boy was i exhausted after albania, but i had a fantastic time.  i traveled back up to montenegro to spend a day and a half of rest.  i really needed it and my time in bosnia has been more enjoyable for it. 

i have only been to two cities in bosnia i hercegovina, but it has been an incredible and educational journey.  i had a fabulous tour in mostar that was basically the best tour i have ever had.  sarajevo has been very incredible as well.  these people have endured a lot during the past two, three decades.

my trip is coming to an end.  i have mixed feelings about returning to the states, but looking forward to visiting with friends and family.

i had a great time with besard, a new albanian friend, in tirane.  i didn’t do much, but we saw the sites, walked around and watched people, and i even got to catch up with a friend that i met in costa rica three years ago.  tirane is a weird city.  it isn’t very attractive, but the people are very good-looking…well…at least a lot of them.  ha, ha.  albania is such a poor country, but everyone seems to be driving a mercedes or bmw.  let us not forget how well dressed everyone is.

the landscape is very beautiful too, but i found myself having difficulty enjoying it, especially on the drive from shokdra to tirane, and tirane to gjirokastra.  i think i have just been really bothered by the poverty and poor living conditions here.  it is a completely different world than in croatia or montenegro.  albania has really been hit hard by the past.

gjirokastra is absolutely gorgeous though.  atop the city sits a beautiful but poorly groomed castle with cobblestone streets weaving in and out of old houses underneath.  it was a beautiful day today.  i was able to appreciate the scenary much more today.  i went to a few old houses and had a little tour.  fascinating.  i stayed in this little guesthouse with some very friendly albanians.

right now, i am in sarande and it is deserted.  ha, ha.  offseason.  what can i do?  tomorrow, i will travel to butrint to see the old city, hang out in ksamili, and then head up north, maybe to berat.

i am surprised at how much albanian i remember (even though i know very little).  it is nice to be eating byrek and albanian cheese again.  yummy.  i missed it.

albanian really is the land of bunkers.  they are everywhere!!!  what were the commi’s thinking?

wow!  montenegro is absolutely gorgeous.  i left dubrovnik early monday morning on a bus for kotor and the day greeted me with lots of rain, but by the time i arrived in kotor, the skies began to clear and the sun was shining brightly over mountain tops surrounding the boka bay.  spectacular.

the first day, i met a girl from australia who happened to be a nurse as well.  we hiked up to the top of st. ivan’s fortress and caught the scenary of kotor from above.

the next day, i took a tour around a few cities.  we went to this village where the famous leader of montenegro lived.  i have already forgot his name, but i am very interested in this man.  the people respect him greatly, and i found that i began to respect him.  then, we went to lovcen national park.  afterwards, we went to this adventure park where i got to swing and climb obstacle courses in the trees.  i felt like robin hood.  it was fun.  then, we went to the old city of cetinje, ate byrek and saw a monastery where apparently john the baptist’s hand was kept.  after that, we traveled down to budva and hung out by the sea.  all very gorgeous cities.

on wednesday, i caught an early bus to the north of montenegro near the bosnia border to go rafting in the tara canyon.  i finally got some homecooked food and oh was it delicious.  i had been so sick of eating out, especially when i was in dubrovnik.  it was a pleasant surprise.  that night, i just relaxed.

the next day, i got up, ate breakfast, and headed to the river.  i was the only american there.  it was me, and a bunch of ukrainians.  i had a nice time though.  the water was cold, the color green and blue, but the river wasn’t as exciting as i would have liked it to be.  it was a pleasant experience though.

that afternoon, i ate lunch, and caught the bus back to kotor.  it was a long day of traveling.  the next day, i got up and caught the bus to ulcinj to travel to albania.

now i am in tirane, albania….i finally made it.  it took me a couple of years, but i am finally here.

left split yesterday on a bus south to dubrovnik.  it was a long bus ride, but a beautiful one.

dubrovnik is a really gorgeous city, especially the old city.  it reminds me a lot of akko in palestine.  it juts out into the sea with high ancient walls and its narrows streets hugs its inhabitants.  it is rather enchanting.  i spent the day walking around and visiting sites.  i saw one of the oldest jewish synagogues in europe.  i saw an excellent and emotionally moving photography exhibition called war photo limited about conflicts around the world.  i hate war.

later on that evening, i went out with some people from the hostel for some drinks and jazz music.  there was an irish girl with us so we ended up at an irish pub.  i was telling them about the circumstances in which i met those crazy south africans in split, and all of a sudden, they showed up.  it was classic.  they were in true form as well.  ha, ha.  good times.

today, the weather has been less than average, so i went for a long hike up some mountain and caught the scenic view of the city from above.  then, bought some groceries and lounged on a park bench.  groceries are ridiculously cheap here compared to eating out.  i wish i could say the same in the states.

hope everyone is doing well.

well, i said my goodbye’s to sara and hamdan, and headed to croatia via ferry on monday evening.  i am not a seafaring person.  i had to sleep on the deck because i couldn’t handle being inside.  ha, ha.  it was a big boat too.

i arrived the next morning to a beautiful croatian city on a beautiful croatian day.  croatia is truly wonderful.  mountains in the background.  a city old and new.  crystal blue waters.  extremely attractive women.  i ain’t complaining. 

spent the last couple of days hanging out on the beach in split, taking in the view and the cool water.  split has a neat old city.  it was diocletian’s palace back in the day when the roman emperor came over to dalmatian to chill.  i went to hvar island yesterday with some hilarious south africans and it was equally gorgeous.  these south africans were doing a rally through europe.  the end of the journey is croatia.  two of the guys got locked out of their car and resorted to selling sexual lubricant on the street in croatia to spend their time.  they were hilarious.  other than that, i have been spending my time with some music students from edinburgh university who had been in bosnia for a week long camp. 

tomorrow, i will travel to dubrovnik to see the sites and hang out some more.

just a quick update: i arrived in rome last thursday.  it is an incredible city.  i spent the weekend there with my friend irena eating italian food and enjoying the historical and artistic sites.  on sunday, i traveled by train to ancona to see my friend sara.  ancona is a port city on the other side of the italian peninsula.  the sea and mountains in this area are absolutely gorgeous.  i have been spending a lot of time outdoors with sara; hiking, swimming, and walking around the old city.  in two days, i will be traveling to croatia and beyond.  ciao.

parker is having a wonderful time in germany.  the weather is fantastic, and the company even better.

on thursday, rahel picked me up from the airport, and we traveled to a lake outside of berlin.  apparently, it was the hottest day in germany this year.  i guess i brought the weather with me.  the lake was packed and crowded with screaming kids and germans with terrible tattoos.  the water was lovely though.  afterwards, we ate dinner, and went to meet some of rahel’s friends.  we went to this little restaurant/dance hall that had been in existence since the 1920s.  then, we met up with her friend at a little bar and had an intense political discussion until 4:30 in the morning.

on friday, i slept in a little bit, and went into the city to meet helene.  before that, we went to alexanderplatz and i looked at a wonderful exhibition about the gdr and the people’s resistance movements during that time.  (i have grown very fascinated with what happened here around 20 years ago, especially after seeing what is going on in israel/palestine.)  we hung out at a little cafe and i had an amazing david rio chai with tiger spice.  yummy.  then, rahel, her friend from switzerland, her cousin, and i went to a night club to listen to her neighbor play trumpet in some band.  it was interesting.  not sure i really like gypsy music though.

on saturday, i went to the fuck parade with helene and her friends.  the premise: protest the tearing down of a certain part of town to build skyscrapers.  the reality:  alternative people walking down the street listening to techno music and drinking beer.  ha, ha.  hung out with helene the rest of the day and had a fabulous time.  we went to a thai restaurant after the parade and had a delicious meal.  they served us this plum wine and it was fantastic.  later on in the evening, helene, her friends, and i went to some old house for a funk party.  the music was alright, the atmosphere fantastic, but i was tired and left early.  always fun hanging out with helene when she has had a little bit of alcohol in her.

sunday, went to a family gathering with rahel’s family.  awkward.  then, went siteseeing by bicycle.  fabulous day.  rahel had a little crash on the bike, so the tour ended early, but i ended the day by playing german games with her and her cousin, and having a couple of drinks in town.

berlin is a great city and i would love to return, which i probably will.

on monday, i traveled to leipzig to visit olga.  yeah!  it was so good to see her.  we hung out at her outstanding apartment in the center of the city, then went to a lake for dinner.  i had a german sausage.  (waiting for the gay jokes on that one…)

today, olga and i walked around leipzig and saw a few things, including the monument of the battle of nations when napoleon lost his first battle in leipzig.  then, we went to a swimming pool and hung out.  it was a nice relaxing day.

tomorrow, back to berlin.  i am ready.  but first, maybe i will make banana jumbles for olga and matthias.

so, a lot has happened in the past week.  my apologies for not updating, but the wordpress site was not working in cairo.

after dahab, i took a long bus around the southern tip of sinai towards cairo.  it took forever and it was a very uncomfortable ride.  i found a hotel and checked in.  then, first stop, the pyramids of giza.  i decided that i wanted to be a tourist, so i took the camel package.  expensive.  got ripped off.  it was worth it.  cairo is such a huge city.  busy.  polluted.  crazy.  but, i liked it.  the pyramids are located outside of cairo in the giza district, which is a little bit more impoverished.  the pyramids are gorgeous and quite impressive.  i have a hard time fathoming how old they are.

afterwards, took the bus back to the city and met some friendly egyptians.  interesting conversation.  the egyptian dialect is very difficult for me to understand.  i made due though.  later on that evening, i booked a tour to the south.  i considered staying in cairo and hanging out, but decided to do the tourist thing.  the next day, i went to the citadel, an impressive structure, visited old cairo, khan al khalili market, then went to the egyptian museum to take a gander at some mummies.  we were rushed a little, but i got to see a few things.  the egyptian museum was the highlight.  there is just so much to see, and the mummies are impressive.  thousands of years and you can still see hair.

cairo is like new york…on cocaine.  people are everywhere.  smog floats above the roof tops.  the traffic is terrible.  it isn’t as pretty, but it has a beautiful quality to it, especially when the sun is setting and you look out over the city with mosques and churches rising in the background.  very nice.  that evening, i caught the train, after one failed attempt, to aswan in the south.  it took 14 freaking hours.  ridiculous.  then, after relaxing and showering, i went to the high dam and phillae temple.  the high dam was a rip off, but the phillae temple was very nice.  it was located on an island in the nile.  after the tours, i took a little boat ride to a nubian village.  we swam, saw an interesting plant that recoiled when touched, held a crocodile, and ate some delicious kosheri.

the next morning, at 3 a.m., i took the bus to abu simbel, which is like 3 hours south of aswan.  it was an impressive temple with lake nasser in the background, but the bus ride there was terrible, especially at that early in the morning.  that afternoon, i hopped on the local falucca, a.k.a egyptian sailboat, and cruised the nile.  this was my favorite part.  i just sat on the side of the boat and enjoyed the sun, wind, and water with green palm trees on the banks and the sandy desert in the background.  very enjoyable after traveling so much.  i ended up being the only one on the boat because the others canceled.  i was a little disappointed by this, but it turned out alright.  i had a good time singing disney songs and bob marley with my new nubian friends.  let’s just say it was an interesting day and a half on the falucca.  we didn’t sail much the next day.  they said the wind was too strong, but i think they were being lazy, but no worries.  i hung out on the nile.

the next day, caught a bus to kom ombo and edfu to see some temples, and finally to luxor.  i didn’t enjoy luxor as much.  it was so touristi and i got hassled by the locals so much.  everyone is wanting to sell you something, even if you are not in the mood to buy.  this day and the next day, i visited a bunch of temples, including the luxor temple which is supposed to be half the size of manhattan, valley of the kings and queens.  the tombs underneath the mountains were really interesting.  at the valley of the kings, you could only visit three tombs, but i managed to visit four.  i bit off a portion of the ticket to hide the fact that i had been to three.  clever parker.  at the end of the day, i was worn out.  i can only visit archeological sites for so long until i am completely bored and khalas.  visiting all the temples is expensive too.  every place has an admission ticket and everyone wants a tip.  khalas.  that night, i hung out with some friends and then caught the 10 hr train back to cairo.

broke my camera in cairo.  i was careless and it fell.  it is still working, but the shutter won’t close.  damn it.  saw saqqara though, the oldest pyramid.  fascinating.  afterwards, relaxed, packed, and went out to eat with a friend.  we waited a long time to be served, but the lamp chops were amazing.  i guess that it is what i get for being blonde.  ha, ha.

cairo airport.  what a mess.  i won’t even go there.  i eventually made it through and i am not in berlin.  went swimming at a lake and took a nap on the beach.  it is so quiet here, which is quite a contrast to cairo.  i will miss the middle east, but it is nice to have a break.  hope this is a sufficient update.

saturday, we got back from the colored canyon a little early, and decided that we didn’t want to wait until four to catch the bus to dahab.  public transportation isn’t very reliable in sinai. 

dahab is really nice.  the beach and the sea are very beautiful.  dahab is a little more catered to tourists, but is still low key.  there isn’t much in the city, but there is a lot going on on the boardwalk.  it is incredibly cheap as well.  i am staying in a hostel for 10 egyptian pounds, which is around a couple of dollars.  matthew, mona, and i walked around and hung out on saturday.  i met some natives of cairo, and i ended up joining them for dinner.  we ate at the funny mummy.

oh…and the moon is great here.  rising off saudi arabia it is red and menacing, but as it climbs quickly, it grows to a bright white and lights the sky and sea. 

yesterday, i went to the blue hole to go snorkeling.  it was amazing.  i thoroughly enjoy snorkeling, but it started to get very crowded with tourists.  the guides were clear: do not touch the coral.  no one listened.  it is a shame.  the coral here is absolutely spectacular.  there isn’t a lot of industrial pollution so it is relatively undamaged…except for the tourists.  met some a great couple from holland.  very friendly.   

i was going to go to mt. sinai last night, but wasn’t feeling well, a.k.a. the hershey squirts.  ha, ha.  so, i pushed the travel date back one day.  i will go tonight.  i am looking forward to it.  we leave at 11 p.m. and hike three hours to the top to see the sunrise.  very excited.

right now…just chilling at a restaurant on the beach.  another gorgeous day with the sound of waves rolling in on the rocks in the background.

so, i had an absolutely great last night in palestine.  i went to roberto’s for a delicious dinner with good friends, and then afterwards headed to taboo for some party time.  we laughed, drank, and danced the night away.  it was lovely.  i will miss everyone greatly. 

then, on thursday, i headed to eilat and then made my way to the sinai via the taba border crossing.  i was surprised at how easy it was to get through.  they didn’t ask me any questions.  a much more pleasant experience than flying out of ben gurion.

on the egypt side of the border, things run a little bit more slowly.  a guy took my luggage and started to push my things.  i told him in arabic that i would do it, and he didn’t listen to me.  then, he asked me for 10 shekels.  i refused.  i have a feeling i am going to have to do that a lot.  then, at the station where they stamp your visa to get into the country, there was no one working.  people were just waiting.  so, i talked to a few people and they eventually got me and my friends through quickly.  we bypassed a lot of people.  ha, ha.  a different world.

my first stop, nuweiba city.  i got a nice little bungalow on the beach for about 20 some egyptian pounds with some new friends.  we walked around the city and had a delicious meal of rice, vegetables, soup, and fish.  very nice. 

today, we got up, ate breakfast, hung out, walked along the beach and then went snorkeling.  absolutely gorgeous.  it is my first experience snorkeling and i really enjoyed it.  afterwards, we ate a big lunch, secured a trip to the desert early tomorrow morning, and then napped on the beach.  still not sun burnt.  ha, ha!

tomorrow, desert trip to colored canyon.  then, we will travel to dahab for a couple of days to hang out and see the sites.  dahab has been highly recommended, so definitely looking forward to it.  while there, my friend and i will be traveling to st. katherine’s and mt. sinai in the morning.  excited about that. 

i have been having some good discussions with an american about the situation in israel/palestine.  he has been living in ashdod and has gotten one story, and i have been happy to inform him of the other.  on the border, i met some people from south africa, and they were there to pray for israel and the peace of jerusalem.  yeah, those kind of christians.  i asked them if they had visited bethlehem or the west bank.  they hadn’t.  i asked them if they were aware of the christian population in palestine that has for the most part been neglected and forgotten about in the western world.  they hadn’t.  so, i took the liberty to give him my little schpeel about what was going on.  i would have liked to talk with them more, but they moved me through the border crossing quickly.  oh well. 

in a few days, cairo….i think i want to buy a camel and take him back to the states.