Lalibela at Last!

Me, posing in front of Bet Giyorgis (Church of St. George), the most iconic of the Lalibela churches.

Ihave been waiting for this day to come for months! I was so excited when I woke up this morning!

I was up before the crack of dawn today and was eating breakfast by 6:45a. We had to have our luggage ready for pickup by 8:30 and ready to leave for the airport by 8:45. We had a plane to catch to Lalibela at 10:45a.

Afternoon in Aksum. Stelae and Church.

The Stelae Field.  Pat in the foreground - she was my scale model.

After lunch, we headed to the main stelae field to take a closer look at the famed cluster of obelisks. Getting of the van, it was also our first taste at the souvenir vendors who approached each and everyone of us, shoving one item after another for us to look at and buy. I've faced this enough times that I know to not make eye contact and just walk on.

Morning in Aksum. Palace and Market.

Ruins of the Palace of the Queen of Sheba.

Today's travel destination was Aksum. Aksum is both Ethiopia's ancient and religious heart. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage site because  its contribution to global cultural heritage.  A good description of the city can be found on UNESCO's website.

Addis Bound!

Church of Maryam (St. Mary) on Entoto Mountain.

Travel days are both exciting and boring at the same time. The flight to Addis was scheduled to depart at 10:15a. I was up at 5:30a and quickly got ready for the long day ahead of me. I had stayed up til 2a last night and though I was groggy when I woke up, I was too excited to even linger in bed. Up and about, I handled my last minute chores which included washing up some glasses from last night before shutting off the main valve to the water. After the flooding fiasco following my Baltics trip, it's now deeply etched in my travel brain to turn off the water before I leave!