Becoming tourists for a day...

My parents and I wanted to play in this huge city, and to see the must see sights...The following are pictures of one crazy day touring Addis. (as always, for a better quality, click the pictures!)

These cutie turtles were inside a fenced area on the front yard
of a museum we toured. After telling our guide turtles were a favorite
of mine he told me "Quick, no one is looking...hop over the fence and touch
it!!!" ....So I did, duh...

The Lion Zoo

Inside of Kaldi's , Ethiopia's knock-off Starbucks. 

We drove to the farms that overlook the city. Dirt roads, roaming
donkeys, and a great view.

Our tour guide told us that in the "forest" we could find Hyenas.
Our search was short, as none of us felt like being attacked by a wild dog...You can
see our tour guides in the background of this picture--they both had huge rocks
in there hands ...just in case. :)

Cutie heads overlooking the city. 

The rolling hills of this country are beautiful.
If I could live up here, I would
in a heart beat. 

Ethiopians are known for their incredible hospitality.
I have seen that time after time, today especially
when the owner of a hotel invited us in for coffee, and let
us go to the top  balcony to take pictures.

These 9 men came into the hotel to sing Ethiopian
worship songs...it looks more like we are about to be sacrificed :)
This weekend is a huge holiday,
years ago during this time, they believe they found
Christ's cross here. This weekend has been filled with
parades, songs, and bonfires all over the city. So amazing and beautiful
to see the unique ways other cultures worship...

Almost everywhere we have gone in public, some sort of group starts
to follow us. These were today's specators. My witty
father told them I was "American Movie Star" ...this only made
them follow more.

Donkeys, goats, cows and cars all share the roads.

The Orthodox church we visited. Breath Taking

A man worships outside the church doors

A parade for the holiday celebration that went on this weekend.