Vienna is probably best known for its high culture: theater, opera, classical music, dance and museums. The center of the Austro-Hungarian empire for hundreds of years, we weren’t actually interested in seeing the cultural side of Vienna. Perhaps we’ve been in the “bush” too long, but I couldn’t really picture going to the opera in my chaco’s and convertible safari pants. Maybe that’s just me.Lucky for us there is a lot more to Vienna than it’s high culture.
Vienna is called a “green” city, and when you look at the map it’s not hard to figure out why. Our first day in Vienna we took a hiking trail, accessible by public transportation, which wound through mountains and into …

We landed in Berlin bleary eyed after getting up at 2 o’clock in the morning for our flight. (Danny never went to sleep) and immediately something was different. No less than 10 minutes after getting off the plane, we stood in line to buy train tickets, customs and immigration completed, luggage in hand. Right on schedule the train appeared, opened it’s doors and we were whisked away to the center of Berlin. It worked like clockwork. “German efficiency, welcome to Europe,” I thought.
There’s a lot to see and do in Berlin, but first on our list was actually the Egyptian museum. Crazy, I know, considering it has been two weeks since we stood in the …

At the convergence of the Blue and White Niles, Khartoum seems to straddle an invisible line separating sub-saharan Africa from Arabia. Geographically it may not be so, but there is a certain cultural divide that comes together with the Niles. White robed men linger in the souk with their brightly dressed East African brothers while women from the west and the south- their faces scared by ritual cuttings sell delicious tea (chai) on the side of the road. Khartoum is in many ways a reflection of Sudan’s place in Africa, it is the largest country with perhaps the most visible regional diversity on the continent.
Khartoum was lovely. We spent nearly a week camping by the banks …

This is probably the most African city in Africa. It is big and loud. Sidewalks run incomplete into beautiful buildings. It is among the 5 largest cities on the continent yet there is a donkey that eats grass out of the road median near our hotel and today we had to walk around a flock of sheep being herded the opposite direction. It is where the Africa of old meets the Africa of new.
Addis is unique in Africa for the same reason Ethiopia is unique in Africa. Ethiopia is the only country in Africa never to have been conquered or colonized. Every other country we’ve been to on this trip, including our own USA, is …