The photos.

Wow! What a trip! What a rush!

I left home in San Francisco on July 30th, visited 8 countries in just under 6 weeks (I must be turning into a good American!) and arrived back home on August 6th.
Naturally I took lots of photos (2300), of which I decided to put selections in albums per country. Some of these will still be pretty hefty, but then again... you can always just look at the thumbnails!

I started in London where I stayed with Heleen. We enjoyed walks in the City, Holland beating Brazil and Uruguay, a concert of Snowboy at Cannizaro Festival, where we were joined by Silvia and Wayne.
On 5/6 July I made a little trip to Doncaster to catch up with my long time friend Bruce. I also met his wife Ann and our (Stephen's and mine) godson, Sonny.

England

On July 7th I flew from London to Lisbon where I met Kristien at the airport. Together we boarded the ship that would take us from Lisbon to Bordeaux over the course of 7 days. Sightseeing in Lisbon, Hendaye and Bordeaux, where we were for the 14 of July fireworks on the Garonne river. We took the train from Bordeaux to Brussel Zuid on July 15.

Lisbon to Bordeaux

I was met in the station in Brussel by Gina and Sven and stayed with them for 2 days. We visited Mechelen and Grimbergen. Sofia and Steven joined us for dinner in Humbeeck.
On July 18th I arrived in Eeklo to spend time with my mum and brother, family and friends.

Belgium

On July 24th I boarded a plane to Frankfurt. I found Stephen in the lounge at the airport and a little later we flew onto St Petersburg together. We spent 3 lovely days of sightseeing and walking around together. And boy was it hot... Russian heatwave...
Stephen's Mt Elbrus adventure started on the 28th and I took off to my next destination.

St Petersburg

In Tel Aviv I was met at the airport by Hilde. I spent the first night at Yaron's parents' in RishonLeZion. On the 29th Hilde and I took the bus to Jerusalem. Walked around the Old City walls and did a 2 hour bus tour of the city.
The next day we took off on our 3day/2night trip to Jordan. The Ancient Roman City of Jerash was impressive; the absolute highlight was without a doubt Petra.
On Aug 1st we arrived back in Jerusalem. Spent the 2nd sightseeing and made it to the lowest point on the surface of Earth on the 3rd, The Dead Sea (incidentally the same day that Stephen made it to the top of Mt Elbrus).
On the 4th I went to Tel Aviv for the day and the 5th I flew to London where, on the 6th, I caught my flight back home.
No need to say it was also very hot in Israel and Jordan but I actually enjoyed the heat; so much so that I dreaded getting back to San Francisco's notoriously cold summer!

Israel

Jordan

So here are the photos, I know there are quite a lot, but it was quite a trip!
Enjoy!

Caroline.

Success on Mt. Elbrus

Sorry for the delay in posting, but Internet is not that reliable here in Russia. The good news is that I successfully summited the highest peak in Europe, being Mt. Elbrus at 5,642 meters.

Today I spent the day touring Moscow is some the hottest weather Moscow has ever recorded and in smoke conditions that have never been seen before. So, did not get to see all the sites.

Tomorrow I head back to San Francisco and work. The vacation is now basically over.

Stephen

Aug 5: From Tel Aviv airport

What a rush this trip has been!
And it's coming to an end. Flying to London today where I'll overnight at the LHR Hilton to then catch my flight home to San Francisco tomorrow.

On Tuesday, Aug 3, Hilde en Yaron took me to the Dead Sea. So the day I was floating at the lowest point on earth, Stephen summited the highest point in Europe!
We also visited the ancient city of Masada.
Yesterday I spent most of the day in Tel Aviv. Walked to the old port city of Jaffa. Went out for an evening stroll through the city as well.

Home again tomorrow.

Caroline

Aug 2: Back in Jerusalem

Petra.

Words do not do it justice. It really was an 'Indiana Jones moment'!!!
Absolutely amazing!!!! The long narrow canyon (Siq) leading to the Treasury (that Indy facade carved in the rocks)... and much, much more!!!!We were lucky with the weather: a dust cloud blew in from somewhere (I think someone mentioned Syria) which obscured the bright sun, meaning we didn't have to walk around in the blazing heat - it was only 36/40C, much better than the 45-50C normal for this time of year there!

Hilde and I booked a 3day/2night tour in Jordan and we had 2 nice travel companions from Australia. Our driver and also guide at some locations, Marwan, was simply the best!

We also saw Jerash, 'Little Petra', Amman, Madaba, Mt Nebo, and a few more sites/sights along the way.

I arrived back in Jerusalem last night and have enjoyed staying in the wonderful 'American Colony Hotel'.

Today I wandered around the Old City of Jerusalem and visited The Ethiopean Monastery, Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Western or Wailing Wall, Mamilla Arcade, happened upon lots of churches (in different religions) and much more... and just walked around the wonderfully narrow streets.

Tomorrow my friends Hilde and Yaron are taking me to the Dead Sea.

Greetings from Jerusalem,
Caroline.