Living in the Land of Sun, Sand, History and Noise

The past three years of living in Cairo have certainly seen its ups and downs.  I can say I am not fond of the city because of the noise, traffic, pollution, and constant disregard for trying to clean up the city.  The bus rides to work are usually mired with traffic and long waits which makes it very difficult for anyone.  It does have its good points which is a strong expat community with a lot of activities going on, the ease of getting things delivered to you, and cheap mobile phone plans. The area I live in is mostly an expat area with expat clubs and a lot of foreign items.

First and foremost, the delivery system here is great.  As anyone that knows me knows that I do not like to leave my apartment, I can get anything delivered at anytime pretty much.  We use the following sites:

Grocery Delivery-  Dakakyn is an online supermarket in which you can order anything your hearts desire and have it delivered to you for as little as 75 cents!!!!  If they do not have it, then you can simply run down to the supermarket and find it.

Restaurant Delivery-  I am surprised with how many foreign restaurants are in this city.  You can order anything from Egyptian food, to TGI Fridiays, to Chile’s to Mcdonalds etc.  All you do is log onto Otlob,   And go to the various restaurants they have their and BAM!!!  Your food is delivered to you within the hour.  This makes it great for late night snacks!!!

Alcohol Delivery- I can honestly say that Egyptian Beer, Wine, and Liquor is absolute shit, but you can get it delivered anytime.  I think the Ancient Egyptians were better with alcohol making than the current Egyptians (obviously it is a country that does not consume copious amounts of alcohol so why would they need good drinks), but everyone here wants a good drink every once in a while.  There is a store online that you can order anything you want.  Go Cheers,   is a site where you can order anything you want from beer, to wine, to spirits and have it delivered right to your door.  Having a party and you run out of alcohol?  No problem!!!  Go Cheers will deliver right to your door.

Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Delivery- Usually I just order from Dakakyn or the local Fruit and Vegetable shop, however there are times when I like to order from Makar Farms.  This farm delivers seasonal fruits and vegetables right to your door.  This is stuff that you cannot find anywhere else in Cairo!!!

Expat Clubs are a big thing here for social events and for people to meet.  There are plenty of bars and nightclubs in Cairo, but these places are where people usually meet for a night out.

BCA– This club has two locations in Cairo-Kattamaya and also Maadi.  I really do not frequent here a lot as to me it has no real atmosphere.  They do have a nice lawn and have good trivia nights.   You can also find foreign liquor here which is a plus

Ace Club– This is where most people I know meet up.  If you can imagine a bar like the TV show Cheers with people sitting in the same places usually, then this is for you.  I like going here and sometimes I go after basketball or just to hang out.  I can say this is my favorite place, but it definitely is the most lively place.  They used to have foreign alcohol, but it got raided so now you are stuck with Egyptian alcohol, which people go there not for the drinks but the atmosphere.  They also have killer pizzas that are nice and greasy!!!!  This is open for membership only, to any nationalities, however you can enter with any guest at a nominal fee!!!

Maadi House–  This is the most selective club that is only open to American Embassy, CAC International School, and AIS International School.  This is my favorite as I love the food, the buffet brekfasts, the pool, and the foreign liquor and beers.  This is defiantly lacking the social aspect of the Ace Club, as it is more for families.  But I like the quietness here and they also have good events with themes whenever a holiday pops up.  I have had a membership here for the last three years and of course sometimes I go more times than other times.

As for the city of Cairo, like I said before, I am not a big fan of it.  Living here has its ups and downs.  I really am not impressed with the streets or social aspect of things so I just prefer usually to stay in.  This city is probably the dirtiest place I have ever been and it is pretty much a concrete jungle.  I would say about half of the apartments buildings are not even inhabited and are half finished.  What do like is driving around you will see everything and anything and it absolutely cracks me up on the highways and streets….

I have only visited the Giza Pyramids once!!!!  Reason why?  When you go there it is completely dirty and you cannot have a relaxing time with all the vendors bothering you and trying to get money.  I believe they have since cleaned it up with the vendors, but they need to bring a company in to make it more attractive to tourists.  It was however awe inspiring to see monuments that have withstood the test of time….

Another thing that is popular to do is rent a Felucca with a bunch of friends for a few hours and just sit upon the Nile and have drinks and finger foods and just relax….

I had a chance to also go on the roads less traveled to lesser known pyramids.  The Saqqara, Bent, and Red pyramids are about an hour drive outside of Cairo and there are hardly any tourists there.  Some of these are older than the Giza Pyramids and I had a great time going around here with friends.  We were able to go into the Red Pyramid and go deep down inside (had a horrible ammonia smell).  The Saqqara Pyramid is in danger of falling down in case you have not seen from the pictures.  I believe time and pollution are causing this, and when it is gone, the Earth will lose one of its wonders.  We ended the day with a big lunch….

Abu Simbel

The closest town to the border with Sudan, this magnificent place boasts the Temple of Abu Simbel.  Built with magnificent Hieroglyphics and statues by Ramses II, this site boasts some of the most awe inspiring sites that the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt designed.

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Aswan, Philae Temple and Elephantine Island

Up from Abu Simbel lies Aswan.  Famously known for its grand dam, this area also has some of the most important temples and structures from all of Egypt’s Kingdoms as well as the PtolemaicDynasty.

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A few day Felucca ride around Aswan is the way to relax and catch some sun and swimming.  The Felucca’s go slow and the water is very cool to jump in.  Sleeping on them while they are docked on land gives you a good night sleep among friends.

Philae Temple is a temple situated on an island near Aswan.  Built by the Ptolemaic Dynasty, this temple gives a good representation on ancient Hieroglyphics as well as the Greek Columns which adorn the palace.  Seeing as the dynasty descended from Ptolemy, which was a general of Alexander the Great, it was important that they brought in their own culture to the already magnificent Egyptian culture.

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Elephantine Island which sits right in the middle of the Nile in Aswan is home to many people, but most important it shows elements from all of Egypt’s Kingdoms, as well as Greco-Roman and Christian Elements.  Many of the Hieroglyphs here are still painted with the same paint that was used thousands of years ago and they are still uncovering parts of stones that hold many Hieroglyphs on them.

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Edfu temple is located off the Nile and is one of the bigger temples we went through.  With hardly any tourists there unless you are on a Nile Cruise, this temple had everything you wanted in a monstrous structure.  Elements of different dynasties as well as Greco-Roman were seen here and it was one of the quietest places we went…

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Luxor Area

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Valley of the Kings and Workers was a magnificent place to visit (no photos).  It holds many of the famous kings burial chambers.  I had the opportunity to visit three of them and the ornate detail inscribed in them is magnificent.  You can spend hours going to the different temples (as long as it does not get too hot).

Palace of Hatshepsut is also one of the most famous temples around.  Built by Queen Hatshepsut, it holds many clues to the ancient kingdom.  Columns and Hieroglyphics are seen all over the place, still neatly painted.

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Luxor is known for its many temples and how ornate they are.  Two of the most famous temples in the area which everyone goes to is of course Luxor Temple and Karnak Temple.Both of these temples started by different dynasties all were built up with the succeeding dynasties.  The attention to detail in both of them is noticed as soon as you walk through the gates.  Definitely places that you could spend hours on in at…

Luxor

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Karnak

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Of course the students help to make life bearable here.  I have been with the same students for three years straight.  Sixth Grade for PE, Seventh Grade for World History Civilizations, and Eighth Grade for Middle Ages to Modern Era.  I can say that I have had fun with them in school and on trips.  They are a very creative bunch and work their butts off for me.  I enjoy seeing their presentations and having discussions with them.  As you can see from the photos, we have a great time, but at the same time learning is still the utmost priority.  Learning about History as well as learning about how to cope in life (if you have ever taught Middle School, you will know this is the hardest age group):

A crazy 3 years in an unpredictable country

For more on Venezuela, please see the Angel Falls Blog.

Venezuela was definitely a crazy time for me, but I loved it.  I lived in the city of Maracaibo which is the second biggest city behind Caracas.  It is on the west side of the country a little over two hours drive to Colombia.  Just like you have heard in the world, the women here are absolutely gorgeous which was of course fun for me.

I really liked living here a lot.  On the weekends it was a constant party at different places and there was always something going on.  This is perhaps the nicest apartment I have ever lived in, and it was right across the street from the supermarket and just a ten minute walk to work.

The situation was bad when I lived there in 2009-2012 with sometimes finding groceries and inflation was very high, so you do creative things with what you have for food.  As of now, the currency is out of control with the black market exchange at 15 times it was when I left.  I really feel bad for the people of the country, but I see in the next few years big change coming.

It was a tough city to live in as it was always very noisy and sometimes a lot of muggings.  Luckily, I never got mugged or had anything bad happen to me.  It was always fun to get out on some long weekends to take vacations.  A place we would frequent a lot was nicknamed the Coconut Far.  The real name is Granja El Ojito.  This posada was a few hours drive north of Maracaibo and offered the perfect getaway.  The rooms are clean, the food is good, and you can get out on the town if you wish during the day.  The best thing about this was the beautiful untouched beach that was private, as no one was ever around.  I cant count how many times I went here and just fell in love with the peace and serenity….

Another good place to go in striking distance is Los Cayos (the keys).  Usually you drive up there in a taxi and get a place to stay on the main town of Tucacas.  In the daytime you just go over to a boat and pay them money and they take you around to the different islands to where you can do anything-sit in the sun, swim, and eat a lot of ceviche.  Usually beers or alcohol on ice is included in the price….Just be careful if you are walking at night and slip into a storm drain as you will find yourself at the clinic getting stitches…..

It was also nice to go out and see Los Palafitos.  These houses built on stilts sit on the water and is how Venezuela got its name hundreds of years ago.  Explorers came in and some of the first things they saw were these houses on stilts sitting on the water.  So they gave it the name Venezuela (Little Venice), and apparently the name stuck.  It was such a fun time as we took boats around to the different parts and even had a traditional lunch along with a lot of coconut cocktails…..It made for a nice nap on the way back….

I had the opportunity twice to go down to Tachira State in southern Venezuela.  One of the times i took a flight, but the other time we drove from Maracaibo which was a long drive but also at the same time a very beautiful drive.  I would of much rather loved to live in San Christobal (capital of the state) than Maracaibo because of the cool climate and the mountains.  One time I went was for New Years, and the other time I went was for my cousins wedding.  I loved the landscape, the food and the people as it was a place that will stay forever in my heart….

Another place I simply loved was the Andes Mountain area in Venezuela.  I went on a retreat there for a weekend (long ass drive) but loved the scenery and the small town feel to everything…..

Now that i have taken you away from Maracaibo, time to get back to why I liked it so much.  It had to be the friends I was with. Whether it be at apartments or out on the town, I had a blast with all of them and this has been the most social place I have ever lived and never got tired of it.  I have made such good friends there that I have traveled with them to countless destinations like-Chile, Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Uruguay, Greece and Islands, UAE, Kuwait, Thailand, DC, Ukraine,  and the Seychelles.  I have also visited them in the United States for a wedding.  These friends truly made it a wonderful experience with all the parties and stuff we did together….

So why did I stay three years here in this crazy country?  The answer to that along with the friends and social aspect of things was the students and the school.  Class Sizes were small and the students were very hard working.  We did many volunteer things like the Salvation Army which was for orphaned kids.  We collected food for them, did Christmas parties, went and played with them, helped fix their house, and also had games with them.  It was truly a moving experience….

My acting career got off to a fast start and finish here as the students and teachers did a performance of Sleepy Hollow.  I had a small part in it but I was happy to make my acting debut.  I was waiting for the agents to come calling, but it never happened…

We also had Saturday Girl Scouts and Movie Club in which we discussed films and the Art behind them…

There was also the spirit weeks which all had a theme behind them where I probably had more fun than the students….

I can go on and on and on, but I have already filled up this blog so much.  I have thousands of other pictures to put up and stories to tell, but I think you get the point.  This would definitely be a place that I could spend my whole life.  I loved everything about it.  I just hope the country can recover from the stuff happening as my main thoughts are with the people I know that still live there including the students and their families…..

Off the Beaten Path- International Trips With Students

So my Off the Beaten Path is usually places that no one goes that usually involves a struggle to get to or danger. So why am I putting trips to Washington DC, Greece, and Italy with my Off the Beaten Path Section? Let me ask you a question….Have you ever traveled with over 50 kids to international destinations? Have you taken plane flights with them? Have you ever been in a crowded place trying to keep your kids together? Now you get the answer as to why this is an Off the Beaten Path section….

To see the 2015 Italy Trip Section in which students reflected on their time in Italy, please click

Washington DC with 12 Venezuelan Students-2012

My time of three years in Venezuela was coming to a close. It was the last of my three years and I was teaching American History, so of course I got to take my kids to DC. The trip was late in the year, towards the end of school, but I knew it would be a fun one!!!! My friend Damian was meeting me there from El Paso and stayed with me for the week….

I put a pretty good itinerary together through Gerber Tours. A few of my students almost didn’t make the flight as they were at a sports tournament and their flight got cancelled. I was really sweating it for a while talking to students and trying to make contingency plans!!!! They literally barely made it in and had to meet us as the bus was taking off from the school to the airport.

We took our flight from Venezuela to DC via Miami. When we got in, we met our tour guide named Mike Hollingsworth. He had handled some of our students before and he is such a great guy with a wealth of knowledge about the DC area.

We were out pretty much all daylong every single day!!!!! You can guess what we did the whole time. Sightsee. We saw the monuments, Ford’s Theatre, The Lincoln Death House, The Newseum, The Art National Gallery of Art, The Capitol Building, Smithsonian Museums, The Library of Congress, The Air and Space Museums, A play called Sheer Madness, Arlington Cemetary, Riding the Underground most of the time, Hard Rock Café (common stop every time I am in DC), Potomac National Park, The Zoo, Georgetown, and the final night, we had a Potomac River Cruise with dinner included.

I really enjoyed this trip a lot as it gave me a chance to be closer with my students and talk to them not as a teacher but as a person. My kids made friends with people they usually do not talk to, in class and I really think they had a great time. It was more like a vacation with them as I had so few kids, and they were very well behaved. If I could,  I would of held that moment in time and stayed there forever……

Greece with 61 Egyptian Students-2014

We use and will continue to use an awesome tour guide who does student groups as well as any other type of occasion.  She is an awesome person as well as guide and she can arrange just about anything:

It was my second year in Egypt, and I was team leader of 7^th Grade and in charge of putting a trip together for our curriculum revolving around Greece. Easier said than done!!! However I was working with a good group of teachers and an awesome group of students…

The Math teacher did a budget chart for the students, the Science teacher revolved her curriculum around our trip to the zoo and the animals there, the English teacher had them do myths and had a very good set up with them making videos or projects. For me, we did a lot of Ancient Greek and Hellenistic History, so with all this being taught, it was bound to be a great trip!!!!!

We stayed in Athens over five days at the Fresh Hotel. I have stayed here overall three times as I am in love with this hotel. You may want to check out the website to see if you agree with me. It is very centrally located. Only about ten minute walk to Plaka Area of Athens. The students really enjoyed this hotel and this is why we keep staying here over and over again.

Pretty much In Greece we went around to all the sites….The New Acropolis Museum which is ranked as one of the best museums in the world. We also of course went up to the Acropolis to see the sites there. We would take day trips out to places like Mycenae, Corinth, and Delphi, which usually take a long time because of the driving, but is well worth it. We also hit the Archeological Museum which I think is one of the better museums for Greek history that I have seen. Attica Zoo is probably one of the cleanest zoos that I have seen in my life and of course the dreaded shopping day and MacArthur Glen Mall.

I thought this trip is one of the better trips I have taken that lined up curriculum. The students knew what to expect and what to know on the trip. In the end, they got a lot out of it learning and life wise…..

Washington DC with 43 Egyptian Students-2014

Let’s just say that taking any amount of students from Egypt to DC is not all it is cracked up to be. When you take a flight from Egypt to Amsterdam to DC, then jump on a bus and drive to Philadelphia right away, you are bound to have some problems along the way…our problems were tired and whiny students.

But for the most part they sucked it up pretty good and were able to get around the cities. We were first in Philadelphia for two nights. We went around the city and saw all the stuff like Ben Franklin’s House and Independence Hall. We had some great food at Hard Rock Café of course!!!

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Hotel in Philadelphia and we loved it. They had the kids separated by floors (boys and girls) and had security watching the rooms!!!! Overall it was a good experience. We left Philadelphia after two nights and then made our way down to DC via Valley Forge.

Once we got down to DC, we checked into the Capitol Hotel and started making our rounds around the city. Food was not in short supply here as we ate heaps of Italian Food, Fried Chicken, and BBQ (for me). It is always nice to come back to the United States to see the culture, but as far as spending a lot of time here….I simply cannot do it anymore. Pretty much our time around DC was spent around doing all of the tourist sites that I had done previous.

We had a tough group of kids but I think in the long run we had a great trip. The only thing that killed us was on the way back we checked out of the hotel, went to a Flight Museum near the airport, then jumped on the flight which took us to Paris and then Cairo. However on the way back from a long trip, it is not good to stay with 43 kids in the Paris Airport for 8 hours…especially if you have ever been to the Paris Airport…note to self next time do not get a long layover in the Paris Airport with any kids or even by yourself…..

Greece with 53 Egyptian Students- 2015

This was pretty much the same itinerary that we followed with my students the year before except that I was with students that were not my own (the same students from DC the year before).

I actually thought this trip went pretty good.  We had the same great tour guide Vivian as the year before and stayed in the same hotel- Fresh Hotel.  We had a great time at the Acropolis and the New Acropolis Museum as well as with our excursions to Delphi, and Mycenae.  I lost count of how many times we went to Plaka to shop, but it was sufficient, as well as the outlet mall again (which the kids loved).  The zoo was the big highlight as we got to mingle with the Lemurs and the kids had a great time!!!!

We did have a few bumps in the road like food, kids getting sick, and long bus rides, but isn’t this expected with any type of person on any trip, much less 53 kids?

Last night in Yangon

It was now time to head back to Yangon. We got in the early afternoon and went around the city for a little bit to see some of the attractions we didn’t see the first time around. It was bittersweet to be there because we knew our time in Myanmar was coming to a close. We had one last dinner out, one last drink on top of one of the tallest buildings, went off to bed and woke up the next morning to get our flight to Chiang Mai via Bangkok….

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Ngapali Beach

Our last stop before heading back to Yangon was Ngapali Beach. I am not in the least bit a beach person so I was not excited about going, but again I was surprised. Our accommodation literally was on the beach. You can stop outside our hut and the beach was right there. I was a little sick so I did not make it out onto the beach at all that much but went to a restaurant into town. It was a nice relaxing time as this will be the place I will probably have my fictional honeymoon after my fictional marriage….

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Trekking

We started our trek just outside of Kalaw in a small village. We hiked for a bit and then stopped in a small village in which ladies were making scarves for the winter. It looked to me that their main source of income was harvesting spicy chili. We continued for another few hours through some small villages and a bridge that looked like it would break to our lunch stop. We had lunch in a small hut, but it was some of the best food we could have had. After I took a nap we continued on a rather long hike up the mountain. We arrived in our destination in the mid afternoon and we stayed in a local home. This was so much fun because we actually got to live just like the locals. They cooked us dinner and breakfast over and open fire in their kitchen. It was New Years Eve, so we celebrated with a few beers over the campfire and were in bed before 9 at night.

The next morning we woke up and trekked through some more villages and to a road they were building. Daniel had gotten sick so he hopped on a motorcycle to our destination point at Inle Lake. We caught up to him a couple hours later as he was enjoying a beer by the water. Now it was time for the famous Inle Lake boat ride:

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Inle Lake

Inle Lake is the biggest and most known lake in Myanmar. We hopped on a boat and continued to be impressed of all the houses that were built up on stilts around the whole lake area. We saw the women that are from villages that have the rings around their necks, went to a massive pagoda to see pictures of the festivals they have. We then went to a cigarette making shop where the ladies were rolling them by hand. Our final stop before our hotel was to see the Jumping Cat Monastery. To my dismay the cats are no longer jumping because here is too many tourists and they are too tired. Oh well maybe next time. Our final stop was to our hotel that is built up on stilts right on the lake. We ended up watching the sunset, having a few drinks and then off to bed for our flight out the next morning. In the morning we went around a local market to see all the types of food and goods they had for sale. I actually wish I would of stayed here longer as there was a lot more to explore….

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Kalaw

We left Bagan in the morning and drove to Kalaw. I am trying to find the best way to describe Kalaw, but it is hard. It is a very small rural type town, that is a starting point for many backpackers doing treks in the mountains. It reminded me of a small town in Colorado with an Asian twist to it. We pretty much just walked around the town and had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant owned by 7 sisters. We got to bed early because the next morning we started our trek into the mountains.

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Bagan

We arrived in Bagan at night and had two nights there and one full day. Our guide was an interesting one as he spoke perfect “textbook” English and pronounced his words very literally. I enjoyed our hotel here the most as you stepped out on the balcony and you could see all the pagodas off in the distance. Pretty much the whole day we just spent going around to the old pagodas and seeing all the shrines in them. We took a horse carriage ride around a small village to see how life is around there. We then went back to a main pagoda point where we got some brilliant snapshots of the sunset. I just wish it was not so hazy….

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Mandalay
We used Mandalay as a base for going to a lot of different places in the area. I can tell you that there is no shortage of pagodas or shrines in that city. We went to different places outside of the city mostly as we were there for three nights. We watched the sunset from a Buddhist Temple on the mountain, walked around the old fort in the middle of the city, went to a Buddhist Monastery to see how they lived there life and then our biggest trip was nearby to see what I call the land of 1000 shrines. There was literally pagodas all over the place that you would see everywhere. Another thing of interest was festivals they were having in which kids get dressed up with a lot of makeup and they are paraded around the streets. It was awe inspiring to see this happening as it does not happen that often. We left Mandalay in the early morning on a 12 hours boat ride down the Irawaty River to Bagan which proved to be too wild for me….

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Pyin-oo-Lwin
After waking up early and catching a flight to Mandalay, we went straight away to Pyin-oo-Lwin. This was a fairly small city that was a colonial hotspot during British Times as noticed by the architecture. They had a massive flower garden park area that we walked around with more Pagodas. We stayed in an old colonial style house which was rather nice. We had nice walks around the town to people watch and a walk through the market. An interesting place we went to was a Buddhist cave that had shrines probably close to 1200 meters back and some more shrines that mobs of people were at…

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A country that was under military rule is opening up to all….

Click here for return to Myanmar, Summer of 2018

Please note that because of picture sizes, I have this country segmented.  Click on the link at the bottom to go onto the next page

Myanmar….a place I have been waiting to go since my grandma talked to me about it when I was young.  I did have the chance to go here on Winter Break 2014 and i did not regret it.  I was with some friends from work and we flew in from Bangkok and had a prearranged tour waiting for us which was the smartest thing we could of done.  They picked us up in the Yangon Airport and we stayed our first night there.  It was a vibrant city with so much to do and see.  There are markets everywhere and the people are so friendly.  We went to Pagoda Temples, the main market and a huge Buddha statue that makes anything next to it look like an ant!!!!

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Life in Rural Japan was amazing

For photos on Traditional Festivals and foreigners doing sumo, please see-  Festivals and Sumo in Japan section

People in life often make many mistakes that they wish they can go back on. I have made very few in my life but made one that I still kick myself in the foot for this one. This big mistake that I made was leaving my job and life in Japan after only a year. I am still ashamed and angry that I did this!!!!

This great time in Japan was highlighted the minute I stepped off my longest nonstop flight. This flight was from Detroit, Michigan to Tokyo, Japan. We had our intake for the JET Program that I was a part of over three nights in Tokyo. It turned into a lot of boring seminars so one of the nights I decided to go out and do some street drinking which was a lot of fun. I also met the person who I was replacing and went out to eat with him…..

As I left Tokyo Haneda Airport for Akita Airport I noticed the scenery changing. It was changing from a city landscape, into rolling green lush hills…..

The town I was going to be living is was Omagari, and it was a part of a bigger city area called Daisen City.  I was actually pretty happy to live here as it was my most favorite place I have ever lived…the streets were clean, I rode my bike everywhere and the Izakayas and bars were in striking distance…

The prefecture (state) I would be living in would be Akita. Akita is a descent size prefecture that is more rural than urban. Its market is rice and sake making and is mostly and older population. Most of the young people have left to urban centers like Tokyo….

The school that I worked at was 大曲高等学校 (Omagari High School). Most of these kids were going into business or English fields and it was a very good high school. When you enter high school, you have the choice to go to a technical high school, an agricultural high school, a fishing high school, or the more prestigious schools which gear you toward other careers in university. This system has its benefits and drawbacks as you can imagine but it seems to keep society in check. I taught different English courses at the school and loved the students….

There was many activities to do in my prefecture.  I often played sports on a team of adults or sometimes even sports with students during school events:

Then there was skiing and snowboarding which I suck at and will never do again…..

You can do many activities including Samurai houses, seeing the beautiful landscape, trying on old samurai clothes, and visiting Shinto Buddhist temples…

If you ever get tired of the rural life, it is quite easy to travel there. You can jump on the Shinkansen (bullet train) and go down to Tokyo.  It is fun just to walk around Tokyo.  I went to the busiest intersection in the world and then went to the very famous counter culture section called Roppongi….

Or you can go to nearby prefectures like Miyagi and see all of the sites there including one of the three most picturesque sites in Japan Matsushima and head to islands where you can wash your money in hopes of return called Kinkasan….

I also went on retreats with the English teachers and their family to enjoy a hot bath called an Onsen (no pictures from here because everyone is naked), and eat a traditional meal and of course Karaoke….

Or of course go to the beach with a mix of foreigners and locals, adults and kids alike and play scavenger hunt games, bbq, sports, beer, music, and of course Karaoke…

However the main things I loved where I lived was the friends I made. It was a small town, so you meet people very fast. You can go out for dinner at Izakayas which are eating and drinking restaurant….

You also go out to work parties called Enkais in which you eat with all the teachers from your school and enjoy each other’s company. Please beware if the boss stays out, then you are obliged to stay out with him and if you have a headache the next day, you mention nothing of it…

Of course Karaoke is a must to do in Japan. This is as common as going to the pub in Britain, bar with friends in the United States or any social event in any country. Yes the Karaoke does get wild with a lot of drinking, but it was the most fun thing to do after eating and going to a bar. It was pretty much always the end for a few hours to a perfect night…..

The Japanese have always been very conscious about being clean. I think this pretty much sums it up with their trash collection system. In my apartment I had to divide up my trash. Burnables in one bag, aluminum in another bag, bottles in another bag, magazines and newspaper all bundled together, and miscellaneous in another bag. Then you had to put your name and apartment on it in case you have wrong things in each bag and they put it at your doorstep…..I wish other countries would try and copy this concept, but it is what it is….

Finally Japanese food is one of the most popular foods in the world. Based on how much weight I gained there, I enjoyed myself (too much). Much of the food I ate was traditional food and I did not even eat sushi all of the time…..

Would I go back to Japan? In a heartbeat!!! I would go back to the countryside of course as I have grown tired of cities. This is a place definitely to settle down in life!!!!!

Possibly one of the best kept secrets in the world-for Food!!!

What can I say about Georgia, from my first time arriving there in the Tbilisi Airport to my departure with a new friend I made that drove us around, I fell in love with this country, the food, the simple way of life, and the people…..I really believe that next to Greek food, that Georgian food could be one of my favorites.  Every meal you will find dumplings, pork, beef, beans etc etc etc…the list goes on.  Here is a gallery of food and drink pics in my time here.  Dont forget about the wine either.  It is unbelievable….

The scenery is also lovely out in the country.  It has such contrasting regions that it keeps you guessing, every turn you take around the bend.  I have a few snapshots of it….

I was here for quite a long time as I was with my friend Janne first and then with my friend Daniel.  I was in Tbilisi most of the time then in Kutaisi on two different occasions and then to Batumi by the Black Sea.

They say that first impressions are everything, and that was the case with being in Tbilisi.  I stayed at a hostel with Janne first time around, but quickly figured out that we are too old for hostels, so we booked possibly one of the better hotels that I stayed at with great food and customer service and centrally located.  The hotel is called Sultan David Hotel. Here you can book any excursion you want and also get a driver for short excursions or taking you to longer destinations.  When Daniel showed up we also stayed in that hotel and I will never stay anywhere else again next time I go to Georgia.  We pretty much walked around the city and saw all the sites.  We took the funicular up to the mountain where there was a rather odd amusement park and got a good view of the city.  We tried restaurants all the time and sat at cafe’s to sample beer and wine.  I will never forget this city as long as I am still able to remember!!!!

We did do some excursions outside of the city, which were mostly monasteries, some cave dwellings, and Mtskheta which is a UNESCO site.  The highlight of the visit for me was going to Gori which was the birthplace of Stalin and going to the Stalin Museum and just walking around the small yet quaint town!!!

I went to quite possibly my most relaxed and favorite small town in the world called Kutaisi.  The whole town is easy to walk around and there have two UNESCO sites-Galati and Bagrati Cathedral.  In addition there is also two very nice underground caverns to be visited and I went to them two times each!!!!  Other than that, the only thing to do in the town is relax, go sit in the park and have a beer and walk around.  A truly relaxing time…

We also took a car from Kutaisi to the seaside town of Batumi which is located close to the Turkish border on the Black Sea.  Again this was a relaxing time.  While our hotel was a long walk to the beach, it was a nice walk.  It is a very laid out city that could become the next big resort town in this region.  They have cleaned up the town quite a bit and it looks like a modern city.  It was fun taking the teleferico up to the top of the city and see everything. It is also nice just to take a walk down the boardwalk near the sea and just people watch.  Oh yea, don’t forget about a relaxing time by the sea….

Overall this was a damn good vacation, even though I did many sites twice, I never ever got tired of them at all.  I met some great people along the way that drove us around or just toured us around and it was great having conversations with locals about life there…..

A country with great scenery and beautiful women….

During my trip to Georgia, me and Daniel took a week out to get a car down to Armenia and see how it was.  We were literally pleasantly surprised.  The border crossing was no hassle at all and the drive even long was very pleasant through the mountains and towns:

When we got to Yerevan, we could not believe our eyes on how clean and centralized it was.  There were parks everywhere!!!!  There was art everywhere!!! And of course beautiful women.  We first stayed at a great guesthouse.  It is in striking distance of everything you want to see in Yerevan.  It is owned by Syadayan Family.  They have a little garden you can sit in and relax and have beers as well as a wonderful breakfast cooked to order.  The owner took us around town at night and was really a hospitable host.  The name of the hotel is Hin Yerevantsi.  I would highly recommend booking ahead of time as it fills up fast.  Pretty much in Yerevan we hung out and walked up and down the streets.  Went to the Yerevan Fortress where there is a great view of the city.  We also walked up the cascades to the top of the city and saw a great view of everything, and of course cathedrals.  At night you may want to walk down to the town square and see the dancing fountains as this city is really beautiful at night.

We did take excursions out of the city to go and see Monasteries, Castles, a tribute to the Armenian Alphabet, a cave monestery called Geghard, and the only remaining pagan temple in this country (which is the first to declare and make themselves Christian.

Of course the food here is close to Georgian dishes and is ranking up there as one of my favorites.  They have a drink called Capote which has fruits that have sat  in water.  I drank so much of this (besides wine):

We also took a few days to sit and relax up at Lake Sevan which is about an hour from Yerevan.  What is there to do here?  Absolutely nothing which makes it nice.  We just sat on the beach and dove a few times into the cold lake.  At night we would eat dinner by the water and try the local fish.  Of course bring your Russian with you as they speak that and Armenian the most.  The hotel we stayed at was a renovated Soviet style hotel right next to the lake.  It is called Blue Sevan, It is very quiet and on the other side of the lake from the noisy part.  They were great with customer service and went out of their way to make our stay pleasant.

Overall this country is great.  There is so much to do and it is just coming into its own as far as tourism.  I will definitely come back here.  Perhaps even to work….

A land of problems, but also a land of beauty and history

This post will be extremely hard to do as there is still disputed territory between the Palestinian Authority and Israel.  While I may piss some people off, I am going to do my best in trying to put cities and pictures where they belong.  It will not be easy, but nothing ever is.

First off, I really enjoyed my time in both Israeli parts and Palestinian parts.  I am hoping one day that they can bring peace to this area and live in total agreement.  I do think it is possible one day, but things always happen between negotiations and you always have external groups on both sides that end up causing problems and bring the populace into it.

I was with my friend Daniel on this trip and it is a person I have traveled with a lot.  We took a flight from Egypt to Tel Aviv that is not advertised online at all, and you can only book it through travel agents.  It is called Air Sinai and is operated on a wet lease agreement by Egypt Air.  Upon arrival to Tel Aviv, we were of course put in a room for about 30 minutes while they checked out to see why we have so many stamps from Egypt, then we were issued our card (no stamp in passport)

We took a shared mini bus into Jerusalem where I found out my computer was stolen in the Cairo Airport at security.  So I started the trip a little pissed off.  We probably stayed in what is arguably but surely the best hostel I have ever stayed at in the world called Abraham Hostel.  I would strongly recommend if you go to this city to stay here.  It is the cleanest I have ever been, even outdoing most hotels and the food was brilliant.  This place came with a bar, a restaurant area, and everything in between.  This is a place you could actually live in, and their message simply is “Stop Working, Start Traveling”.  They organized all of our excursions for us and are very efficient.  They also organize cooking classes:

The Hostel also organizes put crawls….but make sure you do not get up early in the morning as you will end up hating life and whatever you do the next day

Jerusalem by night was an amazing place as we walked around on Saturday (the holy day) and the city was a ghost town, but was nice:

It is also nice to walk around Jerusalem and just chill out and see the people:

Next day we took an excursion that jumped in and out of Israeli and Palestinian holdings.  We went to the baptism site of Jesus along the Jordan River that lies in Israel:

Hebron was an interesting city as we did a Dual Narrative tour of the city.  It is a city that is literally split in two-Palestinian and Israeli side.  We went around to some of the sites like the Cave of the Patriarchs and also the Abraham Avinu Synagogue.  We also took walks around the Israeli part of the town which has seen a decrease in its citizens because of the violence.  Very beautiful town but war torn-in the afternoon we crossed over into the Palestinian part:

The Biblical Zoo was a pleasant experience as my expectations were not high at all, but I really enjoyed how well it was kept and how it was set up:

The Holocaust Museum was obviously an eye opening experience.  We were not allowed to take pictures inside but on the grounds we walked through all the memorials of this tragic event:

A really neat excursion we took was on our second to last full day in which we hiked up to Masada way early in the morning.  Masada was an ancient Israeli city built up on a hill to prevent invaders from attacking.  I will say it is not a hill but a big mountain as the hike up was horrible.  However once we got up there we were able to see a beautiful sun rise.

We then went to the En Gedi Nature Reserve which is an oasis in the middle of the desert.  It has a lot of Biblical significance and is really a nice relaxing time walking around and seeing the beautiful waterfalls…

I can finally say I have conquered the Dead Sea.  I had been to the Jordanian part a year and a half earlier and now I was in the Israeli part.  I can honestly tell you not much is different between the two except that on the Israeli part….the difference is that more people were wearing less cover up clothes while swimming and the beers were cheaper:

Finally, what most people-Christians, Jews, Muslims, and even heathens like myself go to Israel for is the Holy City Tour.  This was located near our hostel and we saw everything here from Muslim Dome of the Rock, The Christian Church of the Holy Sepulchre, and the Jewish Wailing Wall.  There are also many other parts to see in this place and you can even take a walk up the Via Dolorosa where Jesus made his way up on his way to be crucified and you can see the stations of the cross, the final five being in the Church.  This was a great tour as you knock out everything in one, and it was awe inspiring to see so many places that have inspired world and religious histories…..

Why don’t people travel here?  They have so many great sites…

If you read my post on Israel, you will know that I am trying to be as geographically correct with this one also, as it is hard to ascertain sometimes where Israel starts and Palestine starts in some instances.  I would love to return to see some more of the Palestinian parts in the future as this was a very moving experience in my life….

The parts of Palestine I visited, I simply loved.  Albeit I did not see all of the war torn parts, but I saw what I needed to see and really enjoyed it and loved how friendly the people were despite many of the hardships.  I have a few Palestinian students and they requested some of the places that I should visit.  So I took their accounts into consideration….

After we went to the Jordan River, we took a trip to one of the most Ancient cities in the world Jericho, known for its Walls.  We saw the archaeological site as well as parts of the new city:

We took a ride through the hills and stopped at the Taybeh Brewery.  This is the only micro brewery in the Middle East and has some great beers all using German Style Methods.  I went overboard and bought a case(if you find a good beer, you indulge):

Next we stopped in Ramallah, which is the capital of the Palestinian Authority.  We stopped at the grave of Yasser Arafat, had a great Palestinian lunch and walked around the city center for a bit.  Truly my favorite city in Palestine and I would like to spend more time here one day!!!!

Our last stop of the day was of course Bethlehem.  The biblical city where Jesus was born.  We walked around the Shepards Fields of the Franciscan Custody as well as walls which are built up around the city to separate the two populations, and of course the church built over where Jesus was born in the manger, including the Church of the Nativity which is the birthplace of Jesus.  Very cool city and glad to see many people of all faiths walking around and enjoying themselves.

The next day we did the Hebron dual narrative which in the morning we went to the Israeli side and then in the afternoon we went to the Palestinian side.  Like I mentioned before this is extremely sad where a city is divided.  We had to walk through a checkpoint in order to get to the Palestinian side, but on the plus side we had a beautiful lunch of a traditional Palestinian dish called upside down:

Walking in the Palestinian side of the city I can notice a different vibe.  It was a clean Cairo type of city but has a tragic story behind it (as does the Israeli side), but it was nice to walk around the streets and see all the people enjoying themselves and listening to stories from people.  A truly moving experience:

The next day we went to the Northern West Bank that has seen its share of controversies.  We first went to the Church of Jacobs Well, the Tomb of Joseph, and the Jenin Refugee Camp that is run by the UN:

Next we stopped in the wonderful city of Nablus.  This city has very good Ottoman architecture and baths from the time of the Ottoman Empire.  It was fun just walking around the market and seeing peoples daily lives as well as enjoying time in the Turkish baths.  We had some wonderful desert called Kunafa as well as checking out a soap making factory…

Next we were off to Sebastia which is an Ancient Roman/Byzantine ruin site that is kept up pretty good.  I was unhappy to see the graffiti in Arabic on the old Byzantine church that said “No Go but Allah”, but that is besides the point.  We had a wonderful lunch at the restaurant there which I was happy with…

Finally we headed over to the Samaritan city which is only one of two in the world.  They follow an Abraham based religion closely following Judaism, which says they are the true ancient religion of the Israelis before the Babylonian exile.  it was interesting hearing their religious leader talk about the history and the hierarchy handed down over the years in which they kept pretty good records.  They hold Israeli, Palestinian, and Jordanian passports.  They also made some really good Tahini….

From the looks of it….I love this place!!!!

What do people first think of when they think of Romania?  Who knows, I have never asked anyone and I am sure they have heard of it, but many people do not know even where it is at.  Let me tell you it has been on my radar a long time and I finally got the chance to go here with my friend Lucian who is from Cluj….

First, just take a look at the great countryside….pretty green and old fashioned?  This is why I love it…

Me and Lucian took a bus up over night from Chisinau to Brasov.  Brasov reminded me of an old renovated medieval town (which it was).  We took our time and walked around to museums, sat on cafe’s and people watched, did a lot of hikes, and of course went a short drive away to Bran Castle aka Dracula’s Castle.  It was extremely crowded but a really neat place.  I believe in my opinion it is overrated, but I always wanted to see it.

Next we jumped on a train to Sibiu.  The train station is Brasov was somewhat of a depressing place but oh well.  We looked at the great countryside as we arrived into Sibiu at night and went out and had some of the best food of my trip!!!  The next day we went around and saw the town, went to a pretty good art museum and just of course sat at a cafe and people watched.  It was actually a pretty nice little town that I would like to spend some time in and relax…

We took a bus up to Cluj, where Lucian’s hometown is.  Pretty much here, he had to get ready to leave for his masters class so he did a bunch of errands while I just chilled out and walked around the town.  Went to a sauna one day, and just relaxed.  He took me to a bunch of nice restaurants that served traditional Romanian food that I fell in love with.  They have a great bar scene there with a lot of renovated old buildings turned into nice bars.  This is a place I could live for sure (If I spoke Romanian).

My last stop was taking a plane down to Bucharest to meet up with a friend from Cairo.  Matt had just moved there as he got a job at the international school about a month before.  I stayed at his apartment as it was one of the nicer apartments I have seen.  Pretty much my whole time here, I just chilled out and got ready for going back to work.  I did a lot of walking around the streets to people watch.  Usually at night we went to Lipscani which is an old artsy bar district.  I fell in love with this place as many of the streets are lined with old cobble stone with some funky themes for bars.  I also got to go to a football match between Warsaw and Bucharest.  It was damn crazy and fun….

I was also meeting my friend Olav from Norway there as his brother was fighting in a championship bout for boxing.  Olav and I did a bike tour of Bucharest around the park and then went out with Matt and some friends for drinks.  Lets just say it was a long night.  In the morning we rented a car and drove some hours to Galati which is an old industrial city on the the Danube River.  The town was pretty much an old depressing place but we were there for the match.  Unfortunately his brother lost, but we had a pretty fun time going around town and checking things out.

In the morning we drove back to Bucharest and dropped off the car and stayed in town for a night.  The next day I flew out after having drinks at the airport…..back to Cairo via Warsaw for the non memorable flight back…..and thus ended the summer of 13…..

Off the Beaten Path-Akita, Japan Festivals

Of course one of the main reasons I wanted to live in the Northern Japan prefecture of Akita, is because of the traditional festivals they have their. Along with the festivals, they also have a Foreigner Sumo tournament which I participated in.

Now it is time to introduce to the things that made this part of Japan so special and talked about in my Off the Beaten Path…..

HIburi Kamakura Fire Throwing Festival

Not quite sure the purpose of this festival was but it was pretty neat to watch. While it was snowing like hell, there were groups of people that would light crates with burnables on fire and swing them around from a string. While this does not sound like much, all it takes is for one person to slip or the rope to break and this crate goes into a crowd of people…

Innuko Dog Snow Sculpture Festival

I couldn’t call this festival the most drop dead exciting, but it was the most interesting in how it was set up. It was set up in a small city and they made dogs and buildings out of snow. I thought it was brilliantly done. There were tents of food all over the place where you can have some warm sake and also eat some hot ramen. It was snowy and cold out, but everyone enjoyed jumping on the ice sculptures of dogs and/or houses….

Kakanodate Float Festival

This festival was in the small town of Kakanodate which was two train stops away from my town. The festival was rather odd to me as it involved these huge floats which probably weighed a few tons and people on top of them. Some of the people were local adults and some were dancing children. I did not know the purpose of the festival but what I did find out was that it was different neighborhoods in the town that made the floats and run them into each other to try and get by. I reckon the winner is usually determined by which float makes the most damage or breaks it. Overall it was an interesting festival with mobs of people looking on…

Yokote Kamakura Festival

This was another snow festival (seems to be the same during depressing winter season). It was in the tiny town of Yokote where a few friends lived. It was another festival that found interesting things to do with snow. This one involved building huts out of snow and people cooking and offering you sake in them. The huts were very well formed as you would think that they would melt with cooking going on inside, but it did not as they were built very good!!!!! They also had other snow sculptures in the town like a beautiful Disney one and a snow slide. It was very hard to get clear pictures because of all the snow, but I tried my best…

Kiriwano Tug of War Festival

Tug of War is a game we used to play as kids with a simple 20 foot rope and X amount of competitors on each side. Seems like a kids game right? Well this whole town is involved in a Tug of War contest in which the rope at some points is about 600 meters long. Each side of the town decides to tug on this rope which in some instances in 3-2.5 meters around. Hard to get your hand around this? That is ok as they have little ropes coming out from this big rope. It is literally the craziest concept in Tug of War in which you will either get dragged up and down the street or drag a bunch of people up and down the street. I am not even sure who the winner was at the end as after about ten minutes of doing this, I was pretty worn out….but it was fun and I had a blast….

Omagari Fireworks Festival

This is not done in the winter, but rather the summertime in August. It is one of the biggest firework shows I have been a part of. It is an all day drinking fest at a part of my town I lived in Omagari in which people just eat, drink and get ready for the fireworks. We ended up staying out there all day and having a great time. The fireworks show lasted for a good hour and then afterwards we went out to a few bars and had a blast. What was good about this is that all the Japanese people cleaned up all their trash after and put it in a bin…now that is what I call a clean society….

Namahage Festival

The Namahage Festival was odd in that it was up in a small enclave up in the mountains and it involved a long standing tradition. The tradition was a scary story for kids. The Namahage as a demon that if kids misbehaved for their parents, would come and scare and hurt the kids. I went up in the mountains and I was about the only foreigner up here. There was a ceremony with some people offering something to the Namahage.   They then come out from the hills and run around the ceremony a little, then they do a dance while beating on drums. Finally they run around and the parents let them scare their little kids. Extremely entertaining festival as I love seeing small kids screaming at the sight of a demon yelling at them. No wonder why Japanese kids are so well behaved…..perhaps we should follow suit in the rest of the world…..

Takeuchi Bamboo Hitting Festival

Ranked by a website and by different websites as the 6^th to 8^th most violent festival in the world, this was defiantly a crazy festival. I have participated in the Running of the Bulls in Spain and thought this was way more dangerous than that one.

So what is this mysterious festival? Well it takes place in a town that is no more than a few thousand people. This village/town was located very close to the town of Omagari that I lived in. It seems that it has gone back hundreds of years. It says if one side of the village wins then the rice harvest will be good that year, if the other side wins, then the price of purchasing rice for people will go up (where they get these stipulations from is beyond me..probably old folklore).

So the whole point of the festival is to take 30 foot long bamboo poles that are like whips at the end and beat the hell out of the person of the town across from you. If for some reason you get dragged over to the other side, then they all gang up on you and beat the hell out of you!!!! The festival is usually done in snow and there is three rounds to it. When you hit the third round a huge fire gets lit.

At the beginning I gave a Brave Heart type speech to everyone on our side of the town (a bunch of foreigners and old people). We were all wearing helmets because if you get hit with one of these sticks, it will crack your head open!!!!! The first round began and all it turned into was a bunch of sticks intertwined. The only thing I remember is getting caught between two of them and choking for my life!!!! I am glad the police called that end to that round because it was a tough round. I looked something like Mankind when he was caught up in the ropes during a match and was still able to give Shawn Michaels a Mandible Claw

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The next round was the crazy round….we started off hitting each other with these sticks and all I remember is seeing one of my friends getting dragged over and the shit beat out of him. I was not going to go over to the other side in fear that I was going to get beat so I grabbed an old man’s stick and tried to drag him to my side, but I was unable to get him over. Then they called the round and the fun began for me…..

Third and Last round they lit the fire in the center and now it was time for fun. I remember I started hitting certain people with my bamboo stick and a few minutes into the round I accidentally went to the other side because I thought a person from my side was in trouble (a guy was wearing the same jacket as him), bad move because as soon as I got over, I was jumped by five guys who beat the living shit out of me. They pulled my jacket over me as I could not breathe and were pulling my hair out and hitting me. When I fell on the ground because of the snow I was kicked soccer style in the face. It ended up cracking half of my molar. I was able to get out to my side as the police called the fight….

It was an experience….people from both sides were hurt and we spent the rest of the night celebrating at an Izakaya and drinking and eat

Gaijin Sumo

Have you ever wanted to Sumo Wrestle but are under weight to do it?  The answer is to join a Foreign Sumo tournament for charity in Japan.  I got to do just this while I was living there.  It was fun but rather exhausting and dangerous.  I got pooled into a pretty tough group and we had to have a run off for our matches, because we all tied.  I ended up hurting my knee in one of my matches and eventually lost, but it was an experience that I will gladly be able to do again, if my poor knee holds up….

Can I ever stop going here?  Not in the near future….

For more on Greece visit the page Greece with AIS Students

I am not sure what keeps dragging me back to Greece over and over again.  It is not my favorite country in Europe, but definitely is right up there.  I would of never known that going to Athens my first time in 2005 which i detested it.  But I have grown to like it.  I have been there 6 times in total-4 on vacation and 2 with students which is far from vacation.  I will break this down into five parts which is from the six times-Athens, Corfu, Meteora, Island Cruises, and Mykonos.  I guarantee I’ll return here like I always do.  It is not a matter of if but when….

The first time I visited Athens, I was not overly impressed with it at all.  I found it dirty and disgusting, but after trips there on the next few times I fell in love with it.  There is so much to do there and in the vicinity-Acropolis, Archaeology Museum, New Acropolis Museum, Plaka etc.  You will literally never run out of things to do here at all as it is an exciting city….Pictures speak louder than words….

What can I say about Corfu?  I misplaced my camera, so I just got the Toga Party Pictures which was a wild night.  I like the houses on that side of Greece as they are more Croatian/Italianesque looking.  It was a fantastic little island with good food and toga parties…

Mykonos is an island I have been to on the Greek Island Cruise, but also this time was for a few days of staying in a disgusting campsite.  Good news is that we were  near to paradise beach, so no hauling around the island.  If you like good parties, this is the place to go and hang out as it gets wild.  If you like nude beaches, then also go here, however nude beaches are not my kind of thing, especially when you wake up on the beach after a nap and you are surrounded by naked people everywhere!!!!

Meteora is a place that has always fascinated me, so I thought, why not take a trip there.  It is ways away from Athens in north central Greece and his one of the most important Greek Orthodox Monasteries.  Many of them are high up in the cliffs and the hike up there can be a bit daunting.  It is very picturesque and I had a blast climbing around up there and seeing how the monks coped with life there.  If you are a James Bond fan, then a part of the movie For Your Eyes Only was filmed here.  I just wish I had a better camera:

For some reason I have decided to do the same Greek Island Cruise two times in my life about 9 years apart.  The only difference was that the later time I was a lot more calm and got to see many of the sites that I didn’t see last time on the excursions.  The cruise line I travel with and love so much is Louis Hellenic Cruises.  We went to the following Greek Islands (also including Kusadasi, Turkey):

Mykonos-Love the way this town is set up with the windmills and the little windy streets.  You are sure to find good food here and a nice walk along the water.

Patmos- St. John was said to have written the Book of Revelations from the Bible here.  It is a quiet little town and island with not really much to do except relax.

Rhodes- Made famous by the Colossus of Rhodes.  This walled city is great to walk around and the archeology museums are great.  You can also take a trip to the country side which is very nice.

Crete- The first official European Civilization with the famous bull jumpers is seen here.  The archaeology site is not much to see and was rather disappointed, but I have heard the museum is great with all of the artifacts.

Santorini-probably one of the most popular items with the picturesque view of the white cliffs.  You can literally go anywhere on this island and there is a picture.  A point to note is there is a nice hike around a volcanic crater across the bay as well as a thermal pool.

Some nice pictures of the time on the cruise: