Egypt- Take 2

On our way to South Africa last year from Greece we stopped in Cairo and were awe-struck by the pyramids. They’re the kind of huge that can’t be fully appreciated until you’re standing in front of them. You can read all about that trip here.

Egypt is a history lover's dream come true- they have treasures beyond treasures in this country. Aside from the pyramids we have really wanted to go back to see the Valley of the Kings in Luxor. After much debate about the costs, the difficulty of getting there and time schedules we finally decided to just do it. Jules and Frenchie took a couple days of vacation and we met the team that is working in Cairo there last Thursday. Egyptians work Sun-Thurs.

We had to fly overnight and then had a long layover in Cairo before getting to Luxor Thursday morning. Our hotel was overlooking the Nile and after inhaling some breakfast we all went straight to bed. After a good 4 hour nap Jules and I headed to the pool where I baked in the insane Egyptian sun for an hour. It was all I could handle and sadly my sunscreen worked too well because I got zero color for my suffering.

The Cairo team arrived that evening and we walked through town to a little pub for some dinner. Walking that evening I was quickly reminded how much I disdain the manner in which Egyptian men conduct themselves with women. The too close for comfort whispers in my ears, the cat calls, the leering…I had my fill in the 20 minute walk and unfortunately had 4 more days to endure.

Friday we had to depart at 4:40am for our hot air balloon ride. We were taken to a felucca (boat) and served tea and coffee before crossing to the west bank of the Nile. We stood around for well over an hour before they finally told us the wind was not safe enough to fly and we’d need to try again tomorrow. Which the guys did the next morning while Jules and I writhed around in bed- sick from whatever we had eaten the night before. But, I’m getting ahead of myself…

On the agenda for the day was the temple of the Queen Hatshepsut...







and the Valley of the Kings. Which unfortunately didn't allow photos. Our guide said there was no actual reason they forbid it, but if you want to see it you'll need to go there. They are crazy strict about it and will not only fine you on the spot, but also delete the photos from your camera.

The highlight of the Valley of the Kings was of course King Tut Ankh Amen’s tomb, although not the most impressively decorated, it is the only tomb that still holds its mummy. And of course we all know about him so it was amazing to actually be there and see it.

Since we had cut the balloon ride out of the day we had time to check out the tiny, but interesting Mummification Museum as well as the Luxor Museum before heading back to the hotel for some much needed showers and a little lunch. It was well over 100 degrees and some of the guys had gone out to another temple, but we were more than happy to get out of the sun and enjoy the air-conditioned museums.

That night the World Cup started so we divided up the matches between the hotel lounge and another restaurant on the Nile…the restaurant I blame for our inability to go on the rescheduled balloon ride Saturday morning.

We caught up with the guys afterwards and toured both the Karnak Temple…





and Luxor Temple…


>


Very impressive and they are still excavating the Avenue of Sphinx that led from one to the other…



We all left for Cairo that evening and some of us went out for a late bite and some football. Sadly none of the guys who were giving me such a hard time about the USA team were with us to see that England was in fact not going to kick our arse.

Jules and I were still not feeling well the next morning so we skipped out on another trip to the pyramids. We headed back to Tunis early evening and I have to say I was glad the weekend had come to an end and we could finally get a full night’s rest.

This weekend we’re headed to Jordan to see Petra. My ankle is getting better every day and I’m hoping will hold out for the insane amount of walking we’ll need to do to see everything.

not constantinople

I wish I had more to say about Istanbul. Unfortunately, a sprained ankle and a very rainy Sunday kept us from doing a third of what we wanted and had planned to do. I just refused to start the vicious cycle of ignoring the pain on weekends just to pay the price all week. I did that in Greece last year and was not signing up for it again.

Saturday we did go to the Blue Mosque, Haghia Sofia and to the Grand Bazaar.I wasn’t that impressed with the Blue Mosque. It was really beautiful from the outside, but to be honest the interior pictures look nicer than it was, at least to me. My opinion may be a little skewed because of the fact that it smelled. As with any mosque you have to take off your shoes to enter. I don’t know if this is common since I think this was the first mosque I was ever allowed to actually enter, but it had wall to wall carpeting. Considering the percentage of dirty feet with thousands of people a day walking around and well, you can imagine. I was so happy I had worn tennis shoes and had socks on!





Haghia Sofia was lovely…in that dark and ancient sort of way. And it didn’t smell so it gets two thumbs up.






It was a little bit of a walk to the Grand Bazaar, but not far enough for a taxi to take us. I was limping pretty badly by the time we had been to only a fraction of the shops. Even with the little we explored this place was pretty amazing. It is now all covered and spans over 60 streets with over 2,500 shops!! I’m already planning a trip back just to buy lighting fixtures for the new house. Oh and to see the rest of the city…yeah, the city.

Sunday was pouring rain so both my foot and the Wife got the day off. Jules so rarely gets to actually relax. She works all week and then runs around like a tourist gone mad almost every single weekend. So, I was happy she got a rainy Sunday to lie around and read.

Even with missing out on all there is to do and see in Istanbul- and there is a ton- we both really enjoyed our weekend. We were happy to be somewhere where people spoke English and I almost cried when I saw the International Herald Tribune in the lounge. I haven’t had a newspaper in English since we left the States. Which I thought was crazy with Costa Rica and all the expats that live there, but whatever…I was thrilled! I read papers online, but it just isn’t the same.

We’ve got a 4 day weekend ahead of us. We’re meeting the Egypt team in Luxor to see the Valley of the Kings. It’s supposed to be amazing and we can’t wait to see our friends!

flashback friday!

our guide freeing us from the sea of boats at the evening aarti in varanasi, india.

south o' france

Frenchie was kind enough to invite us home with him this past weekend- home for his is near Marseilles, in the south of France. Obviously, just a wee bit better than one of us inviting him to Cumming or Albany, Georgia although we promised a return favor if he ever got the inclination to tour either.

Our flight arrived that evening and we went into Marseilles to walk around the beautiful harbor and eventually have dinner. I can say without a doubt our French dining experience was improved tremendously with the addition of a local.




His family was gracious enough to host us at their home which is just about a half hour or so from Marseilles proper, although we arrived too late that evening to actually meet them.

We had breakfast and coffee the next morning and then took a little tour of the land, got to see the future site of our summer vacations otherwise known as the house Frenchie is building, and got to officially meet the family. Who, by the way, are incredibly lovely people. Like the kind of lovely that translates even when you actually need a translator to talk to one another.

Afterwards we set off for a drive along the coast, stopping in different little villages/towns I don’t know what they call them, but they were small little towns by the sea- disgustingly charming little towns by the sea and eventually went up to the cathedral high above Marseilles…










We then headed back for a delicious meal cooked by Frenchie’s mom. It was a great meal and even though our poor friend had his brain ping-ponging between French and English all night I think it was a successful dinner.

Sunday morning we visited a weekly market in a neighboring town. Wow, all I can say is it made we want to weep to think of coming back to American grocery stores and shops. Urgh, I don’t even want to think of it. I want to somehow transplant all that wonderfulness into Grant Park every Sunday. The bread, pastries, seafood, sausages, cheese- God, all the glorious cheese, the pottery, the fresh produce, the flowers, the fabrics, the crafts…





Can someone please make this happen before we move back?? I’ll even be happy for it to be a monthly thing instead of weekly. Where did America go so wrong? Why would we rather go to these huge cold faceless stores to get our food? Why do we want food from God knows where instead of from our neighbors? Okay, so maybe that’s a blog for another day.

Anyway…

Sunday was Mother’s Day in France and in conjunction with the recent birthday of Frenchie’s nephew his sister-in-law had prepared a family lunch and was sweet enough to invite us. Another incredible meal- I am talking incredible. As in: in-cred-i-ble.

We had time to meet another branch of Frenchie’s family tree and a short walk down to the sea before having to head to the airport.

We can’t thank Frenchie and his family enough for having us. They might be rethinking how kind they were to us when we show up on their doorsteps every year.

flashback friday!

from our trip to sabi sands in south africa.

he's sleepy...

i heart carville

i keep seeing all these facebook posts with all this anger towards bp. i agree- they suck.

but, bp is a company- a company that cares only about their bottom line. not about our environment, not about the livelihoods of our citizens, not about the health of our wildlife.

where is all the anger for the obama administration for their lack of action?? why aren't they holding bp more accountable?? i don't want to hear obama voice his frustrations anymore. i want to see him act like the president of the united states of america and get things done.




also- just something to think about- i totally get banning bp. however, the gas stations are owned by franchisees, not the company itself. so when you stop going to these stations you're really just hurting the small business owner. maybe you could still stop in for a pack of gum or a cup of coffee?

Tozeur

We took a late flight out of Tunis to the southern town of Tozeur. Our goal- the Sahara and a Star Wars set thrown in for good measure.

We arrived at our hotel to find a very rowdy group of tourists living it up with the keyboardist and vocalist they had playing in the lounge. They were pretty entertaining, but it was a relief when the "band" left and we got to finish our nightcaps without having to scream to each other to be heard.

We started out after breakfast for our 8 hour tour with Michael. I don’t know what his real name was, he originally told us his name was Michael something and he and Frenchie had a good laugh. Apparently this Michael something is a famous Formula 1 driver. Obviously this joke was more than lost on us.

We first went to an oasis called Chebika. After touching my arm while showing me postcards that I could obviously see myself without his aid I told Frenchie he was going to need to be my husband or we were going to have to start talking about my husband, because ol’ Michael was getting a little too close for comfort.

When we told him Frenchie and I were married he proceeded to offer 100 camels for me. Quickly realizing that a Frenchman may not have such a great need for so many camels, he threw in a Ferrari to sweeten the deal.

After a quick Google search I’ve estimated this offer to be worth anywhere from $300k to $500k, depending on the model of Ferrari and general health of the camels. Nothing to sneeze at, but needless to say I wasn’t flattered. It wasn’t until we really convinced him we were married by showing him my wedding ring that he stopped leering at me through the rearview mirror.

Aside from Stary McStarison grossing me out our day was pretty cool. We got to see the landscape go from the oasis on the other side of the Atlas Mountains to the salt lakes to the dry and sandy desert terrain…















We also got to see where the English Patient was filmed as well as Phantom Menace. This is the set where Darth Maul dukes it out with Quin-ion and also used for the background of the pod race…






I was really hoping they would have costume rentals for pictures and if they were smart they would get some. They did have a bathroom and I have to admit that was the best part for me. Mint tea after lunch and dune bashing do not mix, people.

We were exhausted after 8 hours of running around the desert and all took naps before heading to dinner at the hotel. After dinner we were still too exhausted to do anything but go back up to our rooms for an early night.

We spend Sunday in the medina shopping. The sales guys were much more aggressive than in Tunis, but we did finally buy a couple of things.

Our flight was delayed and delayed some more. We had planned on arriving back in Tunis late afternoon, but instead arrived in time for dinner.

This weekend we’re headed home with Frenchie to the south of France! He’s still finishing up his house and we want to make sure the guest room is to our liking since we plan on visiting him as much as humanly possible ;)