This was gonna be a "Vacation Post", but now it's mostly just "Vacation Pictures".
Hey, LJ.
I am not a traveler (I bore easily and so long trips -- and by that I mean anything over about 15-20 minutes -- are just not my thing). I am pretty much content to continue seeing cool things the way I have for years -- through the magic of books, tv and the internet. It's been a good system and has served me well my entire life.
And then I decided to go somewhere. People were shocked. "What?" (Going away!), "Why?" (Because I can!) "Where?!" (You will see) , "No really... what are you going there for?!" (See questions 1-3) and things like that. You say you're going to the beach, people don't bat an eye. You say you're crossing the ocean, there may be slight eye-related battings. Tell people "Hey guys, I'm gonna pop over to The Middle East for a few days!" and well... eyes bat constantly.
I figured I had the money (the new job is better than the old one in may ways, the least of which is that I work more hours for more money and get way more back when it comes tax time), I knew someone who lived far away, my birthday (for which I have not done anything special since I turned 5) was coming up and there were things happening in other places that I was interested in seeing, so... why not?
I had a longer write-up in the works, but then a technologically illiterate friend just stopped by with the serious issue of "Hey, how do you load music onto my MP3 player?" and got in the way of that... so here are pictures. Words to follow.
I saw the country... coming (daytime) and going (night)
Also the Alps, Greece and Greenland
The airport was pretty cool. It had an indoor ceiling fountain thingy.
There were tons of cool arty things.
Some pretty neat buildings.
Some cool old churches.
Lots of markets and market-type things.
A lot of water.
I also saw these guys. They're pretty good.
In summary. I spent 10 days in Israel. Stayed in Petah Tikva with a friend. Visited Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Walked... a lot. Ate... not so much. Got a lot darker. Walked some more. Took 1700 pictures. Rode a lot of buses. Made friends with a few cats. Saw Depeche Mode. I also managed to make it back in one piece. Good times all around.
I am not a traveler (I bore easily and so long trips -- and by that I mean anything over about 15-20 minutes -- are just not my thing). I am pretty much content to continue seeing cool things the way I have for years -- through the magic of books, tv and the internet. It's been a good system and has served me well my entire life.
And then I decided to go somewhere. People were shocked. "What?" (Going away!), "Why?" (Because I can!) "Where?!" (You will see) , "No really... what are you going there for?!" (See questions 1-3) and things like that. You say you're going to the beach, people don't bat an eye. You say you're crossing the ocean, there may be slight eye-related battings. Tell people "Hey guys, I'm gonna pop over to The Middle East for a few days!" and well... eyes bat constantly.
I figured I had the money (the new job is better than the old one in may ways, the least of which is that I work more hours for more money and get way more back when it comes tax time), I knew someone who lived far away, my birthday (for which I have not done anything special since I turned 5) was coming up and there were things happening in other places that I was interested in seeing, so... why not?
I had a longer write-up in the works, but then a technologically illiterate friend just stopped by with the serious issue of "Hey, how do you load music onto my MP3 player?" and got in the way of that... so here are pictures. Words to follow.
I saw the country... coming (daytime) and going (night)
Also the Alps, Greece and Greenland
The airport was pretty cool. It had an indoor ceiling fountain thingy.
There were tons of cool arty things.
Some pretty neat buildings.
Some cool old churches.
Lots of markets and market-type things.
A lot of water.
I also saw these guys. They're pretty good.
In summary. I spent 10 days in Israel. Stayed in Petah Tikva with a friend. Visited Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. Walked... a lot. Ate... not so much. Got a lot darker. Walked some more. Took 1700 pictures. Rode a lot of buses. Made friends with a few cats. Saw Depeche Mode. I also managed to make it back in one piece. Good times all around.