I arrived in Erbil, the capital of the Kurdish region in Iraq, on Friday the 19th of September. Erbil International Airport is small, but has everything an airport needs. In fact it reminded me of a toy airport made bigger. (Continued in linked article.)  

So I started in Berlin with some 2000 Dollars. But I needed more. I took a plane to Vienna, where I spent only one day. My guide was a former room mate of mine who happens to live in Austria’s capital now. Vienna is the most beautiful city. And it is quite visible that it is one of the few cities that once ruled the world (specifically during the 16th century when the Holy Roman Emperor was also King of Spain).   And there is even a historical “Judenvie...

One of the strangest discoveries I made in Israel was not the conflict between Israel and several terrorist groups that want to destroy it but the way that Israelis of all types live together. I have seen racism about which I wrote earlier. But I have also seen synagogues, churches, and mosques standing in the same city, and I have seen the religions live together in peace. I have seen Muslims and Jews interact in ways which are completely impossible in Europe. It is perhaps difficult t...

I am now back in Jerusalem. The hotel I chose based on recommendations and their Web site is excellent. I can only recommend the Jerusalem Hotel (next to Damascus gate). This is in East-Jerusalem and my cab driver was surprisingly angry at me for wanting to go there. We argued for ten minutes about the address, in Hebrew, and I finally rang the hotel and asked them to give him directions. They told him exactly what I told him (he put them on speaker). He finally seemed to believe me....

I am now in Tel Aviv, in a hotel overlooking the beach. Tomorrow I will go back to Jerusalem. Haifa was good. The University of Haifa is, I think, a nice place to study. I wish I had known about that a few years ago. Things could have been very different. Not that they should have been. I was here in Israel to learn Hebrew, and I think I did quite well. Back in Dublin there are very few people with whom I can speak Hebrew, and it seems like I am also going back to the same job. I was th...