Apartment in amsterdam found

We found an apartment! On Wednesday we are signing the contract, then we will start putting in floors and making it ready straight away. 5th of July is D-day, when we move in. If you want to help us you are more than welcome :-)

The apartment is on Balistraat in Zeeburg, a neighborhood in the eastern part of Amsterdam. Our little part is called the Indoneisan area, mainly because most of the streets are named after Indonesian islands. So now we have a good excuse for going to Bali.

The photos show our new house.

Last day in Slovenia

This is my last day in Slovenia. After two and half weeks, it is time to go to Amsterdam, my new home town. That is going to be nice. First thing, I have to start looking for a home for me and Femke there. If you have any contacts, just email me, any help is welcome.

You can find lots of my photos from Slovenia here.
The paragliding photos are here.

In Slovenia right now

I know, the updates have been far in between. But life is hectic now, and I am updating my MSN travel blog almost daily.
Right now, I am in Slovenia. Left Jerusalem Saturday a week ago, for the last time (at least for a long while). First, I travelled around for a week all over this little beautiful country for a travel story (keep an eye open for it in a coming issue of Allt om Resor). 

Now, I am in Northern Slovenia for a paragliding story. Had some good flying the last two days, hoping for more today.

From here, I will fly to Amsterdam, our new hometown. Femke has already been there a week, but right now, she is in Italy on a yoga holiday. We still need to find a home in Amsterdam, but I am sure that will happen sooner or later.

Family visit, friends, and moving to Amsterdam

My sister and her family.

Wow, it was a while ago since my last entry. So much have happened. The biggest thing first: we are moving to Amsterdam! Femke got a new very interesting job at AWEPA, and will be starting there the 2nd of June. So we are packing up here in Jerusalem. In fact, our last day here will be next Saturday, the 17th of May. Femke will fly directly to Amsterdam while I will go to Slovenia for two weeks of work first, and then fly to Amsterdam from there.
It is going to be so exciting to live in Amsterdam! At first, we will stay at Femke’s parents place and with friends, while looking for an apartment.

What else? My sister (Camilla), her husband Bobbo and their two kids, Veronica and Martin, are visiting us here in Jerusalem. It feels great to have them here and to be able to show them our life here, before we are moving. Lots of walking in the old city of Jerusalem, nice food and excursions to Bethlehem and the Dead Sea. Right now, they are in Eilat for some snorkeling and relaxing, but tonight they will come back here, to continue to the airport and then fly home to Sweden.

Otherwise, we have been very social lately, trying to see all our friends here before leaving. The day before yesterday we met Anna, Cham & Paz, Brian and a few others for drinks and food at the Legacy Hotel. The night before that, I had a drink with Ric. And yesterday, we drove to Ramallah to go out together with Yara. We ended up at Sangria’s and then Stones and had a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

The other night, Mary, a Dutch friend of Femke’s family, came by to visit us during a holiday in Jerusalem. It’s always nice when friends from around the world comes to say hello.

This weekend, we are planning to go to the Med and the beach, and then next week, we have a little farewell party and then we´re off!

Femke's parents visiting

Yesterday, Femke’s parents went home to the Netherlands again. It was nice having them here. Unfortunately, I couldn’t join them to Jordan, I was to busy producing the next issue of Hypoxia, the paragliding magazine I am editing. But they had a great time, visiting Aqaba, Wadi Rum and Petra.
Otherwise, we just relaxed together, had some nice walks and went out eating at Pasha’s (for Jerusalem’s best mezes) and Mona´s (for a divine veal fillet).
Saturday, we drove to Hebron. That was there first proper West Bank encounter. Visiting the mosque and the sterile zone around the crazy Israeli settlers is always depressing, but unfortunately this is how things are here. We had lunch in Hebron, then a cup of coffee in Bethlehem on the way home.

In the evening, I got really sick – probably I ate something bad in Hebron. So I spent the day yesterday in bed. But today I am feeling a lot better!

Back from Egypt, on my way to Jordan

I know, I know, I am getting sloppy when it comes to updating this blog (as my dear readers keep reminding me of – something I like, because it shows that this is not only writing therapy). The excuse is the usual one – I have been traveling extensively, and been busy updating the MSN-blog (after all, I get paid to write that one, and I always try my best to do a good job). Do not hesitate to take a look there. I know it is in Swedish, but I post a lot of photos too, and they speak an international language.

So, last time I posted here, I was still in Cairo. From there, we (me and my dear Femke) ventured out in the Western Desert, visiting the beautiful Desert Oasis of Bahariya. Here, we met up with Jahia and Muhammed from Desert Ship Safaris, and continued by 4x4 Toyota Land cruiser straight out in the desert. First stop was the Black Desert, then Crystal Mountain. Both were OK, but not that spectacular (remember, both of us have become something of desert connoisseurs).

But next, we drove off road into the area called Agabat, and here, the landscape was simply stunning (see the photo with Femke and Muhammed, sitting on a sand dune in a perfect arched vault of white lime stone).
Further on, we had lunch in the shade of a palm tree in the perfect little Tintin-esque oasis of Ein Al-Wadi.

The night was spent under the stars in the otherworldly White desert, a lunar landscape of red sand and Dali-designed (it looks like it at least) splendidly white and weird rock formations. The full moon gave it an even more eerie look, topped up with the surprising and beautiful meeting with a little desert fox.

The adventure continued with a long drive via the Farafra Oasis to the very special fortified clay village of El-Kasr, in the Dakhla oasis. We stayed here (in a rather nice place called the Desert Lodge Resort) and discovered for a few days, before committing to the last long ride through the desert to Luxor.

In Luxor, we spoiled ourselves by staying at the very comfortable Club Med, highly enjoying their excellent food and soothing pool, all of it just next to the Nile. Of course we looked at lots of temples and statues from the Pharaonic time, but the real highlight was doing a balloon ride at dawn over the temples, desert and fields of the Western shore of the Nile. And sailing a felucca at sunset on the same eternal river.

The end of our trip saw us back in Cairo, where Femke put in an astonishing finish by visiting 15 or so different shops, spread out over this mega city. I countered with visiting a number of bars (although by far not as many), all in the name of research – what else?

You can find lots of photos from the Egypt trip here.

Now, I am back in Jerusalem again. Did I say that I quitted my job at ANERA?

On Friday, Femke’s parents are coming to visit us. The plan is to pick them up at the airport and then drive directly to Aqaba in Jordan for some snorkeling. Saturday evening, we are going to the famed (and rightly so) rock city of Petra. Then we’ll see.

Nostalgic in Cairo

Hello, back again. I am afraid I have been extremely busy lately, and neglected my private blog somewhat. Also, my travel blog for MSN takes a lot of time.

As usual, I have been doing a bit of traveling. Last week, I visited the big travel fair TUR in Gothenburg, Sweden. It was great to be back in the city where I once studied, and also fun to meet old and new friends in the travel business, and editors from the major Swedish travel magazines. Managed to sell a few nice stories that will keep me busy this summer. About what? Can’t say yet, but it is going to be fun.

I also met two old friends from University over a beer at the friendly Polish restaurant Kraków. It’s funny how little we change over the years – we agreed on that we were pretty much the same persons as when we studied together, more than 15 years ago.

Friday, I took the train to Stockholm and stayed over at Lotta and Per. Lotta used to work in Jerusalem, so that is were we met. Both of them are really nice and generous persons, and Lotta and her always cheery mood is dearly missed in Jerusalem.
Anna, another Swedish friend in Jerusalem, was also visiting Stockholm and staying at Lotta’s place, so we went out for dinner the four of us. I really enjoy keeping up contact with good friends like this, I find it a pleasure but also important. When you live an international life on the move, it is far too easy to loose contact with people, even if they are important for you.

Saturday saw me attending the Swedish Paragliding Association's annual meeting. I am the editor of their magazine Hypoxia (which I very much enjoy producing) but I have not been able to meet the board before. So this was a most fortunate occasion. The meeting was held in conjunction with a big adventure fair, where most of the Swedish diving industry exhibited. So I could say hello to a few old colleagues and friends from my diving years while there.

In the evening, I went to my favored Stockholm drinking venue, the Czech pub/restaurant Soldaten Svejk. Their beer is poured with utmost care and love, and of the very best quality. The food is recommendable as well, if you like the heavy cuisine of central Europe (which I do).
My old University friend (and nowadays customer – he asked me to write the travel blog for MSN) and regular Svejk-company showed up as well, nowadays a somewhat rare event since he lives on an island in the Mediterranean right now. Later on, Maxson, another friend from the University of Journalism, joined us for a glass or two. Fun!

I called it a day rather early, which was wise, considering I had to go up at four the next morning to go to the airport. Sunday was a looong travel day for me. First a flight from Stockholm to Vienna. Then another flight to Tel Aviv.
In Tel Aviv, the Israelis managed to call in 13 staff members just to arrange for my transfer between flights (something that is normally done without any staff at all other airports in the world). It took them an hour to figure out that I was not going to blow up any planes this time either. I mean, they check me in and out every time they see me at the airport outside Tel Aviv, which is very often. Paranoia is a strong understatement when it comes to them.
Anyway, in the end, they let me enter the airports waiting lounge, where I sat for more than three hours, before it was time to board my flight to Cairo. Landing there late in the evening, I took a taxi to the fancy Cairo Marriott Hotel on an island in the Nile.

So here I am, in Cairo again. There is a nostalgic feeling in the air when I walk the narrow and crowded alleys of the souk – I visited Cairo three times in the 90’s, but have not been back since. Most of it is exactly the same. Maybe the buildings are slightly crumbling somewhat more, maybe the traffic is a notch worse. But the same kind of wrinkly old seen-it-all men sit at the corner cafés, smoking their shishas (water pipes) and sipping their tea.
I like it.

Jerusalem, Nablus, violence and strawberries

Finally, I am back in Jerusalem, and have been so for a few days. I had a great time in Brazil (check out the photos here) and was lucky enough to be upgraded to business class on the flight from Rio to Madrid (the food was rather bland, but the seat very comfortable and the wine excellent).
Unfortunately, I ran into problems in Madrid. , I was booked on an Iberia-flight from Madrid to Tel Aviv and since I was in transit, I came to the gate well in time (the time recommended on the boarding card).

At the gate I found out that the flight was operated by El Al (the horrible Israeli Airline). There was a long line for an extra security check. I quickly had at least 30 persons waiting behind me in the line as well.

Unfortunately, the security check was made in such an inefficient way, that when I was ready with it, the gate was closed and I missed my flight. I was rebooked on a much later flight, via Barcelona, and arrived 12 hours late. This was my third night of traveling in a row and I was very tired. I also missed a day of work due to this delay. Never ever fly with El Al if you can avoid it!

Back here, my first assignment was to go to Nablus and take photos of a hospital in dire need of renovation. Hopefully, ANERA can refurbish three wards, which would make a big difference for patients and staff at the hospital.
On the way there, I passed blossoming almond orchards and street vendors with mounds of fresh strawberries. Actually, the last few days have been really hot, with temperatures up to 20-23”C in the shade. Yesterday, we had our first glass of wine on the terrace this year. Lovely!

It is hot here in many other, sadder ways. Things are really going the wrong way, with more and more violence, not only in Gaza but also here on the West Bank. Well over a hundred Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli Defence Forces, a large part of them civilians. And yesterday, there was a terror attack at a nationalist Yeshiva (which is a kind of ultra-orthodox Jewish religious school), where a Palestinian killed at least eight persons.
Now, there are even more checkpoints on the road, and the soldiers manning them are even more harsh. A colleague saw a pregnant woman being turned away from a checkpoint this morning after waiting for hours. The soldiers denied her to pass because she sat down to rest next to the queue. These kind of things happens everyday here. Sad indeed.

But now to some good news; Finally, MSN got their act together and published their Swedish travel portal, where I am the resident blogger. I have been contracted to write the blog since mid December, and have done so, but now, the blog is up there for everybody to read. Please have a look, and do not hesitate to mail your travel-oriented questions to me.

Bad weather coming in

Today, the sky turned dark and we heard thunder in the distance. That meant that there would be no proper flying, so we just flew down to the landing field next to the city.

Tricky day

The take off seen from above.

Gliding out south.

I landed close to a house on the countryside.

The nice man who gave us a ride.

Today, the flying was trickier, with few thermals due to high cirrus clouds casting shade. Nevertheless, I and a few other pilots scratched around in the little lift we could find, staying up for almost two and a half hours. When I landed, I had only covered 18 kilometers from start, but it was still a nice, if challenging, experience.
The British pilot Doug landed close to me, so together we hitchhiked back with a friendly Brazilian gentleman.