Trip to Algeria : Paris

 On my trip back to the US, I spent two days in Paris to see this iconic city during the holiday season of Christmas and New Year… I have not done that in the past so this was long overdue. I picked a hotel near Notre Dame to enjoy the various festivities going on this time of the year.. However, the weather has not cooperated at all, it is was COLD 🥶 !! So cold that I was forced to take more coffee breaks than usual. My initial plan was to try to see the renovated interior of Notre Dame, but the sheer number of people lined up for the same purpose discouraged me and I decided to wait for another time in the future. Instead, I decided to just walk around and see as many landmarks as possible, which i did. I walked a total of 50,000 steps in two days… here are some of the pictures I took during the two days… enjoy

Notre Dame Cathédrale 

Square de la Tour Saint Jacque

River Seine

Trip to Algeria: Trip to Boussaada at the edge of the desert

 Algeria is a vast country in Africa, the largest by surface area!! Visiting all of Algeria will require a long duration trip or a sequence of many small trips. The desert of Algeria, part of the Sahara desert, is full of amazing places to visit such as Djanet and Tamenrasset to mention few. For this trip, family was the focus and hence I relied on day trips or overnight trips. My brother proposed going to Boussaada on the northern edge of the desert. The road trip was long but interesting… lots of small towns and interesting sights along the way. Here are some pictures from the trip.

A beautiful Mosque along the way

A special dish og Boussada ‘zviti’

High plateau desert like landscape

Our ‘Igloo’ hotel for the night outside Boussaada

A view of the landscape from our hotel

More stunning landscapes

Dattes everywhere in every market

Trip to Algeria: A Day Trip to Tigjda Mountain Resort

 My brother was trying his best to keep me busy and happy so he decided to take me for a day trip to popular mountain outside of Bouira. It was a cold, cloudy day and there was a chance for snow in the mountains but we decided to go for none the less.. The drive was beautiful, a flat plane surrounded by mountains from all sides. The small two lane road I used to know has become a four lane highway with lots of developments all around. I had a mixed feelings, happy and sad. Happy to see progress but sad to see the fertile land converted to high rises!! Unfortunately this is happening everywhere!! The question I always ask myself, is why do modern day humains destroy the land that feeds them??? Ancient Berber tribes did not do that, they moved around from season to season!!! So did American Indians and so many other indigenous people around … Oh well, I guess I need to stop worrying about things I cannot fix and just enjoy the trip. The ride up the mountains was awesome with spectacular views of the valley below. To our big surprise, snow flakes started to show up the higher we drove and before long we were in the middle of a big snowstorm, it was winter wonderland all around us. My brother and I enjoyed the scenery but was worried about the trip back… Nothing seemed to bother my brother, he just kept going higher until the snow got too deep to drive safely then he stopped and we got out of the car and walked around in the snow… 

Trip to Algeria: Arriving in my hometown

Well if it is December then the travel bug is out and I am on the road again! This time I m going back to my birth place Bouira, Algeria!! My brother lives there and his son is getting married so time to party!!  Travel days are not happy days anymore, they used to be in the distant past!! The joy of traveling has vanished because of GREED!! Airlines are cutting routes, canceling flights and packing people into planes like sardines in a can !! Where are we going with all this greed?? What happened to the days when planes were half full and on time, when a passenger was treated with respect and served a full meal on long distance flights??? Those were the good day… now we are left wondering if we will arrive at our final destination or left stranded in an airport far from home with no food or sleep! 

This year, and thanks to my younger brother, I am staying in an Airbnb rental in my hometown with a rental car so totally new to for me in Algeria.. My first day was spent sleeping to recover.. but big plans ahead so stay tuned … 

                                             The building in a distance is where I stayed this trip

 

    Beautiful park across the way from where I stayed.

The trees used to be much bigger in those days. 

 

 

 Fruit stands were everywhere along the roads.

 

  

  

                                                          A city street at night in Bouira.

European Adventure 2025: Day (40) Back in the USA

My “European Adventure” has officially ended and boy was it fun!! From a whirlwind start in Stockholm to a slow end in Besançon many countries have been visited and tens of thousands of steps walked in so many cities of the old continent we call Europe!! It has been a dream vacation on so many fronts: buoyant city streets, beautiful beaches, rugged and beautiful hikes and nice people everywhere and at all times of the day and very safe streets! 

There are people who like to plan things to the minute and there are people who go with the flow, I fit in the second group : go with the flow!! I don’t wake up with a to-do list, I just do things as they come! I recall an office mate in grad school who wouldn’t talk to me because I was not on his list for the day!! Talking to me was not an item on his list!!!! That was shocking to me then, it still is today. My strength lies in adjusting to the changing tasks of the day! When on vacation, I just go with flow … Yes there are some landmarks and key places to see in every city but I don’t see them in any particular order like, 1,2, 3… just let things flow!! 

From Stockholm to Prague, things were moving fast and furious but then I hit the slowdown button in Paris and recouped my energy before the one week energy sink in Crete where  a slow day at the beach was followed by a high energy day on a wild beach or a park, like Samaria Gorge!! Besançon was awesome as it offered hiking paths and city walks with beautiful streets and parks !! 

Making reservations when tired can be bad for your wallet as one is less alert to mistakes and artificial intelligence trying to guess what you want when typing, and it did happen to me in Berlin .. trying to buy a train ticket to Dresden from Berlin late at night, well I ended up buying a ticket from Munich to Dresden instead… I found out the next day I had the wrong ticket because my train never showed up and my hotel room was already reserved so I had to buy a new ticket at the station and I was off to Dresden few hours later than planned. Oh well I said, lesson learned !! Yesterday was also eventful as I missed my train to Paris from Besançon, why? Because they have three train stations in the same city and I went to the wrong one!!! Again, I had to buy new ticket at the station for another train… so paying attention online and checking your documents are two important things I learned this time … the monetary cost was minimal but the time wasted was not .. 

Traveling is my middle name and I have lots of far away places yet to see so … I will see you all virtually on my next trip!!!  Here are pictures from my various stops this trip

Countries and Cities visited in this trip

Stockholm 

Oslo

Tallinn

Helsinki 

Warsaw

Berlin

Dresden

Prague

Paris

Samaria Gorge, Crete

Seitan Limani Beach, Crete

Besançon, downtown

The maillot Jaune of the Tour de France