DAY 9 – The Amazing Temple of Ramses II and Queen Nefertari

Today we said farewell to our boat, Sanctuary Sun Boat IV to fly to Abu Simbel. The Aswan airport was small however we still passed through several layers of security. The Egyptians take security seriously.

At the airport there were several bunkers with military equipment.

The barron sands were spotted with shadows from the clouds. Quite the site.

Lake Nassar, one of the world's largest artificial lakes is massive.

Flying over the desert, you could see the rugged nature of the region. Lake Nassar had plenty of undeveloped shoreline.

Abu Simbel is a village in the Egyptian part of Nubia, about 240 kilometers southwest of Aswan and near the border with Sudan. It has about 2600 inhabitants. It is best known as the site of the Abu Simbel Temples, which were built by King Ramses II.

When we arrived we immediately traveled the temples. The small village looked very desolate and I could imagine in the heat of the summer, it was not a fun place to live or to even visit.

There was additional security at the temples.

As we rounded the corner, we immediately saw the commanding twin temples of Ramses II and his wife, Queen Nefertari. The former’s façade is dominated by four statues of the pharaoh, each nearly 70 feet tall.

The temples are situated on the western bank of Lake Nasser, about 230 km southwest of Aswan. The complex is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site known as the "Nubian Monuments", which run from Abu Simbel downriver to Philae. The twin temples were originally carved out of the mountainside in the 13th century BC, during the 19th dynasty reign of the Pharaoh Ramesses II. They serve as a lasting monument to the king and his queen Nefertari, and commemorate his victory at the Battle of Kadesh. Their huge external rock relief figures have become iconic.

DW and  I posed for this photo to represent how awesome this whole adventure has been. It was overwhelming!

In the 1960's, the Egyptian government planned to build the Aswan High Dam on the Nile which would have submerged both temples (and also surrounding the Temple of Philae). Between 1964 and 1968, a massive undertaking was carried out in which both temples were dismantled and moved 213 feet (65 metres) up onto the plateau of the cliffs they once sat below and re-built 690 feet (210 metres) to the north-west of their original location. This initiative was spearheaded by UNESCO, with a multi-national team of archaeologists, at a cost of over 40 million US dollars.  Great care was taken to orient both temples in exactly the same direction as before and a man-made mountain was erected to give the impression of the temples cut into the rock cliff.

As we were leaving the site, we discovered documentation of the process of moving the temples. Hubby D and I would have stayed and studied these if we had more time.

After visiting these amazing temples, we flew back to Cairo and checked into the Four Seasons Hotel Cairo at Nile Plaza. It was a very lovely hotel and once again, we can see the great pyramids from our balcony.

Our room was exceptionally lovely with a wonderful balcony with an unbelievable view.

And, we had a huge bathroom. This was a big change (and a treat) from the small bathroom on the boat.

We experienced so much in just one 24 hours. It was certainly a significant day!

Sunset was great!

Just two days left and we are looking forward to experiencing Cairo.

Cheers,
Brenda

Advancing TWO Graduates

May has been a whirlwind of activity for Hubby D and myself already!  First we traveled to Pueblo, Colorado where son, BB graduated with his MBA.

We flew to Denver then drove down to Pueblo the day before graduation. The mountains were spectacular as usual. There was a long, long coal train going by in front of the vista.

Grandpa DM from Kansas and a friend of his also traveled to Colorado for the graduation ceremony. We all arrived early in the day and BB suggested we come over to the Business School for the awards ceremony. He knew he would be receiving special braids at the awards ceremony to wear at commencement as he was inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society.

In case you don’t know, the Beta Gamma Sigma (BGS) is the international honor society recognizing business excellence. Membership is by invitation only, signifying the highest recognition a business student anywhere in the world can receive. BGS members are the "best in business!"

What BB did not know until we all arrived at the ceremony was that he was also selected as the MBA Student of the Year. We were all just thrilled, and I was in tears when I saw his name featured in the program.

Some of you may remember that BB served three tours of duty in the Middle East and brought back some serious injuries that he has been working really hard to overcome. For BB to graduate with his MBA at the top of his class and then to be selected the outstanding MBA Student is absolutely fantastic and an accomplishment that he has worked so very, very, very hard to achieve.

As we waited for the ceremony to start, a distinguished man walked up and introduced himself. He was Timothy Mottet, President of Colorado State University at Pueblo (CSU-P). He told us he saw us with BB and thought we might be his family. He wanted to meet us and tell us that BB was a really big deal on campus and he was very proud of BB’s accomplishments. We were very surprised at this and excited that Dr. Mottet made such a special effort.

BB with Gene Lucero, MBA Director.

After the awards BB took us to the visitor’s center to show us a banner that had been put up promoting CSU-P featuring him and his service dog, Blaze. It truly was a very big deal.

Two outstanding veterans! Grandpa DM and BB.

BB has been working at CSU-P in the Military & Veterans Success Center. He started as a volunteer and then began developing programs to help veterans. Eventually he wrote a grant for the programs and became a member of the staff. His efforts took CSU-P from the bottom of the list of Best Colleges for Veterans to #9 in the Nation. Thanks to his efforts CSU-P was named the first ever Purple Heart University in the State of Colorado.

To say we are proud of him and his achievements is definitely an understatement. Being there to see him and Blaze (BB's service dog) walk across the stage to receive his diploma is a highlight in my life.

BB was the first in line come in to be seated and as the faculty filed in, many of the professors stopped to congratulate him before they went onto the stage. It was very impressive to see how many of them wanted to shake his hand.  

Grandpa DM was very proud as well.

Blaze looked good in his own cap and gown! BB could not have achieved these accomplishments without Blaze. 

BB has already started working as a manager with a company in southern Colorado. I am sure he is going to be wildly successful!

We are standing in front of BB's home he purchased this past year. Notice the blue flower pot to the right.  The young man has good taste. :-)

On the way home, Hubby D and I parted ways in Denver as he headed off to LA for a business meeting and I traveled back to Florida by way of Houston.

However, weather grounded me in Houston and I did not arrive home until 3AM the next morning. Oh, the joys of travel.

I texted this to my family while I waited over 7 hours in Houston.

The next weekend we were back on a plane heading to Norman, Oklahoma for the graduation of granddaughter MVL.  Receiving her Master’s in Structural Engineering from the University of Oklahoma with a perfect 4.0, MVL again gave us moments of pride I probably can never fully describe. 

MVL surprises me all the time. Her accomplishments are AMAZING! She is AMAZING! She is a wonderful young woman and I burst with pride just thinking about her.

Unbelievable -- in this huge auditorium among all these students, my granddaughter is a top scholar and now has a Master's Degree in Engineering. WOW! 

I am not sure if she looked more relieved or happy as she stepped off the stage.

Her cap decoration says it all!

MVL with good friend EF and his parents.

One highlight on the day of graduation was a tour of MVL’s research lab. When we arrived at the lab, Hubby D told her that when he first started working as a young structural engineer in Oklahoma City he had done some research for a client in the very same lab. What a small world!



MVL was so impressive as she showed us all around the lab and described all her work. Over the past year, she had been texting me as she poured concrete, hauled sand and cut steel. To see the results of all her efforts was so impressive. REALLY IMPRESSIVE.

Her professor, Dr. Jeffrey Volz made a special effort to be there in the lab when we visited. She worked closely with Dr. Volz and with his wife on her Master's research. They made a huge positive impression on MVL. Dr. Volz told me that he had hoped she would stay at OU and get her PhD. But he knew she was ready to strike out and tackle the world and he would miss her. She is a lucky young woman to have such great people to influence her life.

MVL has been attending the University of Oklahoma for 5 years with a full academic scholarship and now with her Master’s Degree she is ready to start her career.  Back in December she accepted a position with an engineering firm in Dallas and will be starting there in just a couple of weeks. But first, she is coming to Florida the beginning of June for one more visit with her adoring grandmother, me.

Next weekend we are off again to the Indie 500 with friends, SW, DW, ES and NS! Oh what fun we will have – and it will also be a great time to really celebrate launching BB and MVL into tax paying adulthood.

Cheers,
Brenda