Burkina Faso

Difficult to write anything about a town after a very short stay. So let's start with the name "Ouagadougou". It must be one of the best sounding name for a capital, but its meaning is certainly more important as it stands for "the place to give respect".

The capital has a lively atmosphere with lots and lots of motorcycles - I was surprised not to see any minibus taxi. The city is quite spread out with attempts made at alleviating pressure on the downtown area, for example with the creation of the neighbourhood "Ouaga2000". It is impressive that the population increased from 60000 people at independence in 1960 to 1700000 today. And as usual in Africa, it is very visible that the majority of the population is young. This represents both challenges and opportunities. Let's hope the leaders - and the population at large - will direct the country on a successful path. 

Memorial Ouaga2000 (does it look like a mini Eiffel Tower?) is one of the landmark of the capital. It has the added benefit of being a popular place to jog.

Ouagadougou is also a good place to shop for traditional dress and local crafts, such as music instruments. The handmade village is the best place to go, as it offers a place for artists and producers to showcase their creations and to sell them.

Georgia

At a time when there are many refugees fleeing their countries and when Europe is trying to define how welcoming it should be, I experienced the most welcoming arrival ever in a country. At the Tbilisi airport, the immigration officials offered me a bottle of Georgian wine after having stamped me passport. Now that is a welcome!

It is not only wine that is good in Georgia. Food is also pretty interesting. Your plates might be set on fire, but your palate is never burnt... At least not by the food.

And then there is the entertainement. The danse...

and the music.

The capital Tbilisi has a rich history reflected in its many colorful buildings. It was shaken by earthquakes, as well as by political revolution. The main symbol on Freedom Square is of course Saint George killing the dragon.

Downtown Tbilisi is very lively, especially along Rustaveli Avenue.

There is a good mix between tradition and modernism.

The peace bridge symbolises a new chapter in the history of Georgia.

A new chapter is always a difficult balancing act. A country has its history and traditions. The many churches that dot Tbilisi (as well as the mosques and the synagogues) are a reminder of the country's roots. 

 

Rome

Going to Rome was all about the tennis tournament at Foro Italico, but it ended up with a big surprise.The location and the main stadium are beautiful. What a nice place to play and to enjoy tennis! But to get there, we had to manage without the local metro, as drivers were on strike. 

All the good players were there, including Federer and Wawrinka, who beat Nadal. 

 

The two Swiss got to meet in the semi-finals, during the evening matches. Great ambiance!

Rome is of course not only about tennis, but time was limited to see all the highlights. We opted to go to the Vatican on Sunday morning to see the mass. On St. Peter square, people from all over the world with many flags. And then, the pope Francis passes through the public. So, there a picture of the pope. I am a bit worried that this webpageabout Rome was more about "celebrities" than about the real beauties of Rome. I'll have to go back there soon!

Cape Verde - Sao Tiago/Fogo

Bem Vindo! Great welcome to Cape Verde. Friendly people, good food, and a beautiful diversity between the islands. The first one is Sao Tiago, the "African island". Cape Verde was first discovered by the Portuguese in the 15th century and all its inhabitants arrived or were taken there since then.

First thins first. A view of Cidade Vehla, the first settlement in Cape Verde. Charming and well preserved, including the first street - the street of the banana! This was a very important center for Portuguese traders, linking Europe, Africa and America, including during the slave trade. Vasco de Gama and Christopher Colombus stopper over during some of their travels. The city was attacked many times by pirates, which finally resulted in the city losing its status to Praia, the eventual capital.

There is an imposing fort overlooking the city. Of course, there are many churches too. Most of them were involved in the slave trade, as a converted slave would fetch a higher price.

In this context, the most disturbing monument is certainly the pillory, in the middle of the town square. This is where slaves were chained, punished or sold.

In Praia, the capital, we can see many colonial buildings. The city has a nice old town, with a long pedestrian street, a market, and the noticeable presence of the Chinese traders.

The newer Palace of the Governement and the National Assembly were built by the Chinese. The "new colonialists" are no comparison to the old ones. In the northern corner of the island, we visited a concentration camp built in the 1930s by the Portuguese to jail political opponents from their African colonies. Some would call them "terrorists" other "patriots". Different points of views, but a very dark place.

Let's finish on a lighter note: the beautiful beach in Tarrafal.

The next island is Fogo, the "volcano island". This is the most impressive island by far. The whole island rests on the slopes of the volcano. Even the airport strip is a bit scary. The volcano dominates everything. The ascension there is quite impressive!

There is a hige crater, and inside the crater, there are new volcanic cones. Yet, there is life inside the crater and close to the cones.

Volcanic soil is apparently very rich and seems to be ideal for grapes. The white wine produced in Fogo is the best in Cape Verde. Interesting that such a sweet wine can come from inside a volcano.

Lava can be beautiful. It takes different shapes and moves in different ways.

But lava is also very distructive. Fogo erupts quite regularly, every twenty years. The last eruption took place in October 2014. This time the flow of lava went directly towards the two little villages inside the crater, destroying them completely. Nowadays, only the rooftops are visible. The inhabitants were relocated outside of the crater, but many of them are already starting to come back and rebuilding their old houses...

Outside of the crater, the dark volcanic color dominates: even the beach sand is dark!

  

 Maybe to compensate for this darkness, the buildings are very colourful. A beautiful contrast.

Cape Verde - Sao Vicente/Santo Antao/Sal

Time for some more island hopping! Nice flights with Cabo Verde Airlines. 

This time we fly to Sao Vicente, the "music island". The main city is Mindelo, the place of the famous Cesaria Evora. There is indeed some "saudade" here. We get told it is mostly because of the relatives who had to emigrate to get a better life. Those staying in the islands are missing them! In Mindelo, there are many bars and restaurants with live music. And in the streets too, there are bands playing, despite the strong wind... Maybe it's because of the strong wind that the Mindelo youths were forming the tightest queue I ever saw to get into a club.

The city itself is quite nice with a few Portuguese-style houses. The influence of the old colony is so strong that the city hosts a replica of the "Torre de Belem", albeit smaller - we are in Cape Verde.

The next island hopping is by boat! A nice and fast ferry takes people over to Santo Antao. The terminal there is very modern, financed by Luxembourg. Small countries's club? The airport there was closed in the 90s due to an accident on the runway (which is now used as a jogging strip).

Santo Antao is the "walker's paradise". The relative remoteness of the island, combined with its wide mountains and its vegetation, makes it an ideal spot for beautiful walks.

Walking through small villages, we can see all the daily activities. There are fields with a wide range of culture, most of them in terrasses. Here and there, we see cows, chicken, pigs, and donkeys.

And there are the not-always-legal distilleries. The sugarcanes go through a whole process to be transformed into grogue, the local rhum. Just the smell of its production is enough to convince of its strength.

The farmers seem to have an easy life compared to the fishermen. They must brave the high waves and the big rocks to return to the harbour with their catch. 

Another beautiful walk took us along the coast to the picturesque village of Fontainhas.

Last but not least, and totally unexpectedly, another island hopping this time to Sal, the "beach island". This is thanks to TAP, most precisely its pilots who went on strike. Result: we got stuck in Cape Verde. TAP decided to move us to the island of Sal, all this for free. Life is tough!!

So there we ended our Cape Verde tour by spending two relaxing days in one of these big "no name" hotels. This could be anywhere in the world, but I take it as a nice complement to the rest of the tour.

Cyprus

Second holidays of 2015 and second island. This time Cyprus. Let's start with the"birthplace" of Cyprus, the Rock of Aphrodite. This is more a symbol of the links and influence of Greece in Cyprus. It must be one of the few country where we see more foreign (i.e. Greek) flags than national flags. The complexity of the history and politics of Cyprus is for all to see. I'll try not to lose friends by writing on this here.

One of the biggest ancient Greek site is Kourion. The theatre was used at times for gladiator games. It is well restored, yet it is pretty simple. This seem to be the case for most Greek-period sites in the country. Apparently, earthquakes have played a big part in destroying ancient sites in Cyprus. And while I was in Cyprus, I experienced an earthquake! Even more impressive than the one I felt in Washington. This time I was lying on my bed and felt the bed moving forward and backward, almost like on a rollercoaster. 

While the Cypriot coast is beautiful with great light and colors, the interior of the country was actually the biggest surprise for me. The mountains are big and the roads windier than in Mallorca. The drive took us to remote villages, where a surprising (for me) number of people do not speak English. The road led through the Troodos mountain to the Orthodox monastery of Kykkos. It is richly decorated,looks quite recent (it was rebuilt many times) and most certainly a great place for a retreat, for thinking and praying.

The contrast between the warm coast and the chilly interior is illustrated by this snow man. And there is a skilift nearby - who would have thought that about Cyprus...

A better-known (unfortunately!) feature of Cyprus is the division of the island. Walking up the main pedestrian - and busy - road in the capital of Nicosia, one eventually comes to a check point. Yes, there is border post in the middle of the city, with a sign reminding people that it is the "last divided capital"! In the time of Shenghen, it is quite surreal to have to queue at a passeport control station, to fill out forms and to get a stamp on a separate piece of paper. How come they did not think about collecting a fee... It also hit me that this division is now more than 40 years old... 

Once on the "other" side, activity and life are definitely more subdued. It seems that the place remained in 1970s/80s: cars are old, buildings are not well maintained (there are already not in the best of shape in the Greek side), decorations are rare. The only posters standing out are those featuring the candidates for the upcoming presidential election - some of them can be seen on the left side of the picture below. The winner seems to have reignited talks about reunification, with intermediary steps taken to facilitate cross-border movement. All in all a strange experience and the feeling of lots of energy, time, and lives lost on this issue.

Let us not finish this entry on tough issues. A point goes to the local food, in particular this excellent octopus.

Another point goes to the Cypriot cats (there are many of them roaming the streets) who were very keen to show off their tennis skills. I think I found out the secret of Baghdatis's tennis talent...