We really enjoyed our visit to Asmara, Eritrea, our first stop after our marathon of flights from YVR. Lovely city with lots of interesting, but run down, Italian architecture. Very friendly people and great Italian food as well. One of the most unusual sights was the “tank graveyard” with acres of destroyed, rusting tanks and other military equipment piled high as a remembrance of the war of independence. Had to wait until Addis Ababa, Ethiopia with a decent internet connection to post a few pictures from Asmara, Eritrea:
Addis Ababa, Ethiopa was such a shock after Asmara. Very crowded, noisy, dirty city. Air is quite polluted. Visited three museums in two days. The Red Terror Museum recalled the horrific purges by the communist government in the mid-seventies. The National Museum was a mess – dark, dingy and poorly labelled. On the positive side, it had a fabulous paleontological exhibition in the basement that included the world famous skeleton of Lucy! The Ethnilogical Museum was in somewhat better shape and had some very informative cultural displays. It is housed in Haile Selassie’s former palace so you also got to see his bed and bathroom. Both of these museums displayed President Abiy Ahmed’s Peace Prize medal. Not sure which was the real one, probably neither.
Our last day in Addis was spent visiting the Saint George’s Cathedral and Museum then on to the new Unity Park. Cathedral was historic but in very rough shape. Park was brand spanking new and in fact still under construction. Saw some famous Black-maned Ethiopian lions and several interesting buildings of King Menelik II’s palace. Cost was ridiculously high though, especially since it was not really ready for patrons.
The final evening went to an Ethiopian culture show. Quite the energetic performance. Ate a tasty, but incredibly spicy, traditional Ethiopian dinner as we watched.
A short album of pics from Addis: