The World As I See It
Category: Travelling
I have had this article on my mind for a while but I just never came around to composing my thoughts until now. In checking for a quote to launch this article, I came across one attributed to Plato, which I think captures my aim for this article.
“No law or ordinance is mightier than understanding”
This is the fourth part in a series tagged “A Stroll Through Israel”. If you won’t jump into the fourth episode of a Game of Thrones season, you may want to begin with the first article.
Our trip to Israel began with Tel Aviv, then Nazareth, Bethlehem, Rawabi and Ramallah. Having gone through these cities to view Israel and Palestine from a different lens, it was time to tour what is unarguably the most contested piece of hills in this galaxy. From being a space merely contested for mainly political reasons, Jerusalem morphed into the site of a religiously-charged contest, and has now retained the political dimension, making it a hotspot for flares. It is in this context that the #LetsTalkBusiness entourage went on a tour of Old Jerusalem. Continue reading “Jerusalem: Land of Uneasy Peace, Religion and Business”
This is the third part in a series tagged “A Stroll Through Israel”. If you won’t jump into the third episode of a Game of Thrones season, you may want to begin with the first article.
When you hear or read of the Israel-Palestine conflict, what comes to your mind? If all you think of is chaos, poverty, oppression and bloodshed, no one would blame you. The media have ensured negativity is groomed in people’s minds. However, there is more to Palestine than the media presents. Join me through a day spent unlearning and relearning about Palestine. Continue reading “A Day for Palestine”
![A Stroll Through Israel [Part 2]](https://jilomes.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/img_20170829_172955.jpg?w=1008&h=737&crop=1)
Israel meets Palestine
It is commonly said that there are two sides to every story. One thing with life is that we sometimes seek to view life in terms of absolutes—right vs wrong, black vs white, good vs evil—but sometimes life isn’t something that can be linearly modelled as it covers more than fifty shades of grey. In this second part of the series, we relive a day spent partly in Israel and partly in land governed by the Palestinian Authority. Continue reading “A Stroll Through Israel [Part 2]”
![A Stroll Through Israel [Part 1]](https://jilomes.files.wordpress.com/2017/08/img_20170827_203341.jpg?w=816&h=612&crop=1)
The clock had just gone past 8pm local time when the EasyJet plane touched the tarmac at the Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv. It was the end of a five-hour flight that had departed the UK earlier that day. On board were fourteen UK students, stepping into the warm Tel Aviv evening with eyes set on a trip that was months in the waiting. These students were joined by two others who had arrived on earlier flights. For me, it was the end of a four-month wait after an earlier disappointment. Continue reading “A Stroll Through Israel [Part 1]”
They say it is smart to kill two birds with one stone. In obedience to this advice, the “walking around spirit” directed a trip from Berlin to Brussels; a trip made possible by the EU’s Schengen area policy. So off we went to the capital of Belgium, and effectively the capital of the European Union. I hold Angela Merkel and Berlin in high regard, but I must confess that “B is for Brussels”. Continue reading “B is for Brussels”
A few days back, someone in my undergraduate class’ chat group posted something about the different types of students in any given class. One type described students who are “involved in everything”. Immediately this was posted, one classmate replied that I fell into this category. While, I would vehemently argue that I was not exactly a buzzing bee as an undergraduate, I would concede that I was involved in several activities, especially, ones that involved travelling. Now a postgraduate student, this “walking around spirit” has just taken me to see the German capital.
For some persons, the motivation to travel comes from Saint Augustine’s famous charge: “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page”. For some others, me included, travelling goes beyond trying to read more pages of the world. Some persons would say I’m related to Nigeria’s famous tripper, “Ajala”. Well, that may be possible, but before a thesis begins on such a link, here’s a gentle recap of my last travel adventure. Continue reading “Scottish Whisky and other Attractions”
When I decided to spend the Christmas holidays at the Netherlands, I did that knowing full well that I would have due assignments and an exam on my return. I’ve got an exam in three days, and the distinction grade that awaits me in that module would top up what has been an amazing holiday. After enjoying the awesomeness of the Dutch cities, we decided to stroll across the border into the famous city of Antwerp in Belgium. Continue reading “Belgium for the Finale”
On Christmas Day, I missed my way, and found myself in the city known around the world as “The Hague”, and fondly called “Den Haag” by the Dutch. That unplanned visit meant I had to revisit the city properly. So, after paying upfront for this revisit by reading a bit for my next week’s exam, I returned to Den Haag alongside the usual suspects. This time, we didn’t just go strolling aimlessly like we did in the previous cities. We went on what some Nigerians would call “point and kill”, visiting pre-planned locations, and it was all about the beauty of art. Continue reading “Den Haag is for Art”
