gasiorr
michtraveler Joined: August 31st 2008
Logged in: December 28th 2011
Logged in: December 28th 2011
Travel Blog Posts
Matera
Waking up early seemed like a reoccurring theme during our journey through Italy - today was no exception - we were up early and packed heading to the Naples train station. Even though it was the early morning, the humidity was probably 100%, but Grace and I have adjusted to (read learned to deal with) the weather in the South. We were headed further south: catching a five hour-long train to Bari and a transfer to a local train to get to Matera, another 2 hours. If you've never heard of Matera, it is probably because the town is small and not easily accessible. Grace and I could have chosen an even smaller town or the large touristy city of Palermo in Sicily, but we opted for Matera. The country of Italy is shaped like a ... read more
Capri Town
The alarm went off at 6:00am. I resisted the urge to snooze for an extra eight minutes of sleep. Why am I getting up so early, I asked myself? The only window in our room at the hostel showed that it was still dark outside. The other five roommates were still asleep. Slowly, but surely, I climbed out of my upper bunk bed and woke Grace to get ready for the day. We tip-toed around the room hoping not to wake anyone at this ungodly hour! Today, we are headed to the island of Capri and to save money, we were catching the early ferry - 10 Euro versus the 17 Euro ferry departing an hour later. We were up too early for the free breakfast provided by the hostel. Therefore we left the hostel a ... read more
Frozen in time
Mt. Vesuvius towers over the skyscrapers of Naples and is the only active volcano in mainland Europe. If it were to erupt, many lives would be lost along with their homes. The Italian government has tried to persuade residence to move away from the vicinity of the volcano with a relocation incentive of 30,000 Euros, but these incentives have not been successful. An eruption would be catastrophic for the 600,000 people residing within seven kilometers of the volcano. The last eruption occurred in 1944 and the current lull, the longest in the past 500 years, has scientists worried. Grace and I decided to conquer this giant and climbed the 860 meter trail to the summit. The mere 860 meters wouldn’t be difficult if Grace’s flip flop had not broke. The few threads that were holding her ... read more
Piazza del Plebiscito
A week and a half after my trip to Lebanon, I was in the air again, but this time to Europe! I haven't been to Europe since my last visit to Poland in the summer of 1999, so I was very excited for this trip. Italy has held the number one place on my list to visit (along with Egypt, but obviously that has be satisfied) and I was still trying to comprehend that I was actually going. I was meeting my friend, Grace, from college. We would explore southern Italy for a week before we would head back to Rome to meet up with two other college friends, Maple and Cat. Maple is coming from the US as part of her vacation. Cat was fortunate enough to get a summer internship with the American Consulate ... read more
Living a Glamorous Lifestyle
Beirut, the Paris of the Middle East, as it has been previously called seems to be reclaiming the title. The New York Times has ranked it #1 on its list of 44 places to visit in 2009 . What is it that makes this a must-see place? People walk around the streets with a bandage on their nose and bruised eyes as if it were trendy. Move over L.A.! Beirut is the new Silicon Valley of the World. You need one nanny for each child you have. The nanny usually wears a "nanny outfit." Also, you can be spotted in public without your nanny taking care of your child! Who will feed, carry, change the diapers of the baby?! The nanny only hands over the baby so that you or your girlfriend(s) get several photo opps. ... read more
Crusader Castle
About 40 km north of Beirut, you will find Byblos or Jbeil, the oldest inhabited city in the world. Historians estimate that the first settlers date back to 6000 B.C. After investigating my transportation options, I decided to head to Jbeil by public bus. The journey takes about an hour, but depends on traffic and on the way there only cost me $2 or 3000 Lebanese Lyra - my taxi ride to the bus station cost more ($5)! Officially the bus goes to Tripoli, but you can ask the driver to drop you off on the highway at Byblos. The bus itself was comfortable and had functioning air conditioning, essential with Lebanon’s humidity. The drive to Byblos is pretty amazing because you drive at the foot of the mountains with apartment buildings built on the sides ... read more
AUB Campus
Boarding the plane to Beirut already gave me a glimpse of what the city would be like - fashionable people, young Lebanese children speaking in English or French, instead of Arabic. Women were dressed in sleeveless tops and skirts above the knee - attire that would be frowned upon in Cairo and/or would attract some unwanted attention. The fight to Beirut is short, only taking one hour. The city looks gorgeous when flying in because it is located on the Mediterranean Sea and the mountains are in the backdrop of the city’s skyline. Upon arrival, I was greeted by Hadi, whom I meet while he was visiting Cairo and a soon-to-be graduate of the American University of Beirut. Stepping out of the air conditioned airport I was immediately hit with Beirut’s humidity - it is definitely ... read more
In one of the Egyptian Newspapers
Just a couple weeks late in posting this... News cameras and journalists flooded the hostel to interview the residents trapped inside the morning the quarantine was finished. They were definitely trying to find a story that would set them apart from the rest of the news agencies. I overheard reports asking students "Were you scared?" or "Were the living conditions horrible?" etc. The students honestly responded saying that they weren't scared and that they were provided with good living conditions. I wanted to respond to them "It’s only the flu, not the Black Plague!" What annoyed me with this entire situation was the fact that it had no logic or structure. Certain people would walk in and out of the building, while all the residents and service workers were quaratined! But it's finally over! Once we ... read more
Cairo Tower
Cairo is one of the megacities of the world. Not only does it have 20 million inhabitants, it is also one of most densely populated cities in the world, around 10,000 people per square kilometer. Since my friend was visiting Cairo, we decided to check out the Cairo Tower, which provides great views into every direction of Cairo. With an entrance fee of 65 LE for foreigners, it was expensive for me based on my Egyptian salary. However, it was completely worth every piaster. Here are some photos. Enjoy!... read more
Moqattam (Zaballeen community)
About two months ago, I made a site visit to the Zaballeen Community. Zaballeen means garbage collectors/people in Arabic. I went along with two AUC students, who are a part of the program that I manage. The students in the program must partner with an NGO/CBO to work and develop a student led project within the community. The community lies just outside the city limits of Cairo and has very few visitors. The taxi driver was even unsure of its location and had to stop along the road to ask pedestrians for the right way. Turning onto an unpaved road, we could already see the mounds of garbage piled up. Entering the community I realized the attention that we were receiving from the locals not only because we were strangers but because we were in a ... read more
