Madrid

Almost as soon as i arrived in spain i fell in love with it. The beauty, language, the culture, the food and the vibrance of this country are overwhelming, and the all mould together to create a fascinating place. The natural colours are brighter than anywhere else in the world, and the people are energetic and passionate. Madrid is a huge city with shopping, history and a legendary nightlife. I only spent two days in Madrid, but i will no doubt be coming back. We spent most of our time in the Bottanical Gardens, which feature the only statue/monument of the devil in the world.

Egypt

The pyramids are maybe the most well known of all the seven wonders of the world. Ancient Egypt and the pyramids are known to children from the time they can speak, and to see them in person was fantastic. They are bigger than you could think, and seeing them up close makes you appreciate even more their beauty and how difficult they must have been to construct.

Petra - Jordan

The ancient bedouin city of petra is one of the seven wonders of the world, and it lives up to all to the expectation that this label produces. To walk from the entrance to the beginning of the city is around 3km's through eery valleys, and once you arrive the first thing you run into is the Treasury. This spectacle carved into the rock, made famous by Indiana Jones, is unbeleivable to see in the flesh (or in the stone). Over two days we (I met a fun english couple who i toured with in petra) walked up and down mountains, through valleys, and around millenium old carvings.

During one of our more ambitious climbs, we decided to take a shortcut down the cliff, as it looked quite accesible. Halfway down we realised it was probably unacheivable to get down, after which we also realised we wouldnt be able to make it back up. After a stressful few minutes we were rescued by a Bedouin boy, who guided us down the mountain, not without difficulty though. Once at the bottom we were battered, scratched and bruised, but alive and grateful for it.

At the top of one of the mountain's we ran into a few Bedouins who were living in a cave and invited us in. They made us tea and mash potatoes with goat butter, and we sat through lunch listening to the "wise" man's philosophies on life, his most prominent of which was "Time is your enemy, if time controls you, than you have no control of yourself"

After each day we had a drink in the worlds oldest bar, built in a carved cave from 100 BC

Jerusalem

I spent a hungover day in Jerusalem with Uncle Frank, walking around and through, to every corner of the old city. We walked for around 8 hours, in a whirlwind history tour of Israel and Jerusalem, and its amazing how much has happened in such a small place, as it's so holy to so many people. The old city was calm in places, and a rat race in others, but there was a presence surrounding the whole place which made it extra special

Isreal - Masada, Engedi, Herodion

There is history all over israel, as well as beauty. Masada and Herodion are both fortress's built around 2500 years ago by King Herod. The ruins are still relatively intact, and both are situated on the top of mountains, to protect the fortress's from attack. Engedi at the dead sea is the lowest place in the world, the weather and the sea were awesome, as well as the view of jordan.

Israel - Tel aviv

I didn't know what to expect when arriving in Tel Aviv, I knew it wasn't like Jerusalem, but i had no idea it would be this different. The city is a thriving metropolis, full of shopping, bars and of course, the beach. At night the people go crazy, everyone i met at the hostel was there to party, and i found out that weekend why they came to Tel Aviv. I was lucky enough to arrive on a weekend with a national holiday, "Purim." A two day long dress up party, with streets in the florentine district closed for celebrations, as they filled with party goers and DJ's. I had a great time staying here and couldn't find anytime to sleep.

Staying in London

After amsterdam it was into london, where we stayed in the borough of Islington. The nightlife in the area was bustling, and in the daytime we roamed different borough's, of which the highlight was Camden. The market was huge and sold anything you could have asked for, and was good fun to walk around all day. We also went to the Natural History Museum, which was full of dinasours and other extinct animals, as well as the famous complete whale skeleton.