There’s no place like home!

It’s been some time since I’ve been in touch but I just got the writing “jones” to update any of you interested peeps. If you’ve kept up you might know I’ve been traveling in Europe and North Africa for a little over 9 months…a welcome relief. But it is wonderful to be home… Today I went out to the Bay in the sun/rain and managed my mocha and donut at the Little Marina Green kiosk. It was a spectacular day with high tides, sailboat races, and lordy, lordy…a double rainbow. OK, the second rainbow is pretty faint but, nevertheless…

I recently returned from Ethiopia where I traveled with a tiny group of four, including my neighbors Janet & Julian and a doctor from Australia who had been volunteering near Addis Ababa for a few months and was on her way home. She wanted to get a flavor for Ethiopia before returning to Oz. Our guide was terrific, knowledgeable, and charming.

Eyob Awraris

Our party which consisted of our guide, two SUV’s (with drivers) and four travelers initially traveled from Addis Ababa to the north arid area by plane.

Here is the ancient and sacred city of Axum (Aksum) where we were fortunate to arrive for the annual Hidar-Tsion celebration…festival of St. Mary who is the most revered religious figure for the Ethiopian Orthodox. Ten’s of thousands come from all over Ethiopia to join in the celebration. The Ark of the Covenant is said to be housed here…as the Smithsonian says: “Queen Sheba visited King Solomon in Jerusalem three thousand years ago, and the son she bore him, Menelik, at age 20 visited Jerusalem, from where he brought the ark of the covenant back to Aksum.” It’s been in Ethiopia ever since, according to legend. No one has seen the ark and there is only one keeper where it is housed.

It reminded me of the “tomb of Daniel ” in Samarkand where periodically they extend the sarcophagus as he evidently grows in length only. They will soon have to expand the actual walls of the building where he resides. Again, no one ever opens the sarcophagus.

Other amazing sites we saw were the 11 carved churches in Lalibela: Much of Ethiopia is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. At the end of the 12th and beginning of the 13th centuries, King Lalibela of the Zaghwe dynasty built (with the help of angels) a series of rockhewn churches, considered as one of the wonders of the world.