Dec 23 -- Today we set off for my grandparents’ house in Atlanta. I was little bit sad because our trip was over, but also relieved. Blog is OVER!

Dec 22 -- Our last day in Germany was a hangout day together, except for dinner, when we went to a Mongolian grill restaurant.

Dec 21 -- This morning in Frankfurt, we went to the most famous museum in Frankfurt, the Staedel – it was like a small version of the Louvre, and had art from throughout history. Then we went to the communications museum, where we saw old telephones, telegraphs, typewriters, and such. Last we went to the Jewish Museum, where I saw an exhibit of comics by Jews– did you know that Superman was made by Jews, and during WWII Superman battled Nazis? After the museums closed, we went to the Christmas Market, where we got Lebkuchen (a German cookie), hot mulled wine, and a bratwurst, and one more snow globe.

Dec 20 -- Today we left Yerevan, and I felt a little nostalgic. We had a 4 hour layover in London, and ate at an English pub where I got bangers and mash (sausage and mashed potatoes). Then we flew to Frankfurt.

Dec 19 -- Our last day in Yerevan was yet another day of Mom-mtgs in the morning, hanging out and playing together in the afternoon, and then a final fancy dinner. We were hosted by Armenia’s Deputy Minister of Health; it was a very tasty dinner, and our last Armenian food for a long time to come – well at least till my friend Mary’s grandmom cooks a yummy meal for us again.

December 18th
This was a totally sessile day, except for exercising.

December 16 and 17th
Both mornings, my Mom had meetings, so I hung out, and exercised, too. On the afternoon of the 16th, we walked to a special donut shop. It had Armenian donuts, which are fried dough with cream inside, and powdered sugar on top. We also had green lemonade. Then we went to the huge manuscript repository/museum next door. I didn't like it, but my mom liked the 5th century ivory book covers, and the books on palm leaves, and birch bark. On the afternoon of the 17th, we went to the Armenian history and art museums. The only thing that was interesting there to me was an ancient cart (I think 12th century) that had big wooden wheels, and some 18th century Russian imperial porcelian that had really funny pictures on it of men getting drunk, and gambling, and teasing birds with cats. We had dinner at a traditional Armenian folk restaurant, called My Village. They had lots of old stuff, like a gramophone, and loud folk singers. I also talked to my grandmoms and my Dad on Skype.

Dec 15 2008

In the morning, my mom had meetings, so I hung out at the hotel. We then went with our wonderful friend Kate (who's my mom's colleagues) and her father to see a 12th century church that was carved directly into the mountainside. It was beautiful, atmospheric, and kind of creepy. Then we went to a Greco-Roman style temple, and we saw a Roman bathhouse with a caldarium, tepidarium, and frigidarium (different temperatures of rooms). Then we had another Armenian feast. First we sat in a cave-like place, with a very inefficient heater -- we got very cold and decided to go inside.

December 14

This morning, my mom went to a Georgian bathhouse – Tbilisi means “warm water” -- she says “Spent much of the night trying to get home to take care of my mom, who’s broken her hip. In the morning, went to the baths – they are about 1500 years old, and subterranean. You take a sulfuric shower, soak in a sulfuric tub, lay down on a granite slab, and then have a big, middle-aged woman in her undies splash more buckets of warm sulfuric water on you while she loofas, scrubs, soaps, and pummels you. It is more like surgical prep and meat tenderizing than a North American massage.”

Then we drove from Tbilisi (capital of Georgia) to Yerevan (capital of Armenia). We had a very bad driver who was very addicted to cigarettes (so the car stank), who kept trying to pass cars in the other lane even when he couldn’t see, and then we’d all yell at him. There was one highlight – we stopped at a small family restaurant in the mountains, and had a feast of Armenian cuisine: river trout, beef kebabs, lavash (a spongy bread), and lots of roasted veggies. We saw lots of factories that closed after the Soviet Union collapsed, and lots of incomplete construction that was stopped because they ran out of money.

In Yerevan, we walked to the Republican Square (formerly Lenin Square), and saw the government buildings that were beautifully lit up, and went on a fruitless quest for an ATM that would accept our credit cards.

December 13

Hung out with my mom in the a.m., and I spent the early afternoon reading and watching “House” on my IPod while my Mom had meetings. Then the son of the hotel owner took us on a walking tour of Tbilisi. First we went past traditional sulfur baths, then we went up a long hill to a castle with a church, where there were lots of ruins that I climbed around on.

December 12, 2008

This morning we had to get up at 4 a.m. to take a flight to Kiev (and I’d had a big stomachache during the night and hadn’t slept very well). When we arrived in Kiev, we had 3 hours, so my crazy mother decided that we should go into Kiev. We found a driver who would take us past all the main attractions – so we got to see the beautiful big old churches, and the old buildings from the Communist era, and from before the Communist era – they were a lot more beautiful. At the airport, we ate traditional Ukrainian perogie and borscht. We then flew to Tbilisi in the country (not the State) of Georgia.

December 11

First, something to report about last night. There was a fire at a building across the street. But that’s not exactly what it looked like. There was a big fire, and many multicolored explosions. Then the police came with sirens and light, and we thought there was some political trouble. My mom hid behind the curtains and peeked out – I thought she was overreacting a little bit. She went downstairs to see what was happening, and it was just a house fire. I’m glad to live in a place where you can assume that it’s a house fire, and not shootings.

Today we rented a car, and drove to the Dead Sea. On the way there, we drove through the desert, and we stopped and I got to take a ride on a camel. It was like riding a big, shaky horse.

The Dead Sea was really cool. Because of its high salt content, it lets you float really high without swimming at all. It also forms salt all over you and your clothes. There was salt in my ears, on my shoulders, on my nose, I had a beard of salt, my upper chest was salty, and my hair was crusty with it! In fact, there was so much salt in my hair, that when I shook my head, it looked like it was snowing. And if you were unlucky enough to get any of the salt water in your eyes, you couldn’t open your eyes until more than five minutes had passed. But it was really cool to bob up and down with no effort. Also, there was abundant, very gushy mud that they used in a spa down the road. Most people gave themselves mud treatments, and you could see them sitting around with mud all over them. But, even at the beach, and even in the water, the Muslim women were fully clothed with head shawls.

Where we went for dinner, some people were smoking hookahs. It’s actually pretty nice smelling (unlike cigarettes), sort of creamy, but still not the best smell (pipes still win in the smoking smelling contest).

Dec 10

Today we got up in our nice hotel, and we tried to get into the Dome of the Rock. Unfortunately, it’s a four day Muslim holiday, and it’s only open to Muslims. The Dome of the Rock is the place where it is said that the Islamic prophet Mohammed went to heaven, and where it is said in the Old Testament that Abraham was to have sacrificed Isaac.

Outside this very beautiful gold-covered dome was a soldier with a big gun, like there were soldiers with big guns everywhere. We also saw a plain-clothes guard, who looked like a normal guy, but he was holding an Uzi. It is mandatory for young Israelis to serve in the army: 3 years for men, and 2 years for women. It’s weird seeing all these people with automatic rifles walking around.

We then walked through the Arab Bazaar to the Western (Wailing) Wall, which is one of the most sacred Jewish sites, being where an ancient temple was destroyed. It’s a huge wall with lots Jews praying in front of it, with men and women separated. We also went to a museum of the history of Jerusalem, which included Roman ruins that I ran around on. My mom and I bought two things in the bazaar – one that was supposed to be $400 we bartered down to $100, and one that was supposed to be $200, we bartered to $50. The bazaar is very cool, because you see a combination of Israeli soldiers with automatic rifles, formally Jewish-dressed men, Arab women with head coverings, and tons of kids running around with BB guns.

We ate a bunch of delicious but dicey foods today – it’s very hard to tell what’s sanitary. But we had yummy pomegranates and pomegranate juice (which probably wasn’t too sanitary), and lots of salads, humus, and pita, and a chicken kebab.

When we got back we had some funny-tasting candy which (my Mom will tell you, too) had a vomit aftertaste (yup!).

Dec 9

Woke up too early again, and went with my Mom to work with her colleague, and starting feeling a little sick to my stomach. It got pretty bad on the bus to Jerusalem, but felt better after we went out to eat. It was very good traditional Mid-Eastern food – I had a burger in a pita with hummus, and some cucumber salad. Today is an Arab celebration day, and outside our hotel there was a brief but loud Arab protest against the Jews – there’s a lot of tension between the two groups, especially in this city. After resting, we walked from our awesome hotel (the former Austrian Embassy) up the Via Dolorosa, which is where the stations of the cross were supposed to have happened. At the end is the Church of the Sepulchre, which marks the place where it is said that Jesus was crucified. The church had a very good choir that was constantly singing, and the church smelled strongly of incense. It felt very holy.

Dec 8

Couldn’t sleep on plane to Tel Aviv, and got to dump of a hotel at 5 a.m. Dump of hotel actually only had 1 sheet. Woke up and changed reservation for sister hotel in Jerusalem. Old Jaffa where we stayed had interesting Arab flea market with tons of junk like a box of TV remotes without TVs, old clothing, and some antiques. Had great fruit slushy. Went into Tel Aviv to the Museum of the Jewish Diaspora. It had a bunch of interesting videos on Jewish life and immigration, and had a cool computer that lets you trace back your family name (“Frank” is often from the formerly French part of Germany). My mom gave a talk in the evening, and then we stayed at her colleague’s house in the Tel Aviv suburbs.

Dec 7

Left early a.m. for Budapest. Saw 18^th and 19^th century church, palace, hot spring baths, and art. Highlight for me was marzipan museum – they made big and complex statues out of marzipan (like a Harry Potter scene, and a life-sized Snow White and 7 dwarves, and a world map). Ate a typical Hungarian meal with goulash soup, and paprika chicken, and this really good tasting cold fruit soup with whipped cream. Hung out at airport till plane left at 1130.

Dec 6

Dad left for Atlanta this morning – I really wanted him to stay, and will miss him a lot. Lazed around more, and spent the afternoon browsing and running errands (in German!). In the evening, the Fischers had a big fancy party with amazing food, and I stayed in the back.

Dec 6 Dad left for Atlanta this morning – I really wanted him to stay, and will miss him a lot. Lazed around more, and spent the afternoon browsing and running errands (in German!).

Dec 5 Lazed around Helga and Reindi’s beautiful apartment in the morning. We then went for one last day of Western European museums. At the Pergamon, we saw a very famous Egyptian bust of Nefertiti, and then had another great dinner with Helga.

Dec 4 Today our friend and guide, Helga, took us on a tour of Berlin. We went to breakfast at the German Reichstag (ParlIament), and we saw them in session, which I thought was really cool. Then we walked around and saw the famous Brandenberg Gate, and went to a Holocaust Memorial. It was rows upon rows upon rows upon rows of big, gray, coffin-shaped stones, varying from 5 to 15 feet high. Then we went to a cool German Xmas market ´which had many kinds of wurst and marzipan and sauerkraut and other German goodies. We went a Xmas concert with a boy’s choir who sung in German (which I didn’t like!).

Dec 3 Today we got up, and my Mom went off to the Picasso museum – she said it was filled with 100s of fantastic pieces. After a while, we packed up and set off to the Metro. While we’re waiting for the Metro, my dad proclaims “we left the duffle bag in the apartment!”, but there was nothing we could do about it because the keys were in the apartment, so we set off for the airport. Unfortunately, it was the wrong airport! We didn’t have enough time to take the Metro to the other airport, so we had to jump in a cab, which cost more than my dad and my plane tickets to Berlin, combined! What a morning! The flight was usual, and when we got there, we were greeted by our host, Helga. We then went to an incredibly fancy, diverse market (Ka De We -- you say it like "Kaa Day Vey") to pick up dinner, and then we went to bed .

Dec 2 We all went to the Rodin museum. I ate a great waffle smothered in nutella and sugar, and saw the famous sculpture, “The Thinker”. Then we went to a War Museum, where I saw the beginning of automatic weapons, and the history of grenades. We saw the only M1 Grand rifle I’d ever seen, and learned about WWI and II. Napoleon’s Tomb was pretty amazing for one guy who did a lot of bad things. Then I went back to the Eiffel Tower with my Mom, and we climbed up to the 2nd floor, and took the lit to the top where there was a great view, and we blew bubbles. We were thinking about eating up there, but then we saw the prices for the menu – it was $100 for a normal restaurant dessert, like 2 scoops of ice cream! On the way home, we stopped to see the Arc de Triomphe and the fancy Champs Elysees.

Dec 1 My Mom went and gave a lecture in French, and my Dad and I went up the Eiffel Tower. It was foggy and we couldn’t see anything. Then we met my Mom at Notre Dame Cathedral – it had awesome stained glass windows. Mom and I then went to the Louvre, which is strangely connected to an underground shopping mall (with a very good food court!). Speaking of food, there were these weird looking Egyptian dried foods (pomegranates, nuts, dates, etc.) that were left in the tombs, that didn’t go bad because it was so dry, and there weren’t bacteria to break it down. The Mona Lisa was cool – it looked like her eyes were following you wherever you went. There was a big crowd around it, but we fought our way to the front. It was also really weird -- if any of you reading this blog know the cover of Cold Play’s “Viva La Vida”, the original painting by Velasquez is in the Louvre.