Monthly Archives: May 2013
The Mouth of Truth!
This huge marble disc is called the Mouth of Truth. There is a medieval legend associated with it that says the mouth of the marble face will close down if anyone puts his hand in it and tells a lie.
It was (supposedly) used for people accused of committing perjury or adultery. They had to swear under oath and then put their hand into the mouth then wait to see what happened! According to the legend it was even used during the Middle Ages. An executioner would hide behind the disc with a sharp sword ready to cut off the hand of a liar! Yikes!
Notice in the pictures who was scared to put their hand in all the way! Emerson admitted that she lies sometimes – she admitted this while waiting in line! Lennon said he doesn’t lie but the face kind of scared him.
Categories: italy
2 Comments
Visiting more Bradley’s on our trip!
We were so excited to be in Rome and see Michael and Amanda! We also got to meet Baby Luca and their puppy Oliver. What a cute little family- Luca is such a happy baby (makes sense with who he has for parents.) After holding him, Jesse and I are thinking about having a fourth….. just kidding!
We walked to a restaurant in their neighborhood – I ate like I’ve never eaten before and talked Amanda’s ear off. Sorry about that! Thanks for a great night!
Categories: italy
Leave a comment
Tel Aviv Beach- playing in the Mediterranean Ocean!
We had a well deserved beach afternoon in Tel Aviv. The kids made sand donut holes and sand art.
Jesse and I took little naps then watched people. The first photo is of Muslim women- a grandmother, mother and daughter. From what I have learned – some Muslims believe that Muslim women should be fully covered starting when they reach puberty so as not to attract the attention of men. Sometimes this is the woman’s choice and sometimes a dominant male figure makes the decision for her. In some places we visited, women were completely covered- with not even the eyes showing. I don’t want to go off on a tangent with this, but this does make me think of women as being property in some instances. Are we suppose to believe that all men can’t control themselves when they see a woman’s hair, ankle or shoulder? What about when a father withholds the right to an education from his daughter in the name of religion? The more it’s in my face, the more I wonder how much power (if any) some of these women have to make their own decisions.
Categories: israel
Leave a comment
You can’t be a diva when it comes to getting sleep!
Here are some photos of our “accomodations” at the Tel Aviv airport. Looks like Emerson is dreaming of being back in Cairo with the mummies!
This arrangement provided much more legroom than we had the night before- we had to sleep in a car in Jerusalem (long story.) The next day we found a public bathroom to freshen up in. You can see in some of the photos taken in Jerusalem and Bethlehem- we are looking worse than usual (didn’t know that was possible.) ha!
Categories: israel
Leave a comment
Was at the airport- excited about going to Rome
I took a picture of the departure monitor and started ‘people watching’ trying to guess which city they might be headed to. People watching is so fun, especially when they are traveling. I’ve seen some pretty gnarly spats between couples. Travel can really bring out some ugly behavior. I’ve also seen people push children, yell at ticketing agents and brazenly cut to the front of lines. On one plane, men stood up and laughed at female flight attendants telling them to sit down and put on their seat-belts. I won’t name the place we were (don’t want to offend)- where as soon as the plane touched down, everyone got up, grabbed their bags from the overhead areas while smacking some people in the heads, then started pushing and shoving to get to the front of the plane! It was worse than first graders waiting for the door to open for recess! Everyone joined in the madness so quickly- it’s like they were afraid they would be left behind alone on the plane or something. So weird, but I liked watching it. Some of the events we’ve witnessed are like big sociology experiments. Mob mentality is a freaky, scary thing!
Categories: istanbul, turkey
Leave a comment
Turkish coffee in Instanbul
We had a layover in Istanbul so we had to have authentic Turkish coffee. We had it in Egypt and the Middle East, as well. It kicks your butt- in a good way. The end is very thick and mud like and I always felt like I had to rinse my teeth after I drank it- but ‘ahhhhhhhh’ so worth it.
Categories: istanbul, turkey
Leave a comment
Leila Khaled
Leila Khaled became an icon of Palestinian resistance. She was also the first female hijacker. They never set out to hurt anyone- their main goal was to bring awareness to Palestine. In her words- “When we hijacked the planes the whole world wondered who we were. Regardless of what they thought about it, they wondered. But when we were tortured in lsraeli prisons, who heard our screams? We had to do what we did in order to get your attention.”
A famous image of her is a smiling beautiful young woman with a ring that she made from a bullet and a grenade pin casually holding an AK-47 rifle. Within a year, she underwent six cosmetic surgeries to distort her face so she wouldn’t be recognized during her second hijacking.
To this day she considers herself a freedom fighter who says she would die for the cause but she hopes that someday soon, “A democratic solution, a human solution” will be reached.
Categories: palestine
Leave a comment
Palestine Graffiti- The West Bank
Whoa- there is such a stark contrast between Israel and Palestine. Palestine appears poor and third worldish, while Israel seems ultra modern and wealthy.
We drove through two of the refugee camps on the way to Bethlehem. What I loved most about the experience was the graffiti – it is fascinating. Some time last year after we had watched a few documentaries on different art forms- I asked Maddux what he wanted to be when he grew up and he replied “a graffiti artist.” This is certainly the place to go to gather inspiration! The art is beautiful and haunting- I loved how the graffiti (for the most part) was positive and hopeful. We could have spent a few hours there- it’s like a huge museum spread out on vast concrete canvases.
There is a more famous one that I got a quick picture of as we were driving by. It was done by an artist named Banksy and it is of a little girl patting down a soldier. Because of “security risks” it is extremely difficult for people from certain ethnic groups to travel in certain areas. We got through checkpoints relatively easily by showing our US passports. They obviously know we are tourists and aren’t going to stir up any problems in regions that are oftentimes portrayed as being extremely volatile. I don’t think many tourists roll through Palestine- but when we did, we didn’t feel threatened or scared in the least. It is one of my top five experiences of our adventure and I would encourage others to go there.
Categories: palestine
Leave a comment
marschmadness 