NatGeo Place of the Week

To spice up my fading blog, I thought I'd add a widget...what better than something from National Geographic?! Every week, you can read up on and travel in spirit to some foreign place - maybe somewhere you've been...or maybe not. I am pretty certain that every locale featured will be somewhere I'd like to travel, so I will definitely start checking my own blog each week now....lol.

Enjoy!

Something to Ponder...or not...

...I don't know why this question came to mind and it's not directly related to travel, but...

When is an acquaintance no longer an acquaintance, but a friend?

I feel whatever criteria I subconsciously used before to make such distinctions have only become blurred as I've grown older, or maybe it's a part of living the expat lifestyle where everything is transient....?

Would be interested to hear people's thoughts on this....

Sailing and exploring the island of Elba, Italy - June 2009

Sailing. It's simply awesome. There's nothing more peaceful than being on the water, the rumbling motor off, with a good wind and full sails, just gliding along with no set agenda. This is the second time we've had the fortunate and unique opportunity to sail with my good friend, Jaap. Because he is a certified sailor, or captain, he's able to charter sailboats himself; meaning we don't have to hire a crew to sail us around, which also means very low costs for what is usually an expensive activity, and complete freedom on the boat. In Europe, there are several companies which rent out sailboats from various ports and this year's trip started in the port of Follonica, Italy. Destination: the island of Elba. For you history buffs, you will know it as the island to which Napolean was exiled for a couple of years. En route to Elba, we also passed by the island of Monte Cristo. (Note: the boat pictured above is the boat we sailed on; Aulona, was her name. Sleeps 8 people.)

The added special bonus of sailing is that you can reach uninhabited islands and secluded, less populated locations that you often cannot reach without a boat. We often anchored offshore and swam to the beach (sometimes to find that wearing bathing suits was not the norm)! What a nice workout! I am so thankful to have had this opportunity again and am thinking of taking formal classes to learn how to sail myself. Thanks, Jaap!

Elba. It's a gorgeous, rugged island with the most friendly locals that I've encountered anywhere. At bars and restaurants, the locals spoiled us with freebies. Now, in many places around Europe and elsewhere, staff will offer you a digestif or something supposedly on the house, but it then shows up on the bill. Not here. The bar and restaurant staff/owners at 4 different places showered us with melon wrapped in prosciutto, battered shrimp, meat platters, fruit bowls, a bottle of muscat, and more! Unbelievable. Typically, in such smaller, traditional towns, the villagers are a little "anti-outsider", but we didn't get this feeling whatsoever. It was fab. These handouts may also be, in part, due to the abundance of these yummy foods on the island, but perhaps also due to the fact that there seem to be few tourists in Elba.

The island is full of rustic, delapidated buildings that I just LOVE, as you will notice from my numerous photos of the subjects. There is something about the old, colorful doors, red-tiled houses, steps, and bougainvillea-adorned buildings and fences, that I am intrinsically drawn to. There is a sweet charm to these scenes. This island is not special in that, given that these characteristics describe many old villages and cities throughout southern Europe.
In truth, many of these rustic buildings are actually falling apart due to lacking funds and priority to maintain them. You will rarely come across such delapidated places in northern Europe (also due to a difference in architecture and climate). Regardless, these old, lovely places make for great photos :) I can honestly say that, if I ever live in a climate which supports bougainvillea, they will also adorn my home :) I simply love them and think they are one of the things in the world, which epitomizes simple 'beauty'.




















So, here are the rest of my photos from the week-long trip. We didn't get as much sailing time in as on our Spanish sailing tour in 2007, primarily due to uncooperative weather/winds, but the trip was great nevertheless. Also, FYI, there are a few photos in the beginning from Pisa and a few in the end from Florence. I was in Florence in 2002, so I hardly took any this time.

See also the short video below for a bit of the smoother sailing! Arno was steering the boat in this video.



For anyone visiting Italy, I highly recommend Elba and, in particular, Portoferraio (also where Napolean's domicile is). You can take a ferry to Elba from the port of Piombino, just south of Pisa (there are regular trains from Pisa to Piombino).

Vevey, Switzerland - a stunning place for a wedding...

The first weekend in May, we traveled to Vevey, Switzerland for a friend's wedding...it's just over an hour by train from Geneva on the large lake, Leman, not far from Lausanne. It also happens to be the home of Nestle!

Vevey is simply stunning. The view of the snow-crested Alps on the lake is magnificent. With such a landscape, the town must at least try to match its beauty - which it did quite well with its voluptuous gardens and lovely buildings.

Some of my favorite photos are below. But for more photos of this beautiful place, as well as the wedding, click here.

For Ever Let This Place Be a Cry of Despair...

and a Warning to Humanity...some words from the memorial at Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration and extermination camp (which is comprised of 3 massive complexes spanning 2 neighboring villages in Poland).

The sheer cruelty with which we humans can treat our own kind is appalling and disgusting and so many other things. Physically being at Auschwitz-Birkenau on a paradoxically nice Spring day left me speechless. I did not feel the need or want to talk, but only to try to absorb, to feel, to reflect on, what actually happened there.

This blog post is dedicated to the millions who were persecuted, tortured, and murdered at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the largest of its kind under Nazi Germany, as well as in the many other camps (and elsewhere under the Hitler regime).

This post is dedicated to the millions worldwide - past, present and future - who are persecuted, tortured and murdered because of their race, culture, creed, ethnic origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, or other propagated reason....may their human lives be remembered...

Will we as a human race ever learn from such events, prevent future grave catastrophes??? I am not so optimistic on this point...

For photos from my visit, click here (I have put in titles to explain some things).

Yeah, so the post, or topic, may be considered "depressing", but this happened and similar atrocities continue to happen around the world, so instead of brushing it off as depressing for being a downer topic, face up to reality and reflect on our humanity for a bit...I am 100% glad I went, even on an Easter weekend - it was moving and memorable. I highly recommend that if you are ever in Poland, or in a country where such atrocities occurred, to visit the site and to remember those people who lived and who were persecuted, tortured or murdered because of something so immaterial...

There are a quarter of a million registered nudists around the world

In the first of my inter-travel posts, see below an article on the plans for Germany's first nudist hotel....

How far would you go to be 'one with nature'??

____________

The house rules of the planned hotel
Access to the hotel is reserved exclusively to followers of the nudist movement
By entering the hotel grounds, guests agree to comply with the binding house rules
Guests are obliged to be naked inside the hotel precinct
Sexual harassment will not be tolerated
Sexual acts are strictly prohibited in the common areas
Photography and filming are only allowed with permission of those photographed

For the full article, go to: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7978656.stm

A new post, for the sake of it

It has been over three months since I last wrote, namely because I haven't been anywhere to really write about. Well...I did travel to Brussels two weekends in a row (3.5 hour train ride), but since I have one or two posts on Brussels already, I chose not to write on the city. Although, what I can say about this lovely Belgian city is that I only recently discovered what a nightmare it is to navigate the bloody place. Every time I've been, I walked the streets with someone who was living there and knew her way, but left to my own devices on the most recent visit, the city was truly a maniacal maze...and I've been in my share of labyrinthine European cities!

Anyhow, I was thinking today (prompted by a friend's blog post that, of late, the bloggers he follows are not writing much new stuff) that I'd add something new to my blog. Since it's a blog on travel, I thought I'd stay within the parameters and add an article or news piece related to general travel, on a more regular basis. Thus, in between my own travels, there will still be something interesting or fun to read. Let's see if I can keep this up!

I will start with posting something in the next couple of days since this post in effect satisfies the condition of updating my blog :-)

Despite the relatively quiet past 3 months in terms of travel, we do have some very exciting travels coming in the Spring/early Summer!

If all goes accordingly, we will be traveling to Poland (Warsaw and Krakow) over Easter weekend to visit friends. A little less than a month later, we will be traveling to Geneva for a friend's wedding (I haven't been to Switzerland since 2002!)...then, I will be headed to the U.S. in mid-May to take care of some wedding planning and to have my bachelorette. A month thereafter in June, we'll be heading out on a week-long sailing trip with friends along the southwestern Italian coast and the island of Elba!!!

This sailing trip is a repeat of the one from Mallorca to Ibiza and back in 2007 (refer to earlier post on this). I am simply so lucky to have a dear friend who is a certified captain, meaning we can charter sailboats without having to hire a crew! It's ridiculously affordable and nothing short of fabulous.

What great things to look forward to! I need these things to keep me going in this dingy, cold and windy Dutch weather.

That's all for now, but stay tuned for another post soon!

Guatemala 29 December 2008 - 09 January 2009

Several months ago, we planned a trip to Central America. With a connection flight between Guatemala City and San Jose, Costa Rica canceled, we decided to instead just focus on exploring Guatemala.

After quite the adventure and illness following the Congo trip, I wasn't very keen to go to Guatemala. Thankfully, it is just developed enough that it wasn't so much of a hassle. Not to mention, I could apply my deteriorated Spanish skills that I had studied so long to acquire... :)

Guatemala is not a destination if you desire any kind of luxury or a nice beach holiday. Go to Costa Rica if you want that. I had actually never backpacked for an extended period of time, but that's just what we did throughout Guatemala. It was mostly relaxing and easy-going with only a small amount of stress related to coordinating travel times between various cities.

Our 11-day journey took us from Antigua, a former Spanish colonial stronghold, to the Lago de Atitlan and Panajachel which are surrounded by 3 inactive volcanoes, to the Tikal Mayan ruins, along the beautiful Rio Dulce and then to Livingston, a Caribbean Garifuna town only accessible by boat.

The weather was generally perfect and warm, with the anticipated humidity in the jungle around the Tikal Mayan ruins in the North. The highlands were a bit cooler, but nice as well.

Along our travels, we encountered many indigenous Mayan people - the women all wear beautiful colorful clothing and the Mayan people today still speak a form of the ancient Mayan language! Very cool. I always think it would be so neat to learn one of these ancient, hardly spoken, languages...(however, I still need to improve my Dutch, so I don't think I will start that anytime soon).

Last and certainly not least, the trip will forever be a memorable one because my dear Arno PROPOSED TO ME in front of one of the Tikal Mayan temples!!!!!!! It was so romantic. There was nobody else around, we were sweaty from walking in the jungle, but Arno could not have picked a better time and place to ask. A wonderful event :)

Enough of the talk, though, click here and enjoy my photos!!!!!



















<< this little girl was so incredibly cute in her little handcarved wooden canoe that I had to photograph her. How many 5-7 year olds, or so, do you know canoe as a means of livelihood????

Photos from the Congo

Well, this post - like others - is a bit belated and will be short because there is no way I can include all of my insights and reflections in this one posting. Besides, many of you who read this have actually heard some of my thoughts from the trip.

Anyhow, it was an amazingly insightful trip and I am glad to have gone, despite getting malaria and a stomach parasite (both of which are gone now). It's an experience that may not be surpassed in my lifetime...

So, enjoy the photos. I don't have a lot of MSF's clinics and patients in the photos, but may add more in the coming month or so from a colleague's camera which I used from time to time.

Into the Heart of Darkness

The Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad...I still remember reading it for one of my high school IB English courses and recall the horror, the intrigue, the curiosity it provoked in me with regard to the mysterious, the unruly Congo. The name alone conjures images of jungles, gorillas and all things WILD....At the time of reading that book, I had no idea that I'd actually be able to travel there....

Next week on the 26th, I am going with a very experienced colleague from MSF to visit some of our projects in the Katanga region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)!!! I am thrilled to have this opportunity to go with MSF and explore what kind of work we're doing there, as well as some of the country, as this is my first time into the 'heart' of Africa. Refer to the link to a map below - I will be traveling, roughly, in the area within the black circle.

MAP of DRC

Yes, it is a country which has been plagued by war and dire poverty for many years and a country in which there is still an ongoing war and extreme poverty. The current conflict which has been all over the news recently is localized in the North Kivu region to the northeast (closer to the border with Rwanda and Uganda). This conflict is several hundred or even a thousand miles from where I will be (keep in mind the size of the Congo is approx. 1/4 of the size of the U.S.).

We'll be spending most of the 11 days in the 'bush' with no means of communication except for satellite. We'll be looking at how the MSF programs in Dubie and Shamwana are running...I will encounter malnourished patients, patients with cholera, tuberculosis, malaria and a number of other diseases or ailments. You can imagine I've had tons of vaccinations to prepare!

The prospect of this trip is both exciting and scary and will surely be an eye opener into the peoples' lives and what MSF is doing to help those in need there. I fully expect I will be very humbled by what I witness and experience...seeing suffering with one's own eyes, rather than through the television will be...emotional, to say the least.

On a less gloomy note, the added bonus of this trip is that we end with a day or day and a half in Lubumbashi where a good friend of mine is living, so I get to see her! :)

Anyhow, stay tuned for photos! I will try to take as many as possible.

Hruba Skala, Czech Republic for my Friends' Wedding

About a month ago, my good friends, Ida and Eric, got hitched. Ida is Macedonian (that's near Greece) and Eric is an American who has lived abroad for many, many years. I met Ida first because she was in my Master's program at Leiden University and I obviously met Eric through her. Arno has also become good friends with them so we were very happy to attend their wedding in the Czech Republic (sadly, I have missed several other good friends' weddings in the U.S. in the years I have been overseas...).

The wedding weekend had a medieval theme - we stayed in a lovely castle, called Hruba Skala, for the entire weekend in the Czech countryside about 1.5 hours from Prague. It's a beautiful countryside, too. The rock formations in the area of the castle have been wonderfully sculptured by the water over the years (check the photos - they don't capture how cool they are). The area has a Narnia or Robin Hood kind of aura.

Needless to say the weekend was splendid. In true Balkan style, there was a wonderful feast and party the night before the wedding. Festivities included: roasting a lamb on a spit; music from a medieval trio; flame breathing and juggling; belly dancing (see above - I am in the top right, my betrothed friend is in the middle); general wild dancing, and drinking some strong spirits, of course...great fun.

The wedding night was a BIT tamer. The highlight - aside from the very interesting Czech wedding ceremony which was translated into English for everyone - was the gorgeous fireworks set off from one of the castle terraces. It was a perfect setting, reminiscent of Romeo & Juliet, the version with Leonardo de Caprio and Clare Danes - anyone remember that one?



So, congratulations once again to my friends, Ida and Eric, and I wish you well in this new chapter of your life :) Thanks for keeping us in it! :)

Please enjoy my photos by clicking here - the first few are in Prague and the rest are from Hruba Skala castle and the forested surroundings.

Our trip in July to the Cote d' Azur in France

Well, it's officially September and the end of summer, at least here in Europe where the skies turned cloudy precisely as August came to an end on Sunday. The last weekend in August was great, though - some of the best weather we've had here in the Netherlands all summer! Imagine living somewhere where it rains, drizzles or is cloudy the majority of the year, no exaggeration. We probably have 50 sunny days a year here! Anyhow, I digress...

My point was, it's officially September and I have yet to post photos from our July trip to the south of France. We drove from Amsterdam which took approx. 14-16 hours. We stopped in the middle somewhere in the middle of France in a very cute village (these are the dark, rainy photos in the beginning of the slide show). Fortunately the bad weather only lasted that one day, while we were still enroute...

We rented a place from one of my colleagues in a lovely mountain village called Sainte Agnes. It's apparently been rated by some French tourist/gov't board as one of the most beautiful villages in France (it is very close to the Italian border and at the base of the Alps overlooking the Med. sea). I must say, it is indeed one of the most beautiful villages I have ever seen in Europe. Moreover, this lovely and difficult to reach village (narrow road with treacherous curves) has some history as it was one of the main defense points on the Maginot line during WWII. There is a huge bunker built into the cliffside which was really cool to explore...before that it was established in the Middle Ages (there are still some ruins).

From Sainte-Agnes, we took short trips down the mountain to Menton, Cannes, Monaco or Monte Carlo and Grasse (the perfume capital).

It was very nice and relaxing to say the least! I wasn't very impressed with Cannes or Monaco, so if you ever head to the south of France, I highly recommend trying to see some less touristy towns or villages. Better yet, take a sailboat out and enjoy it from a distance :) Next time we head that way, I will be sure to avoid them...they were gritty and trashy (save of course the strand with the expensive, top-brand stores, which are also not very appealing to me)! Picture the Ocean City boardwalk....not the image I had in mind for Cannes.


















The three photos on this page are from Sainte-Agnes. The bottom one is the view from the backyard of the house where we stayed.

Anyhow, don't take my word for it. Explore for yourself if ever in the neighborhood!

Here are some more photos for you to enjoy!

Cycling from Amsterdam to Beijing (no, not me!)

A few friends of mine know these two Dutch girls who decided to embark on a cycling trip from Amsterdam to Beijing to make it in time to watch their friends row in the Olympics.

Isn't it amazing - can you imagine doing such a trip??

I thought I'd share their blog with you because I am simply impressed. The blog is in Dutch and English...they have just crossed the Chinese border.

http://biketobeijing.blogspot.com/

This site has more photos on it (it's in Dutch but you can click on the different stories to see the photos)
http://www.nrcnext.nl/projecten/fietsenpeking/

Enjoy!

Cheers,
Melissa

Belated Stockholm post

About a month ago, I traveled to Sweden to visit a former classmate and friend, Chiara, who is presently living in Stockholm. It was midsummer's festival weekend, although none of us knew exactly what that signified in terms of celebrations. We heard of this dancing around a pole singing songs thing, but I really had an all-out, all-weekend cultural festival in mind (a la renaissance fair or something with lots of beer). As part of this midsummer's festival, Swedish people tend to head to one of the many islands to camp.

So, we did the same. Upon arriving in Stockholm's very cool underground, cave-like train station, I met up with Chiara and we immediately headed to meet our other friend who had flown in earlier, Frank, at the ferries who was patiently waiting with our mountain of goods. Our destination was the island of Vaxholm, about 45 minutes by ferry from the city. We were on a boat, the weather was sunny, fairly warm, with a mild wind...the only thing missing? A beer, of course! The beers were a whopping 14 euros (that's approx. $USD 22)!!! I've been to Oslo and I knew Sweden is renown for its high price tags, but I had no idea a medium-sized beer would be so incredibly pricey! I guess that's why my friends *smartly* pre-prepared our drink supply, buying from the local supermarket.

Upon arriving to said island, we hauled our luggage to a campground - it has been years since I've camped (in fact the last time I camped was in good ole VA and, while hiking, my friend and I encountered a bear!). Chiara had thoughtfully pruchased two nice tents for the whopping low price of the equivalent of 30 euros a piece.

Funnily enough, the instructions were in English with a Swedish touch. They were very clear, but the final sentence in instruction pamphlet was classic! It said "Erection complete.Congratulation." Isn't that hilarious? It almost seems that it was intentional. Oh, and how could I forget - just as we went to erect our tents, a major downpour of rain bombarded us for an hour or so. Luckily enough and not anticipating the rain, we were able to share a nearby tent with some very nice and interesting Swedish people who did anticipate the rain.

We had an extensive intercultural dialogue lasting a good few hours throughout the night, which included me trying their herring in various sauces (the Dutch are also known for their love of raw herring and I had not tried it until this point! Sorry, Arno). Admittedly, the herring drenched in Thai sweet sauce was not so bad! The Dutch tend to eat their herring whole, completely raw, with no sauce, and sometimes with a bit of onion....

As I soon learned, the Swedish midsummer's festival is nothing more than a time to relax and celebrate the official start of summer with family and/or close friends, involving celebratory activities, such as pole dancing and singing, wrapping ribbons around the pole as they sing and dance, eating some herring in sauce and drinking schnapps (or your other preferred liquor. They practically drink themselves to the next day - I would say until the next sunrise, but the sun never really set (due to its location far north in case you hadn't heard of this phenomenon). This was truly bizzare and completely threw off my sleep cycle for the entire weekend. The sky at 2:00 in the morning was like dusk - the sun looked like it was setting, but it never dropped over the horizon. Needless to say, the evening and night was enjoyable. It included a bonfire, more intercultural dialogue, and volleyball in the sand.



















>>This is the sky at about 2am and this is how it stayed until the sun rose completely about 2 hours later.

The next day, we headed back to Stockholm by bus rather than ferry (yes, many of the islands are connected by bridges including the city of Stockholm itself which is comprised of several islands). We spent the time gearing up to watch the EuroCup match of Netherlands v. Russia, which we decided we'd watch at the Dutch Embassy (we had 1 Dutch person in tow and 2 residents which was sufficient for entrance). Good thing, too, the beer was only 2 euros as compared to the 14 euros we'd have to pay elsewhere. Unluckily enough the NL lost to Russia in a devastating game...on that note, we headed out to sample some of the trendy Stockholm nightlife.
As this was a short weekend trip for me, I flew out the next afternoon - but not before having a terrific lunch and stroll through the Gamla Stan - the older part of the city.

The trip was short but very informative and fun :) I'd like to visit again sometime and especially to check out more of the Scandinavian nature.

For more photos, click here!

To the south of France

Travel update: I travelled to Sweden a few weeks ago which was a very nice time - I will post photos sometime soon. However, the latest travel news is that Arno and I are preparing to leave in approximately 12 hours to drive to the south of France where we will spend the next 10 days. We're staying a village called Menton (pictured below), which is not far from Monaco, Nice, Cannes, etc.!














___________________________________________
It's my first time to the south of France and I've been wanting to go here for many many years. We'll also head a little west to the famed region of Provence! :)


I hope to have some great photos from this trip! Stay tuned!!!

I wish you all a wonderful summer and vacation if you're going on one!

My Mosaic

I saw this on some friends' blogs and think it's neat. I noticed that with many of my answers, several of the same photos appeared...mine are very nature-oriented...

Follow the simple steps to create your own!

a. Type your one-word answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.

b. Using only the first page, pick an image.

c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into a Mosaic Maker.
I used this one http://bighugelabs.com/flickr/mosaic.php


Here are the questions, and my answers:

1. What is your first name? Melissa
2. What is your favorite food? Tex Mex
3. What high school did you go to? Clarke County
4. What is your favorite color? Ocean blue
5. Who is your celebrity crush? Johnny Depp
6. Favorite drink? Glass of cold water
7. Dream vacation? Secluded island
8. Favorite dessert? Betty Crocker cake
9. What you want to be when you grow up? Happy and carefree
10. What do you love most in life? Life itself
11. One Word to describe you. Longing
12. Your flickr name:

These are the titles of the photos coming up from my searches in flickr for the above questions.
1. melissa, v, 2. combo fajitas at Ted's, 3. Rural Athens, GA, 4. Blue Ocean, 5. Johnny Depp, Pirates of the Caribbean, 6. glass and ice, 7. north island beach, 8. passover torte, 9. carefree, 10. Call of the Raven (formerly Nature's Special Effects), 11. The Shadow...

May trip to U.S. - Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach, NC

<<This photo of Al and Natalie on the riverboat before the reception was taken by the wedding photographer. It's a great photo! :)

A few weeks ago, Arno and I made the transatlantic flight to the States once again, but not just for any occasion. My brother, Al, was set to marry his long-time love, Natalie, in Wilmington, North Carolina.

After a few days in VA spent recovering from jet lag (I still haven't mastered this), we embarked on a 7 hour journey southeast to the beautiful North Carolina coast.

All of the families stayed in beach houses on Wrightsville Beach for the week, which was really a grand ol' time. Not to mention, it was simply relaxing to be able to wake up each morning to see the waves and empty beaches. It gets me every time (and I know many of you can relate!)

Anyhow, the week ended with the big shabang - my brother's wedding. It was very, very sweet. I can't (well, I can) believe that my slightly younger brother is married before me! :)

Please enjoy the photos from the week. Unfortunately, the inside photos did not come out so well...thank goodness there will be photos from the photographer!

1. The guys' fishing trip (photos courtesy of Arno)

2. Photos from the rest of the week


In other travel news, Arno and I booked a trip to Central America in December - to combine with our visit to the States for Christmas!!! I am super excited. We'll start in Costa Rica and head up to Guatemala in the course of 3 weeks. :)

Tunisia - 2 year anniversary

In mid-April, Arno and I celebrated our 2-year anniversary! Wow! ;) To commemorate it, we booked a rather cheap trip to Tunisia in North Africa. Tunisia is known - in short- for its old Roman and Byzantine cities and ruins, such as found in Carthage and elsewhere; beaches, and the desert (some of the Sahara desert is found in Tunisia).

The flight to Monastir is only 3 hours from Amsterdam, and we stayed near a coastal town called Sousse (about 2.5 hours south of Tunis, the capital). It was my first time on the continent of Africa and my first time in an Arab country. The primary language is Arabic of course, but French is also widely spoken. While we were indeed in Africa, I will not consider myself as having really been to Africa until I travel more into the heart of the continent...
Regardless, the trip was fun and a nice taste of north African culture (this brief experience also warrants a trip to Morocco at some point in the near future). We enjoyed wandering around in the souks of the medina in Sousse. It was really what I had envisioned...lots of little vendors, objects hanging from above crowding out the light, the smell of fresh spices everywhere, etc. etc. There is also a very beautiful and ancient mosque in the center (entrance to mosque is pictured below) which is a couple thousand years old...the old stones certainly give you the feeling you've stepped back into biblical times - I can only imagine what Jerusalem and other ancient cities are like.

Since we were in Tunisia for only a few days, we just spent our time exploring the old part of Sousse and hanging out at the beach (not complaining!). On our next trip, however, I would like to travel into the desert and go for a cheesy camel ride or two! :)

Click here to see more of my photos and what I'm talking about...

More photos of the apartment

Here are a few additional photos of the apt.

Below: the nook for Arno's office...there used to be a closet here but we thought taking out those walls would make better use of the small-ish space. Arno's desk fit perfectly!

The photo with the blue walls is in our bedroom. We basically stuffed that wardrobe into the space there, lol.

The last photo is our extra room which we haven't decided yet how to use...I think it will just stay that way, as an all-purpose room.

Before and After photos of our Apartment!!

Here is a link to photos of our apartment. There are lots of before photos and a few after photos. I need to take some more 'after' photos to do it justice.

Link to Apartment photos

We had to stucco several walls, sand all of them a lot, paint at least 2 coats on each, lay in our floor and stain the floor! We stained it a dark brown color, with a reddish hint in it.

Thanks to Jan, Arno's dad, for all of the help!!

Bedankt, Jan en Jose, voor jullie hulp en ondersteuning!!

We replaced 3 doors with arches to open up the apartment. They look great!

Here are some more to give you a taste:

We have since hung up a lot of pictures and things so it changes on a weekly basis almost! I will add more photos of the other rooms soon.