17. It's a Hard Rock Life

The girls are back from hiatus and ready to rock 'n roll! Respectfully, of course, as they both take us on journeys of pilgrimage to Africa and Asia. Olivia digs out the details on the rock churches of Lalibela, Ethiopia while Johanna gives us the scoop on the Hajj, the most revered pilgrimage of Islam. Air Castles is a cultural anthropology podcast where Semi-Qualified Hosts/World Travelers/Best Friends Johanna Schöllauf and Olivia Schmitz try to learn more about world cultures one topic at a time. Questions/Comments/Compliments/Corrections? Email us at [email protected] or reach out to us on Twitter @AirCastlesPod. (To save you the trouble: Olivia realizes that Saudi Arabia is in Western Asia and is not considered a part of Africa. Sorry about her terrible geography.) Johanna “What is the Black Stone of Mecca?”: youtube.com/watch?v=Ibbzz9Rwrp4 “Die wundersame Kaabe & ihre wahre Geschichte”: youtube.com/watch?v=sVk0OVnLd7Y “The Ka’bah”: https://www.islamiclandmarks.com/makkah-haram-sharief/kabah “Millions barred from 2020 hajj pilgrimage to Mecca due to pandemic”: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/06/millions-barred-2020-hajj-pilgrimage-mecca-pandemic/ “Pillars of Islam”: http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/article/opr/t125/e1859 Olivia “Lalibela: Ethiopian holy city mired in protests and controversy”: https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/inpictures/lalibela-ethiopian-holy-city-mired-protests-controversy-181202142254158.html “A Trip Through the Stunning, Rock-Hewed Churches of Ethiopia”: https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/18/travel/harar-lalibela-ethiopia-budget-churches.html “Rock Churches of Lalibela, the Jerusalem of Ethiopia”: https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/rock-churches-lalibela-ethiopia/index.html “Lalibela, Ethiopia (ላሊበላ) - Tour of the Incredible Rock Churches!”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lo_KycIyHAg “Lalībela, Ethiopia”: https://www.britannica.com/place/Lalibela-Ethiopia “Zagwe dynasty, Ethiopian history”: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Zagwe-dynasty