Addis Ababa is a rich and modern city located in the centre of one of the poorest countries in the world. To get to know it, you have to see the contrast between crowded, but neat centre of the capital and suburban districts of poverty. Addis Ababa doesn’t ooze travellers with monuments but attracts with restaurants, where you can try local titbits.
The city called “a new flower” was established in 1887 as a gift of the emperor Menelik II for his wife Taitu Betul in the centre of desert plain Finfinnie. Nowadays, it is the fourth biggest urban centre in Africa and its economic and political heart. It is also a spot, where cultures mix – as representatives of almost 80 nationalities live there, and religions – mainly Christians and Muslims. In the period between 1936 and 1941, it was occupied by Italian – the influence of that nation can be seen, among others, in the district Piazza.
It is worth to see there the cathedral of Saint George from 1896, which is a place of coronation of Ethiopian emperors and the orthodox church of Holy Trinity. Must see is also the old town, called Mercato, and the Great Palace of the Emperor Menelik II, that currently serves as the headquarters of the Ethiopian government. The impression is also made by the National Palace, former Jubilee Palace, from 1955, that was modeled on the Buckingham Palace. Lovers of architecture can be impressed by Africa Hall, the premises of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa, and on fans of history – the collection of the Ethiopian National Museum, the Archaeological Museum and The Historic-Ethnographic Museum.
The basis of the local cuisine is hot spices – bebri (paste from minced hot pepper) and mitmita (minced hot pepper with salt). In restaurants or bars it is worth to order injera (pancake from the fermented flour of wheat tef) with sauces, for e.g. kai wat (very spicy meat sauce) or sziro (puree of beans). It is also worth to try the greatest Ethiopian tidbits, which is raw meat, for instance kitf, chopped beef with butter and spicy mitmita, as well as gored gored – chopped beef or lamb with berberi sauce of hot pepper or type of spicy mustard. Where to eat? In restaurants Yod Abyssinia, 2000 Habesha and in Kategna.
