July 12, 2009 – Day 199 – Budapest, Hungary
Last day in Budapest. And what a lucky day! Our favorite bakery was closed (not so lucky) so we had pizza for breakfast(ish) and happened upon a huge music and food festival (very lucky) happening around and across one whole (huge) bridge over the Danube.
On the bridge
July 5, 2009 – Day 192 – Sarajevo, Bosnia
Today we walked all over the smallish city and eventually found ourselves standing in the spot where Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated. Very strange to be standing on the very spot where the beginning of the first World War was begun. There used to also be a sign showing the exact spot where the assassin stood on the river bank but it has long since disappeared
The bridge
June 8, 2009 – Day 165 – Amman, Jordan
Today we made our way back toward the Dead Sea to the place where John the Baptist worked, the Jordan River, and the widely accepted sight of Jesus’ baptism.
John the Baptist's new church
June 3, 2009 – Day 160 – Wadi Rum, Jordan
“On the first part of the journey I was looking at all the life. There were plants and birds and rocks and things; There was sand and hills and rings. The first thing I met was a fly with a buzz and the sky with no clouds. The heat was hot and the ground was dry but the air was full of sound…”
Shrub
May 21, 2009 – Day 147 – Aswan, Egypt
”It’s 675 Egyptian Pounds but for you, my friend, I make it special price–650!” The ”it” in question was a thick red glass waterpipe with heavy silver hardware that disassembled into several billy clubs, er, pieces. It was a really great waterpipe but was way outside our price range.
Waterpipe shop
May 20, 2009 – Day 146 – Cairo, Egypt
Cairo has so many faces and personalities that it’s difficult to decide whether one likes it or doesn’t. Today we felt both. When spent our morning wandering through the Coptic Museum that houses some really amazing ancient pieces and the best part is that they are being cared for quite well! Unfortunately, these beautiful old things can’t be photographed so we have no way to share what we saw today.
Africa
May 19, 2009 – Day 145 – Cairo, Egypt
The Egyptian Museum in Cairo is known worldwide. It holds history of not just ancient Egypt but of the world. It’s the pride of Egypt and there is even a movement to ”give Egypt back its stuff,” that is, to return to Egypt all Egyptian artifacts that are currently housed in other museums and collections around the world. With these things in mind, we expected the Egyptian Museum to be fitting of such pride and grandness entitled to such an honor.
Hieroglyphics
May 16, 2009 – Day 142 – Cairo, Egypt
A shout rang out, “Hello, Money Money!, Hello, Money Money!” In a flash a myriad of small hands had thrust out from the darkness and fastened themselves like barnacles to Sabens pants.
Us at the Airport
May 3, 2009 – Day 129 – Rafina, Greece
Small fried fish, if you saw that on the menu, what would you expect? One small fried fish one a plate, right? Yeah me too, but in fact that small phrase can mean more than one thing. In Greece apparently it means ”TWENTY (very) small fried fishes.” So while Saben sucked away at his jumbo shrimp, Lin was throwing down some serious fish carnage.
Before
Day 127: Athens, Greece
Well, we came to experience other cultures not just the sights and restaurants. Today we got quite a bit more than we bargained for. Having grabbed a quick breakfast to go, we crossed the crazy traffic around Omonia Square (which is only filled with sketchy people doing sketchy things or yelling or watching people either to eat them or to rob them, hard to tell because the look is so similar) to eat our sandwiches. Moments after we sat down, two men crossed the square and pissed in the bushes (sorta, they didn’t really try to hide). Immediately after, some other guy goes into a nearby area of the same bushes and digs around in some trash on the ground. And immediately following that, the air is filled not only with the now all too familiar smell of piss but also, mysteriously, of shit. We’re both totally disgusted and simultaneously got up and headed off the square. Read the rest of this entry »
Taxi Rides = 123
Boat Rides = 35
Motorcycle Rides = 10
Plane Rides = 16
Bus Rides =330
Train Rides = 124
Rickshaw Rides = 98
Truck Bed Rides = 25
Rainy Days = 42
Current Rummy Score
Lin 10950, Saben 12435
