). It was more of an insult than not giving him anything because I knew exactly what it was worth, he wanted $20! I really wished I knew how to curse in Arabic. The pictures did turn out pretty cool though.

My day ended with a night out at a bar close to Marnie's apartment to say goodbye to the Egypterns. Thanks guys, it was a blast! Oh who am I kidding, they don't read this. Tomorrow I'm leaving the Middle East and heading home, with a long stop in London along the way. Expect a wrap up post in the near future.

Alexandria: a city that does live up to its namesake

On Friday morning I woke up early and headed to the train station to catch a train from Cairo to Alexandria on the Mediterranean Sea. Ramses Station in Cairo is a disaster, debris everywhere, no rhyme or reason, no signs, and people running around crazy. I got lucky that my train was the first one I saw as I entered the station. Apparently the station has been under construction for years, and it looks like it won't be finished for years. The train ride was pretty nice, only 3 hours and I had a first class ticket.

Once in Alex I met up with Marnie and the other Egypterns(yes they call themselves that). They stayed at a gorgeous 5 star hotel paid for by AUC, and I stowed away. The hotel had great restaurants and a private beach on the sea, quite a difference from the cheap hostels I've been staying in. We went to an awesome seafood restaurant, and its Alex so you sort of have to try the seafood. I don't like stuff that swims all that much but the food was pretty good. After that we went to a sheesha cafe overlooking the beach, it was a great way to watch the sun set. I tried sheesha and I just don't really get it, I didn't like it much. The night ended with some craziness in the hotel which I won't go into haha.

Yesterday we had a tour guide who showed us around the sites of Alexandria. She was pretty good, spoke perfect English, and even cracked a few jokes. Some of the sites were a bit underwhelming like Popmey's Pillar, which was not built by Pompey and is not actually a pillar. Others were pretty awesome though, specifically the citadel and the catacombs. The catacombs showed an amazing fusion of Egyptian and Greco-Roman culture that existed in classical Alexandria. People were buried with Ancient Egyptian gods along side Medusa, incredible. Regrettably, I left my memory card in Cairo! Ugh so no pictures. :(

I'm back in Cairo now, and sick. I've got a case of Pharaoh's Revenge, pretty much the same as Montezuma's revenge. It is not pleasant, and I scrapped my plans to see Coptic Cairo today because of it. Hopefully I'll be better tomorrow. 

Welcome to Cairo

"Welcome to Cairo", a phrase that I've heard at least a hundred times in the three or so days I've been here. It gets thrown around a lot: traffic; welcome to Cairo, sweating your ass off; welcome to Cairo, something or someone is late; welcome to Cairo. Despite what many have and will say, Cairo is a pretty amazing city.

On Tuesday I woke up in Wadi Mousa, Jordan and had to get my ass to Amman, the capital for my flight that went to Cairo. Turns out the airport is not actually in Amman but about 18 miles outside of the city, common theme for much of the world it seems. I wanted to take the bus but the bus driver said I would have to wait two hours for other people to show up, and that he wouldn't go to the airport. I'd have to walk 2 miles, no thanks. So I took a taxi and probably got ripped off, oh well. I got to the airport with a lot of time and just sat around reading my book on Egypt. Boring story short, got on the plane 45 minutes late because well middle east time is slow. The flight was super short, only one hour, and didn't fly over Israeli airspace likely on purpose.

Once in Egypt I was in for a hell of a ride, literally. Marnie set up an American University in Cairo driver to pick me up, who was nowhere to be found for awhile. But he spoke no English, so I couldn't talk to him at all. The ride from the airport to Marnie's apartment was one of the scariest of my life. I thought we were gonna hit someone or get hit every 10 seconds. No traffic lights, few stop signs, and lanes on the road might as well not exist! Cairo traffic is legendary too, cars all over every street. I made it there in one piece though, and we hung out on the roof terrace of the building for the night. It was awesome.

Yesterday I was a bum and slept until like 1pm, I loved it haha. When I woke up I went downtown to Tahrir Square, yes that Tahrir Square, to see the Egyptian Museum. God what a place! Thousands of years of history all thrown together with few labels and little rhyme or reason, but that's part of what makes it cool. I hired a guide to show me around, and she was extremely helpful and funny. She asked me weird questions though, like "do you have a nickname for Obama?". Seeing tons of artifacts from the time of the pharaohs was really mind blowing. The best part though was to see actually mummies, I saw king Ramses II! Pictures are not allowed but I did manage to get this one covert shot.


After the museum I tagged along with Marnie and her co-workers farewell dinner with their den mother of sorts. Could have been awkward but everyone was really cool and it wasn't. The main reason I wanted to go was the place is called "Carnivore", yeah my kind of place. Slabs of meat are thrown on your plate one after the other before you can even finish what is in front of you. I had beef, chicken, turkey, ostrich, veal, lamb, and probably something else too. The restaurant is on boat that sits on the Nile too, just a really cool experience. No pork though unfortunately.

Today Marnie's friend Mohamed took me in and around Islamic Cairo. I saw many mosques built during the Abbasid, Mamluk, Ottoman, and even contemporary periods. The idea that some of these mosques were built more than a thousand years ago and still stand and are still in use is mind boggling. What's more is that they are considered "new" in this country! Williamsburg seems kind of weak in comparison haha. I really enjoy Islamic architecture, and it doesn't a whole lot better than here in Cairo. Perhaps Mecca, Damascus, and Jerusalem rival Cairo, but much of what's here is unique and not found in those other cities. I can't really do a good job of describing how beautiful and awe inspiring these structures are so you'll have to just look at the pictures.

Tomorrow I'm off to Alexandria, and I'm really excited. This city better live up to it's namesake!  

Nazis. I hate these guys.

If you've seen "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" the title of this post should sound familiar. If you haven't; what is wrong with you!?! Harrison Ford and Sean Connery are great and it's a simply awesome action adventure movie. Before I side track myself and turn this into a movie review blog, there is another reason I mention this. The movie was filmed in Petra, Jordan, where I just happen to be. Indiana Jones found and drank from the Holy Grail in Petra, and he beat the Nazi bastards to it!

Getting to Petra suuuucked! I took the bus from Aqaba to Wadi Mousa(which is the town just outside of the ruins), which was maybe the most uncomfortable 3 hours of my life. In Jordan it is extremely taboo for a man and woman who are not married or related to sit next to each other on a bus. This meant that the open seats next to women stayed open and men filled in the seats next to me. So I had two guys almost sitting on top of me with my bags actually on top of me. But once we got to Wadi Mousa I took a taxi to my hotel and I relaxed and got comfortable for a minute. Then I was off the Petra, but at this point it was like 2pm and my taxi driver told me I would not have enough time to see all of Petra. He recommended going to Little Petra, which is another ancient town that dates about 500 years prior to Big Petra.

In Little Petra I got a Bedouin guide to take me around. Now when I say Bedouin I mean it, this guy lives in a tent in the desert and herds goats for a living. He was really cool, and knew a ton about the site, he showed me everything and I really got a sense of what Nabatean life was like. It was amazing. He recommended I come back the following day and go with him in the back way to Big Petra, he assured me it was quicker and no tourists know that way. More and that in a minute.

Following Little Petra, I went to Big Petra for a leisurely walk around and was not worried about seeing everything, as I'd be back the next day. I really started to realize how god damn hot the Jordanian desert is, I was tired as hell when I got out of Petra. Instead of walking around more I went back to my hotel and chilled for an hour or so. I had some dinner, Arabic chicken which is delicious, and then went to bed.

7:30 this morning I was awoken by trucks driving by, but I needed to be up anyway so I wasn't pissed. I returned to Little Petra and met up with my Bedouin guide again for the walk into the backdoor of Big Petra. Wow, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. At first it was just walking through the desert, which was great because it wasn't hot this morning and the landscape is breath taking. But it got much crazier. Eventually we got to mountains...which needed to be climbed. The two guides live their lives in nature and do this sort of thing all the time, but it kicked my ass. I kept wishing I had a Jeep to drive over this shit. It was long, all told once we reached the end of Petra about 5 miles! At points I literally climbing up the side of a damn mountain, and a few times I was trying to figure out what the hell I had done to deserve this.





It was all worth it though, really. I had such a feeling of accomplishment after finishing, or was that just the lactic acid build up in muscles I never knew I had? It was quite the experience, I got to live a Bedouin lifestyle for a few hours. My guide was hilarious too, he made jokes the whole way. My favorite was "Why does woman go to bed?", "Because bed not go to woman!". The guide told me that I was not just a tourist anymore, that I was now someone who lived like a Jordanian. We also went to all the amazing sites of Petra; Nabatean, Roman, and Byzantine. I can't do a good job of describing just how awesome they are so just look at the pictures. Once everything was said and done I was dead, I've never sweat so much in my life, but like I said so worth it.

Tomorrow I leave Jordan and head to Egypt! I have a flight from Amman to Cairo tomorrow and I honestly can't wait. Jordan has been great but its expensive and I can't keep spending money at this rate. Plus I'm excited to see another new country, and be reunited with Marnie again. Funny story, this time last year I was walking around Wenceslas Square in Prague. Is all of this real?

Welcome to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan

Yesterday I woke up early in Jerusalem, said goodbye to the people I met there and headed to the central bus station bound for Eilat. Eilat is the southern most city in Israel and is right on the border with both Jordan and Egypt. It was once a strategic military port on the Red Sea, but is now a resort town. Getting there was not fun at all. A 5 hour bus ride from Jerusalem on an overcrowded bus, there were not enough seats for everyone. When we finally made it to the city I got off the bus and was overwhelmed with heat, it was 102 degrees! But I only stayed in Eilat long enough to cross the border.

Going from Israel into Jordan to Aqaba should be easy enough right? Wrong! The taxi took me to the border and dropped me off, they're not allowed to cross the border. I had to walk, really I had to walk across the border! My passport, bags, and person were checked on either side, but in between was about a quarter mile of nothing but scorching hot pavement for me to hoof. I then had to get a Jordanian taxi once in Aqaba, one of the weirdest things I've ever done.

When I finally made it into Jordan I took a taxi to my hotel. The driver spoke little English but he was nice, although he smoked the whole ride. Turns out the hotel is in South Beach which is outside the city of Aqaba, like a good 10-15 drive. The bank was closed because of the Muslim holiday so I had to pay him in a combination of Shekels and Dollars, I think I got ripped off. There isn't much to do here other than hang out at the pool and the beach across the street. And there isn't much in Aqaba either, but that didn't bother me. I had spent a week running around seeing shit and on buses so relaxing for two days was a nice change of pace. I really didn't do anything, Tomorrow I'm off to Petra though to recommence seeing shit and ruining around crazy.

Tiberias doesn't live up to its namesake

Yesterday I took the bus from Jerusalem up through the Israeli countryside and into the Galilee to Tiberias. The bus ride was long(3 hours), boring(nothing but hills and valleys, hills and valleys), and uncomfortable. I sat next to a hundred year old Orthodox man and behind a mother with two babies. The old guy smelled bad and the babies cried the whole way. Once we got to the hills over the city it all seemed worth it, as the sea of Galilee came into full view. Upon entering Tiberias I thought it was really hot, ugly, and a bit dirty. I made it to the hostel, which was actually a shitty hotel with a bunch of beds in shoved in each room. The staff at the hotel were not helpful and generally not nice to be around. So I thought I'd out of there and explore the city, too bad there isn't anything to explore. Well there are Roman/Crusader/Ottoman ruins, which can be seen in an hour total, and a water show. Someone tell me how shooting water in different directions is exciting at all.

The Sea of Galilee however is gorgeous. The view is incredible; perfect blue crisp water, boats sailing across, and the slopes of the Golan Heights peering down. Swimming is allowed in part of it as well, but I didn't partake. It was too cold right on the water, but scorching a block inland. Sitting on the promenade eating ice cream, listening to the water crash against the rocks, and watching the boats sail by was quite nice. That said aside from the sea Tiberias is very underwhelming, and doesn't compare to the epicness of the second emperor of Rome where it gets its name.


This morning I took the bus back to Jerusalem, which took even longer because the bus broke down in the middle of the road. Except it actually didn't, the bus driver was just too stupid to realize that you can't drive fast in first gear! Once he learned to shift the bus ran again. I didn't do much in Jerusalem today. Most of the time was spent figuring out where to go next. But I did go out for dinner and hanging out with some cool people from the hostel, three Mexicans and a Brazilian. We made fun of the seemingly 1000 birthright kids being obnoxious all over the city, it was a good time.

Tomorrow I shall leave Israel, which is a bit sad. The next stop is Jordan, which I'm sure will provide me with much to blog about.    

"Merry Christmas from the Bethlehem Ghetto"

7am came a lot quicker than I wanted it to this morning. I got up to catch my tour leaving the Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem to tour Bethlehem. I waited outside the gate until 8:30, it was supposed to leave at 8. Turns out the driver waited for me at my hostel while I was waiting for him at the gate. If you've just lol'd your sense of humor needs some refinement, mine does too I thought it was hilarious. Once I got on the bus I was among Russians, Indians, Germans, Australians, and Brits; I was the lone representative of the US of A. The bus took us through Jerusalem and into the West Bank. I was again greeted with the sight of the wall that separates Israel from the Palestinian Authority. It's huge, ugly(save for some awesome graffiti), and foreboding; I understand how Germans felt during the Cold War. The title of this post was written on a part of the wall in Bethlehem.

Once inside, Bethlehem was very nice. We went to all of the important Christian sites, and our tour guide did a good job describing the significance of each. The city has a very prominent Christian population, though they're a minority. Seeing places like the Church of the Nativity(where Jesus was born) and the field(which is still in use more than 2k years later) where the shepherds saw the north star and were brought to dear lord baby Jesus(+10 internets if you get the reference) was another amazing experience. This land is full of amazement. I greatly enjoyed experiencing what I've only read about in the old beat up Christmas book.



The tour guide told us a sad story...his. He is barred from entering Israel under any circumstances, including Jerusalem. He has family in the US, but he can only visit them by going to Jordan first. In Bethlehem he is only allowed to legally work as a tourist. Not tourists, no work and he can't go to Jerusalem where all the tourists are to promote himself. Yet he remains hopeful and optimistic. He told us Christians and Muslims live as brothers in Bethlehem and soon Christians, Muslims, and Jews would live as brothers in the holy land. He left us by saying, "I pray for peace, not just here but in all the countries in the world. I believe it will happen." I hope he is right.

Tiberias tomorrow!

A city of over 3000 years

 Today I successfully took the New Europe(still don't know why they don't call it new Middle East or something) tour of Jerusalem. The guide didn't have a cast on his finger so it must not have been him who cancelled yesterday, had it been I would have mocked him or at least thought about it. The tour was really pretty good, though not quite as good as say Berlin or Prague. My guide was Israeli, and thus spoke less than perfect English. On all the New Europe tours I took in Europe the guides were native English speakers, but this was only a minor complaint. The guide was quite knowledgeable and witty, he made a joke at the end which made me chuckle. The tour went to all the major sites in the city, and was very informative.

I visited the holiest sites in Christianity and Judaism, as well as the third holiest site in Islam on this tour. Obviously this is part of what makes this city so incredible and unique, nowhere else in the world do such massive history changing movements meet. The western/wailing wall was quite an experience, the remnants of the second Jewish temple that was destroyed by the Romans is amazing. No one spoke other than prayer, and some people were so emotional that they were crying. I felt something, not a deep spiritual Jewish connection, but something is definitely present there.

The Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock make up the holy site for Muslims. The prophet Muhammad ascended into heaven from this spot and returned. Unfortunately, the Dome of the Rock has been closed to non-Muslims since the second intifada. It is one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen, I would have loved to get into it. The Al Alqsa mosque was also closed to non-Muslims, and apparently has short sporadic openings for the outside world. At least I saw them from the outside. What was crazy was to see all the Muslims from all over the old city rushing to these mosques when the prayer was called. The dedication to the religion is impressive.

Finally was the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and wow I can't really describe it. The place where Jesus was crucified, buried, and came back is this one church. I went inside Jesus' tomb...let me say that again so I'm sure it actually happened, I WENT INSIDE JESUS' TOMB! The amount of Christian pilgrims, mainly from Europe, in the church was overwhelming. I heard Greek, Russian, French, Spanish, Hungarian, and Amharic along with the big three of this country(Hebrew, Arabic, English). Also amazing is how the different denominations fight over the church. Catholics, Greek Orthodox, Syrian Orthodox, Coptic, and Ethiopian Orthodox have fought over who controls the church for centuries. Even down to a simple wooden ladder has not been touched in 160 years because of this. A Muslim family opens and closes the church everyday because of this as well, and they have since the days of Salahdin.

The history and culture of this city is unlike any other, and because of that it's easy to love it. It is also one of the most fought over cities in history and that is apparent sometimes. A Palestinian tour guide tried to pouch us from our Israeli guide and when no one defected he got angry. He called us "Jew lovers" and said we hated Arabs and only contributed to the Jewish occupation.

This is de facto Palestine

Does one need the use of all ten fingers to lead a walking tour? I assure you 9 fingers is plenty to point to something. A broken finger does not impair your ability to walk or lead a tour! We tried to get the New Europe tour in Jerusalem today, but apparently the tour guide's broken finger killed that plan. Instead we tried to go to the sites on the tour by ourselves, which failed pretty miserably. I did touch the Western Wall though, and I'm not sure how to describe the feeling and atmosphere of it.


Marnie and I walked around Jerusalem for awhile but grew tired of it pretty quickly. Marnie suggested taking the bus into the West Bank and going to Ramallah. This was something I had already planned on doing so of course I was on board. Now anyone reading this and starting to freak out pay attention; I went to Palestine and had a wonderful time, AND I didn't get killed. The border crossing was nothing going there, literally the bus didn't even stop. Going back to Israel was a different story, stay tuned for that.

Ramallah was very fascinating. It is very much a typical Arab city, a lot of people all over, markets seemingly around every corner, and friendly gestures and conversations, which may or may not be an attempt to get you to buy something. We walked around the city for an hour or so, and I noticed several things. First, there is no Israeli presence there. No Israeli soldiers to be found, instead Palestinian police. Israeli civilians are not technically allowed to travel into the West Bank either. No signs are in Hebrew, just Arabic and English. Apart from the Israeli New Shekel being the currency in use, you would never know that Ramallah was part of an occupied territory. The city is de facto Palestine, much more so than it is in any part of Israel. Also, its all built on hills which makes it impossible to navigate. We hung out in a Palestinian ripoff of Starbucks called "Stars and Bucks", gotta love it. I sipped hot chocolate while sweating in the heat of the day, and jammed out to T-Pain blaring throughout the cafe. Cross that one off the bucket list.

The way back to Israel was interesting. We had to take a taxi to the border, and then get on a bus to Jerusalem. At the border about half the bus was made to get off and go through a metal detector and get searched. As far as I could tell these were all Palestinians. For the rest of us the Israeli border guards came on the bus and check everyone's passports. Mine was no problem, I got the Israeli visa stamped directly on it. Some other people were not so fortunate and did not have an Israeli stamp, which held things up a few minutes. Ultimately everyone was allowed through and we made it back to Jerusalem.

Israel Is a Crazy Place

I left off last entry after the first day in Tel Aviv, so logically that's where I'll pick up. Tel Aviv was really hot at night, like REALLY hot. I woke up in a puddle of sweat, awesome. After a much needed cold shower, Marnie and I walked to Jaffa. Shabbat was beginning that night so we thought Jaffa would be more lively than Tel Aviv, as Jaffa mainly Arab. By the way, Tel Aviv and Jaffa are actually the same city its called Tel Aviv-Yafo officially. Jaffa is an ancient port city, in fact one of the oldest in the world. As Tel Aviv grew after the formation of Israel it kind of swallowed up Jaffa, but it retains a unique look and culture different from Tel Aviv. Jaffa is crowded, smaller, and older; a nice introduction into the Arab world for me coming from the modern European style city that is Tel Aviv. We saw the market which has everything you could never want to buy; who really wants a random AC adapter that may or may not blow up what you plug it into? But overall it was really cool. On the way back we went to the beach and I swam in the Mediterranean, no big deal. 

After Jaffa we went to central Tel Aviv and saw Rabin Square. The square itself is not really all that special physically, its a large public space in an urban setting. Maybe because I've been to Pariser Platz, Marien Platz, and the National Mall; but it was not that impressive. That said the importance of the space in the history of Israel is incredible. I really felt emotion of it all. Rabin's murder was terrible tragedy, a loss to the world not just Israel. Really, that is all I can say on the matter. Oh, and I ate the most delicious burger across from the square. Lamb and beef ground, with cheese and bacon on top; the most un-kosher meal ever but it was fantastic haha. 

This morning we left Tel Aviv and embarked on our journey to Jerusalem. We took a Sherut for the hour across the country. Sheruts are kind of like a bus but much smaller, more like a van or shuttle bus. They're crowded but cheap so it's pretty nice. But damn are Israelis strict! Our Sherut was pulled over on the highway and cops boarded it looking for people not wearing seat belts. Two guys were pulled off, interrogated and given tickets. The driver yelled out in Hebrew to put our seat belts on as he was pulling over, I couldn't understand him but just copied everyone else thankfully.

Upon making it to Jerusalem Marnie and I got lost several times over finding our hostel in the old city. Marnie got to show off her Arabic though, which I was very impressed with. The hostel itself is awesome, the building is 700 years old! Jerusalem just has so much history imbedded in it.  The rest of the day was spent exploring the old city and a bit of West Jerusalem. We met up with Marnie's friend Mohamed, he's a cool dude. Jerusalem is amazing, I can't wait to see more of it tomorrow.

You fly Tel Aviv?

It is now after midnight in the Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv. Just over 24 hours ago I was leaving JFK to embark on a journey to the Middle East, and now I'm sitting in a hostel one block away from the Mediterranean beach. It's absolutely gorgeous by the way. 
 

The story of the how I spent my hours in between is pretty ridiculous and will serve as a nice opening to this travelogue. Leaving JFK was pretty straight forward, no real delays or any hiccups. However, once we took off a small child of about three years began screaming. He didn't stop...for an hour...and it was in Hindi! That aside the flight went well and landed in Frankfurt, Germany. The layover was excruciating though. A 5 hour wait is generally not that bad, but add in the fact that it was 5am Germany time and nothing in the airport was open, and that I couldn't leave. Plus I was to the point of exhaustion but couldn't fall asleep! Oh and the airport made me go through security 3 times, because third times a charm right?

Flying to Israel is crazy too. In Frankfurt my bags were inspected and scanned, I walked through a metal detector, AND was wanded. They even wanded the bottoms of my feet. I don't recall much of the flight to Tel Aviv, as I slept through major parts of it. At passport control in the airport I was interrogated for a minutes. "Why are you traveling alone?", "Have you been to Israel before?", "Why don't you fly home from Israel?", and other generally pointless questions. They let me through after about half an hour.


Oh and they call the airport Tel Aviv, but it is not in the city. It's actually in the town of Lod which 9 miles outside of the city. I took the train from the airport into the city, which was quite the experience. The first stop after I got on was Tel Aviv Ha Haganah("the defense" in Hebrew), aptly titled as 15 soldiers got on board and 5 of them were carrying M4s. Soldiers are everywhere in this country; the streets, the trains, cars, buses, etc. A huge number of them are women too, something that I've never seen anywhere else. From the train station I walked to the hostel and that was a lot further than I thought. I got lost a couple of times on the way too, thankfully so many Israelis speak English. 

After much walking, and sweating(its hot as hell here), I finally made it to the hostel and met up with my cousin Marnie. We went to the beach for a bit and got dinner at a really cool American style bar/restaurant looking at the Mediterranean. Marnie thoroughly enjoyed eating bacon, which is non-existent in Egypt haha. After dinner we walked around the city for awhile, it really is beautiful. Getting here pretty much sucked, but it was well worth it and this has been a great start to the trip.

The resurrection

About a year ago I started a travel blog as a way to keep people back home updated on my journey across Europe. People seemed to like (sort of)knowing where I was and what I was doing, along with my often humorous writing style. I found that it also served as a great way to document the trip as it was happening, before I forgot anything. With all this in mind, I have resurrected this travel blog to document my current endeavor into the Middle East.

When I told people that I would be traveling to the Middle East I got as diverse reactions as one could.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!?"
"Oh man I'm so jealous!"
"What's the Middle East?"
"Why don't you go to somewhere fun like Aruba?"
So many people just don't understand the region, many people hear about protests and wars and uprisings and nothing else. This is the image of the region that is so prevalent.
Stay tuned to this blog and I'm sure this image of the Middle East will be debunked.

Back in Germany

From Ljubljana we began our drive north to Munich, passing through Austria. It signaled the final phase of the trip, we returned to Germany where the three of us met and began our adventure. The drive was fine, we left Ljubljana pretty early and hit no traffic. Arriving back in Germany was a bittersweet experience. I love Germany and it was nice to be back in a country where I speak the language, my Slovene, Croatian, Italian, Czech, French, and Flemish are nonexistent. However this also meant the trip was nearing its end.

Munich is a city quite unlike any other I've been to. It is steeped in traditional Bavarian culture, which they will remind you of every chance they get. The food is mainly wurst and schnitzel, every sign says "Bayern"(Bavaria) or "Suddeutschland"(Southern Germany), and the Bavarian flag along with the jerseys of FC Bayern Munchen are found all over. It's almost as if the Bavarians wish they were still an independent country, Germany's Texas of sorts. We spent quite a bit of time at the Haufbrahaus, which is the most famous biergarten or bar in the world. Much of the Oktoberfest festivities happen there. Sarah and I also took another New Europe tour which showed us some incredible sites. The street the Nazi party marched down in an attempt to overthrow the German government, the Rathaus and Glockenspiel, and a church rebuilt to exact specifications after World War II were quite impressive to see.

We left Munich after three days. You could spend a week or two there, especially if you like to drink and have the money to do so, but we experienced a lot and had to move on. The next stop was Frankfurt, where we stayed in a hostel right in the middle of the red light district. Hilarious is the best word to describe that neighborhood, it was not like the classic image of a red light district. We met up with my friend Ben who lives in Frankfurt and was my room mate at TCNJ for a semester. He had us over his place for awhile and we had a great time watching late night German "sexy" commercials. Ben took us around the city a bit, showing us the multitude of clubs, but we ended up at our hostel and hung out until 4:30 AM. Ben was a partyer at TCNJ too haha.

Yesterday we made it to the final stop on our road trip and returned the car in Dusseldorf. Dusseldorf is crazy city on the Rhine river. People were all over the streets wasted out of their minds. Chants, cheers, and songs filled the streets during the world cup games, and Germany wasn't even playing! There were also tons of bachelor and bachelorette parties going on. This morning Randall got on his flight home, and then there were two. Sarah and I will be back at Peter's house tonight, and the trip will wind itself down.

Dalmatia, Italia, and Slovenia

Again, I'm behind on my blog posting. Terrible internet connections and a lack of free time are to blame, but to accommodate I'll cover three stops in one post. As with all of this entire blog, there is much more to tell when I get home.

We spent two days on Croatia's Dalmatian coast, there weren't 101 puppies there though. The coast is what Croatia is known for, and countless empires have fought over it. It was very easy to see why once we got to Bibinje from Zagreb. I live very near the Jersey Shore, so I now a bit about beautiful coasts, but we have nothing on Dalmatia. Other than a short trip to the nearby city of Zadar to go out to eat and see the Roman ruins, most of the time was spent just relaxing. The beach was great and the water cool and clear, no sand on the beaches though just rocks.

From Zadar the journey led us to Trieste, Italy. I had initially planned on stopping there if time permitted, if for nothing else than to add another country to the list. Trieste is a small but charming city by day, and a roaring party town by night. It was really amazing how many people were out on the streets. The city is on the Adriatic coast, but has no beach. We found out later that the beaches are just outside the city, which apparently everyone goes to. At this point we had made very good time throughout the whole trip, and out of curiosity looked up the distance to Venice. It turned out to be only two hours, nothing for us expert road trippers. Venice was crazy, the city on the canals is quite unique and intriguing. We made it to Saint Mark's square after much searching, Venetian streets are impossible to navigate. The Germany vs. Australia world cup game was pretty awesome to watch in a really cool Venetian bar as well. Venice is not the nicest city in the world though, and I wouldn't have wanted to spend a lot more time there.

Slovenia began our journey back north. We stayed in Ljubljana, which is a really cool little city( only about 300,00 people) and capital. Our hostel that we booked in advance was not the one we ended up staying at, and this story is inappropriate for the blog as I'll use far too many naughty words. Anyway, Ljubljanski Grad(Castle) was awesome, and tiny compared to Prague Castle. Square of the Republic was very underwhleming, it's really just a parking lot. Heading north from Ljubljana, we stopped in Bled(awesome name for a town btw). The town is on Lake Bled and is incredibly beautiful. Pictures will do it more justice than my description can.

We're in Munich now, which has been great so far. I like being back in Germany. Next post will cover the happenings in Bavaria.

Zagreb: the forgotten European city

The first day in Zagreb after the crazy drive to the city was an eventful one. Ante met us at our hostel and took us on a tour of city. Having a local act as your free tour guide is really cool by the way. We saw the main square, which like all the other cities I've been to in Europe, is where the people congregate. It also has a statue of Ban Jelačić, which used to point toward the enemy Hungarians but now points out into the sea. The central Zagreb museum was really cool, it gave a quick summary of the entire history of the city. I learned a lot, and was very impressed with the millennium of foreign occupation Croatia suffered under yet still managed to pull through. Croatian food is really good, the meat eaters in the group had some kind of burger thing that isn't really a burger. I could eat that every day until I have a heart attack.

Day two saw us go outside the city and climb the mountain. Most of it was by car thankfully, but the walking part was still quite difficult. Ante kept apologizing for the strenuous activity, which I thought was hilarious. The hike was worth it though, we saw beautiful views of Zagreb, a clean natural water source(that tastes good), and Medvedgrad. Medvedgrad is a medieval ruin which at one time was a fortress overlooking Zagreb, really awe inspiring. Before leaving the city for the Adriatic coast, Ante took us to the Mirogoj central cemetery. Croatians don't bury their dead and cover them with soil, instead a large stone seals off a room in which all of the family coffins are kept intact. It was interesting to see the cultural differences. A final dinner with Ante was our last stop in Zagreb and then we took the drive to the coastal town of Bibinje, a story which will be told in the next post.

The long road to Zagreb

I thought the drive to Prague was bad, but had no idea what I was in for on the way to Zagreb. All of the driving in Austria was painless, and actually quite nice. We bought some "heavy metal" compliation in Vienna which provided a nice soundtrack to the drive. Unfortunately only about half of the album is actually metal, but it's so cheesy it works. Once we hit the border with Slovenia, things started to get ugly. A side note about border crossings within the EU, they suck. EU borders are nonexistent, there is no passport check, no car searches, no visas, and worst of all no stamps! The welcome to New Jersey sign from Pennsylvania is at least 4 times larger than those of the border crossings in the EU, if you're not looking you will miss it. Anyway, after crossing into Slovenia we came upon what looked like a toll booth. It turned out to be a station where you buy a pass to drive in Slovenia, called a "vinjetta" or something like that. The women at the window said in heavily accented English, "You need vinjetta for drive Slovenia!". About halfway through the country, which is tiny, I needed to urinate really really badly. We stopped at some gas station, I went in and looked around and didn't find anything. The cashier yelled something in Slovenian at me and pointed to the next building. So I then walked over to the next building, a bar full of people who didn't speak English. Couldn't find a bathroom, or anyone who could tell me where it was. I tried "Toilet?", "WC?", "Bad?", and "Bano"! I ended up just peeing in some bushes on the side of the road hahaha.

Crossing into Croatia was awesome. The only non-EU country on the itinerary, is also the only one with a real border crossing. We had to wait in line for about 15 minutes, but got our passports checked and stamped with no problem. Next was security, which was a bit nerve racking. The guy in front of us had his whole car searched, bags taken out and everything. When our turn came we were asked something In Croatian, which we obviously didn't understand. The woman saw American passports and switched to English, asked us if we had anything to declare to customs(we said no), and let us through without any search. Apparently Croats like Americans, finally found someone! Across the border we hit all kinds of problems. The GPS couldn't find our hostel, the main highway to Zagreb was closed, and the route we were detoured to led us to a road that was unfinished. We asked a cop for directions and one spoke English and told us, which was very helpful. The other spoke to us in German, which Sarah and I understood but Randall was very confused. The car we rented has German plates, and a ton of Germans vacation in Croatia, so he thought we were Germans. We stopped to get gas and I paid, the woman spoke some Croatian to me and then switched to German. I responded in broken German and she clearly thought I was retarded. Her German was better than mine, and I'm driving a German car, which means I'm a really stupid German. We did eventually make it the Hostel with the help of Sarah's Croat friend, Ante. Ridculous drive is ridculous.

Wiener schnitzel in Wien

A common theme on this trip, the arrival in Vienna was very late. The people at the hostel thought we were crazy for showing up at 2:30 in the morning. That place was really nice, it had a bar, a cafeteria type place, and TV in the room. It was also a few blocks from an U-Bahn, very convenient. I watched a bit of CNN international before falling asleep, it was nice as I hadn't watched TV since the plane to Belgium.

The next day we spent sleeping in, which was much needed, and casually exploring Vienna. The city center is really cool, with historic buildings intermingled with newer architecture. The history in that city is pretty incredible, it was the capital of empires ruled by the Hapsburg Dynasty for many centuries. Today, a laid back atmosphere is the most notable thing about Vienna. Small bars and cafes are to be found all over the city, with staff that are more than happy to have you hang out there all day long. Austrians have the shortest work week in Europe and the longest lifespan, not a coincidence I'd say. The coolest thing I saw that day was the Mozart Wohnung(Mozart's apartment). I stood in the room where "The Marriage of Figaro" was written. For dinner I had an expensive Wiener Schnitzel, almost everything in Vienna is expensive though. I couldn't pass up having Wiener Schnitzel in Wien(the German name for Vienna), the dish is named after the city!

Yesterday was spent mostly in the Hapsburg Palace. The luxury and wealth the people had that lived there is mind blowing. The palace is huge, there was a concert in the "backyard" that night. It also has large garden, massive sculptures, and a labyrinth. The history in the building was impressive to me, one of the most powerful empires in Europe was governed from inside its walls.

I liked Vienna quite a bit. The relaxed pace of the city is very nice, and a change of pace from Prague and Berlin. The food is great, especially if you love meat like me. Cultural and history make up a big part of the city's character too. Oh, and they speak German so I could communicate a bit. That said, I don't think I could ever live there.

Prague

In the last post I alluded to the drive to Prague from Berlin, which is only 4 hours and seems relatively simple when looking at a map. We found out that it definitely is not simple. The distance is actually very short, and if the trip was on the autobahn the whole way it would probably take only 3 hours. Nothing is ever that easy though, about half of the drive is on one lane winding mountain roads. The speed at which it is possible to drive on these roads is really low, and that adds a lot of time to the trip. At one point Randall coasted in neutral for 15 minutes straight, all downhill. For miles and miles there was nothing to be seen but fields, forests, and mountains; it's really a pretty ridiculous drive.

We arrived in Prague late, and the area our hotel was in looked really shady. The guy at the desk didn't help matters, he was watching an adult movie haha. After checking in with no Czech currency, they don't use the Euro, we crashed. The next morning we hit the city center of Prague for another New Europe tour(I really recommend these tours to anyone that will be in cities they operate). It was very cool and we saw a lot, for the sake of brevity I'll not get into it but Prague has some really great sites(when I get home I'll elaborate with a ton of stories). My favorite place by far in the city was Wenceslas Square. 20 years ago Vaclav Havel led the protests which brought about the Velvet Revolution up and down those streets, today it is filled with bars, shops, and casinos. The place where the Czech people demanded their freedom is now where they go to enjoy them.

The next day was taken up mainly by Prague Castle. The castle is the largest medieval castle in the world, and I can't even accurately convey how huge it is. We only did a small portion of it, and could have spent several days within the walls. Fans of history, architecture, and government will surely not be disappointed there. The entire Czech government is run from within the castle, something I find very cool. Oh by the way, the clock tower in the main square in Prague is rightfully called "the most disappointing attraction in Europe", I have a video of it which is very underwhelming.

Berlin: a city that has overcome so much

Sorry everyone, blogging takes a bit of time and regular computer access. I haven't had a ton of each in recent days. This will be brief, but I'll cover the important things.

Randall, Sarah, and I left Peter's house to make the drive to Berlin, all the way across the country. It took us 8 hours because we hit a ton of traffic. The Autobahn going from west to east was under a lot of construction, however the radio stations we picked up along the way played far better music than those of the south to north. We arrived pretty late and just ate dinner and saw some stuff along the way, the Brandenburg Gate ate night is really cool. We also stumbled upon an "international bar" run by some crazy Irish dude. There are pictures of us standing behind the bar haha.

The following day we took the New Europe walking tour through Berlin, which was free and really great. The tour started in Pariser Platz, named for German victory over the French which is a common theme, in the shadow of the Brandenburg Gate. The gate is such an impressive structure, very dominant and imperial, one of my favorite parts of Berlin. The tour also took us to the Reichstag, Museum Island, the Berlin Wall(parts of which still stand), the TV tower, and the former Luftwaffe headquarters. The bunker in which Hitler committed suicide is covered up by a parking lot, sort of weird to see. Some of the buildings still had bullet holes from the battle of Berlin at the end of World War II! 90% of the city was destroyed during the war so the fact that nearly 70 years later some of them still stand and display the scars is mind blowing.

Waking up early to get to the Reichstag before the crowds didn't work out so well. When we did get there, it was a long, long wait(about 3 hours). The building is really cool though, as most of the business of government goes on inside its walls. Additionally, the roof gives some of the best views of the city and contains a dome made of mirrors and solar panels. The dome helps to power the building and allow the citizens(and tourists) to see inside and the members of parliament to see the people. Transparency in government is the the theme, one we could learn from. Waiting in line to get in was a ridiculous experience though. Some guy in a 18th century style suit with a top hat brought some kind of pipe organ type thing and sang a horrible song. It was complaining about the government and he really couldn't sing. I got a video of it, which does a much better job than I could to describe it. It was to say the least, hilarious.

After the Reichstag the next stop was about 30 minutes north of Berlin, a town called Oranienburg. Sachsenhausen concentration camp is located right in the town, which says something about the complicit nature if the average person in the horrors committed there. The site was overwhelming, emotional, but also very well done as a memorial to the victims. I won't go into the details, but it was not a fun experience by any means. I'm very happy I got to see it though, as a reminder of the atrocities man is capable of, and to pay my respects to the victims.

Upon our return to Berlin from Oranienburg, we saw the east side gallery. This section of the Berlin Wall was painted by artists starting in 1990. Some of the artwork is really incredible, and all quite different from each other. We had dinner and then began our drive to Prague, a ridiculous story which will be told in the next post.