Addis is very wide spread city and doesn 't have a real centre. It 's like the city has several centres and although it 's possible to walk from one to the other this is not always very interesting since you have to cross some dull areas. Public transport is hard to understand and taxis ask many times far to much. We used the new light rail! By broad daylight exellent and we ended up walking quit a bit. Don't try the light rail at rush hours, the trains are dangersly overloaded! Good food isn 't hard to find in Addis, prices are usually much higher than outside Addis, but there is great variety and lot 's of beautiful places. We went to for example to 'La Mandoline' a very lovely French restaurant with a beautiful terrace. Although we found the prices quite high (compared to other city 's in Ethiopie), we had a lovely dinner with great staff waiting on us and a good spirit. We slept in Zeist Lodge, a lovely boutique hotel with lots of African atmosphere and a warm welcome. An oasis in a hectic city!

Addis Ababa is a sewer of a city and I would recommend spending as least time as humanly possible there. Luckily I only was there for one night after my two week trip throughout the rest of the country. The pollution will coat your lungs, making it more difficult to negotiate human and canine feces, rubble, and rubbish on the pavement. Stray dogs roam the city, beggars at every corner, and pickpockets galore. I got pickpocked within minutes of getting off the minibus at Piazza. Luckily all they got was my "pickpocket decoy pack", which is an empty cigarette box stuffed with cardboard. I walked about 15km throughout the centre of the city so I got a bit of an idea of the place. First, there isn't any real centre, its a massive sprawl of half finished buildings, tin shacks, and smog filled roads (paved and unpaved). Don't waste any time here unless you absolutely have to. But if you must, you cannot go wrong sampling the coffee and pastry shops and seeking out really great food.

Yod Abyssinia Cultural Restaurant was the highlight of my trip. Wonderful Ethiopian culture and delicious food. Lots of history, but did not have a chance to visit the places I wanted to such as Lalibela. People are very warm and soft-spoken. The public transport system seems very well organized, though if you do not speak Amharic, best to find an English speaking taxi driver. Use local currency as it is less complicated. Change to local currency can be done at the bank in the Airport. The Metro was a beautiful sight in sub-Saharan Africa; and makes me proud as an African. The downside of my visit to Addis is all the road construction currently on-going, makes it dusty and generally messy; hopefully after all is done Addis will look and feel amazing!

The National Museum is a must see if you are interested in cultural anthropology, knowing about your beginnings! Also has some great paintings. Also went to Entowa National Park. The driver never took us there, but the drive was wonderful, with spectular scenery. The church in Entowa is really not worth a visit, however the palace certainly is. Very unusual and different to what you expect, Again being on top of the hill its a fantastic view. There are many many resturants in Addis Ababa, you get both local as well as continental food there, Mostly italian, The resturant in the National Musuem had a good choice of food, it was in a beautiful garden setting really enjoyed our time there, The other resturant well worth a visit, is the cultural Ethiopian resturant, go there for dinner as they have cultural dances there each night. Its easy to get around, if yo

We took day trip to Mt Entoto - highest point in Addis. Very beautiful views over the whole city. Highly recommended. Every single person we met or encountered was very friendly. Never did we feel unsafe or threatened. Very easy to get around in taxis...try and know common reference points to discuss with driver. Bargain with them...of course they will offer a higher price to begin with. If you're a coffee drinker, try and do a traditional coffee afternoon.

As said ; a walk to the Ethnographical lMuseum through the university campus was a very pleasant and relaxing experience after a 14 day tour of Northern Ethiopia...... I ate in the hotel and met some very interesting people coming and going .... There are plenty of mini buses going every where plenty of people only too glad to help and taxis. (be prepared to negotiate ) Walking alone on the off road areas (instructions to my driver was not too clear) plenty of people but not all nice.................