Ethiopia: Land of Coffee and Some Good Food

Even a news conference at a rural health center
included a coffee ceremony

Almost everywhere I went in Ethiopia, someone was handing me a tiny cup of high-intensity coffee. According to legend, coffee was discovered in Ethiopia when a herder near the town of Kafe noticed his goats got really excited from eating the berries of a certain plant. So he tried it and felt the caffeine buzz. Local monks condemned the coffee beans as "the Devil's Fruit," but after flinging them into the fire, the aroma of the roasting beans changed their minds. In the 15th century the beans were exported to Turkey, where the drink we know today was invented.

Oromo villagers prepare traditional food at a health post.

Our group of American journalists experienced several abbreviated versions of the Ethiopian coffee ceremony, in which grass is spread on the ground to bring in the outdoors. The beans are roasted and then served along with popcorn or a giant loaf of bread that is traditionally cut up by a man.

Traditionally, a man cuts the bread.
A journalist from French-speaking West Africa does the honors.

The coffee tent at the International Family Planning Conference
at the African Union in Addis Ababa.

Outside of the family planning conference in the African Union center was a "village" of exhibits, but we never got past the coffee tent, complete with a basket of coffee flavored condoms!

A barrista at Tamoca. Starbucks, watch out. 

Unlike most of Africa, Ethiopia was never colonized. Italy occupied Ethiopia for a while, and as a result the Ethiopians do a good job with macchiato and cappuccino. I can honestly say I had the best macchiato of my life at the 1920s vintage Tamoca coffee shop. Unfortunately they had run out of beans for sale to take home as gifts.

A tradition of great coffee at Tamoca but little of it was for sale to take home.

An excellent Italian restaurant, Avanti, was around the corner from our hotel. Caprese salad anyone?

A fresh and tasty Caprese salad at Avanti restaurant.

Visiting US journalists enjoy traditional food at the
"cultural" restaurant Yod Abyssinia.

Traditional Ethiopian food is served on a giant pancake of spongy sour bread called injera. It's used to scoop up a variety of tasty mixtures. Most are meat-based but there are good choices for vegetarians as well. Read my review of a cultural restaurant here. I skipped the raw meat dishes like kitfo, but judging from the open air butcher shops all over the city, it's the local treat.

Open-air butcher shops are everywhere in the capital city.

Vegetarians can ask for a meatless "fasting plate." Orthodox Christians have long lived side by side with Muslims in Ethiopia. Although the local wine did not impress, you've gotta love a beer named after a saint!

St. George beer was perfect with the spicy food.

Getting Around in Addis Ababa

Another endless traffic jam.

You think Los Angeles has traffic? A sigalert on the 405 is a first world problem. Here in the capital of Ethiopia, the sigalert on weekdays never ends. Getting anywhere involves inching through traffic in a wheezing Soviet-era Lada taxi. 

When old Ladas die, they become taxis in Ethiopia.

The congestion is widely blamed on construction of a light rail system that is supposed to be finished in less than two years. Watching workers chip away at the project with hand tools and the occasional earth mover, you get the feeling that 20 years would be more realistic. 

Construction here moves as slowly as the traffic. Except for the main arteries, few roads are paved. Cars and trucks compete for space with herds of sheep and goats, and donkeys hauling cement to endless blocks of half-fisnished apartment buildings. In the downtown area, the unfinished buildings are taller. People cram into buses or line up to fill private vans that ply the main routes. It's the commute from hell.

On one side of the car: aggressive young salesmen.
On the other side, a cop saying he'd give us a ticket if we bought anything.

Finally at my destination:
the African Union Conference Center, site of the International Family Planning Conference.

On assignment in Ethiopia...

After traveling for two days, I've arrived in Addis Ababa with a group of American journalism fellows, covering the International Family Planning Conference. First order of business: picking up our media credentials and a briefing on the agenda for the week ahead.

We also got our first taste of the country we'll be visiting this week at a cultural Ethiopian restaurant, filled with local families, wedding parties and visitors like us.

Slow internet prevents me from sharing all the details right now, but let's just say the music was so captivating that one of our fellows couldn't resist the temptation to join in the dancing on stage!

Italy Without the Crowds

Imagine standing all alone in the footsteps of gladiators at Rome's Coliseum. Or being almost the only car on the spectacular road that winds along the Amalfi Coast.
It may sound impossible. Tour groups tend to mob the major attractions during high season. But come to Italy during the winter and you'll have the place to yourself, except for the people who actually live here.

Lunch among the wine bottles at an enoteca.

Our family decided to meet in Rome during our son's "spring" break from grad school in Europe. It just happened to be the first three weeks in February. There are two major problems. Temperatures hover between 35 and 55 degrees Fahrenheit and it gets dark by 6 pm. So forget the warm nights of strolling past the Fountain of Trevi for a gelato. It's too cold for ice cream. You'll need to dress in layers. My hooded ski parka and long silk underwear kept me from freezing more than once. And we spent some evenings with wine and cheese in our apartment or hotel room rather than braving the nightly chill. But you can pack in a lot of sightseeing during the warmer daylight hours because you don't have to compete with endless tour groups for tickets and photo opportunities. A word about how we roll: we're a fit American couple traveling with a 20-something son, and we take the position that we can see the major sights of any city in about two full days. In Italy, the entire country shuts down for lunch between noon and 3 pm, so we planned our big meal for mid day and snacked for breakfast and dinner most of the time. We're also into stretching our weak US dollars as far as possible. We purchased a 3-day Roma Pass, which included admission to two major attractions, reduced admission to others, and unlimited rides on Rome's metro and bus system.

Almost alone with the ghosts of ancient Rome.

First stop, the Coliseum in Rome. It was only a two-block walk from our apartment near the Cavour metro. If you arrive before 9 am, you might have to ask directions to the ticket booth because it's not obvious when you're the first people to show up. Combined with the Forum on Roma pass, admission was free.

The baroque town of Scicli in Sicily. Everyone is sleeping in.

Again, we had to hunt for the entrance to the nearby Roman Forum and Palatino, but wandered the ruins at leisure until lunch time when groups began to line up. It was a brisk walk to other major sights including the Piazza Navona and the Pantheon. On Day 2, we reserved a tour at the Villa Borghese (also included in Roma pass) and saved a third day for Vatican City and its Museums. The only place we encountered anything that could be called a crowd was the Fountain of Trevi. I suspect it would be impossible to get near the place in the peak tourism season. We also learned to avoid the jam-packed metro trains during the evening rush hour.

Elsewhere in Italy, we found another downside: some attractions, as well as a lot of hotels and restaurants, are closed in the winter. This worked in our favor at Villa Quartarella, a restored farm near the UNESCO baroque towns of Modica, Ragusa and Scicli. The owner, Francesco, says his five rooms are fully booked from March until September. In February, we were one of just two bookings. It was too cold to lounge by the pool, but there's plenty to do.  Admiring the scenery and architecture was fun  but frustrating at times, like when the baroque cathedral we had hoped to see in Ragusa was closed. The entire town seemed to have rolled up the sidewalks on a brisk Saturday afternoon. Forget about tour groups, there were virtually no people anywhere. We had better luck in nearby Modica, where Francesco had recommended a restaurant, the churches were open, and people were friendly. We hit Scicli first thing in the morning, when most of the local residents seemed to be sleeping in. So, again, we had the place to ourselves.

A peaceful apartment in Sorrento's citrus groves. 

We were fortunate to find a unique holiday apartment in Sorrento, as a home base for visiting Pompeii and the Amalfi Coast. Just about every hotel and restaurant along the coast road appeared to be closed, and any available parking was reserved for local residents, except in Amalfi, which has a large public lot. There, the cathedral was closed but we admired the exterior and hiked the steep staircases for unforgettable views and wood-fired pizza from a place that seemed to be doing a brisk takeout business with neighboring merchants.
The hairpin turns make the coastal road a nail-biter in the daytime because it's barely wide enough for a car, and we got lost trying to find our way back to Sorrento at night. Trying to visit this area when it's packed with tour buses in the summer must be an exercise in gridlock, even if you take the bus.
Italy is lively in the winter with festivals like Carnevale. We arrived while Sorrento celebrated the annual holiday of its patron saint with a street party and fireworks.

Throwing a coin in the Fountain of Trevi to ensure a return to Rome. Good luck getting this close in the summer!

Restored stone buildings can be extremely chilly in the winter, so join the Italians in bundling up and cranking up the heat. You'll be rewarded with an authentic experience no tour bus could deliver.