Treading a fine line between "cool" and "wanker".

So, being so close to Albania, how about another day trip? A bit of prior rummaging on Google indicated that there was a ferry to Albania from Ohrid.



Unfortunately...

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Catch up! A delayed picture review of Chişinău in Moldova. Moldova, Europe's least visited country!

St. Theodor Tiron Convent (no information available! Or indeed directions, as it was not marked on the local map I was given. Verily, tourism isn't a thing in Moldova.



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Russia and Ukraine side by side. But which one is Ukraine?



"Probably the half-naked one" (Lovely O who met up with us for a drink on the last night - she's Ukrainian, from the contested region as it happens.)

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Back to Budapest. I'm on a quest to visit every country in Europe, but Budapest is one place I have no objection to visiting again and again - I love the place!



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It's Spring in Luxembourg City!



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Ahhh, Petra! The Rose City, the ancient (312 BC) capital of the Nabateans. The full nature of these people, who left no surviving literature, is somewhat mysterious. Petra itself was forgotten and lost to the Western world until 1812, when a Swiss Explorer learned Arabic and disguised himself as a Bedouin to infiltrate the city. Which at that time was a secret place inhabited by Bedouin, who had woven their own stories about the place and it's origins - not to mention rumoured hoards of "Egyptian" gold and treasure.



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The famous Mermaid of Copenhagen... the poor girl has been decapitated twice, had an arm forcibly amputated, her throat's been cut, she's been drenched with paint several times, dressed in a burqua or two, made to brandish a dildo and even blown up and cast into the harbour. Not bad for such an iconic statue. Seeing the mermaid was another strike from my childhood bucket list of things around the world I wanted to see but never thought I would.

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"I'm on the phone!" Ladies in the churchyard of the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa.



Addis was our last stop of the trip, but before we got there, we spent a day or so in Bahir Dar and an opportunity to see the Blue Nile Falls.

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Our local guide in the Simien Mountains had come to this conclusion based on the many tourists he had guided over the years...

"The Americans and British just want to see the birds, the Italians just want a discount, and the Japanese just want to take a quick snap and jump straight back on the bus."

Arf! Never a truer word spoken, but many people do come to Africa specifically for the wildlife, and while I had come to Ethiopia for the architecture (and food) many in our party were looking forward to the Simien Mountains and a spot of twitching,...

Hooded Vulture in Debark (1)


And indeed, the land was very rich in birdlife. In fact, literally within minutes of arriving at out first hotel in Gondar I spotted an interesting specimen...and whipped out my camera to snap it...

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Each photo has been given a number, as I can only identify (or mis-identify) a few of the creatures photographed, the numbers are there if anyone wants to identify the culprits. The first person to correctly identify all of them, (and I will check using the power of google,) or names more than anyone else, will be sent a souvenir brought back from Ethiopia! (Don't get your hopes up.)