Day 2 - Hummus, horses and a lot of dust

DAY 2 -- The next morning we were up early for another spectacular view of the pyramids at breakfast. A friend from Saudi Arabia, KAK joined us and it was great catching up with him on everything going on in the Middle East construction world.

Another stunning view from our table at breakfast.

This view is taken from inside the lobby of the hotel. There is a line of carved wooden beads hanging in front of a 2-story window. DW and I titled this, "Behind the Veil in Egypt."

YW had arranged for a driver so we could tour in ease. It was just great.

Our first stop, the obligatory tourist papyrus cash liberation center (SW’s quote). Papyrus was the first paper ever produced, and used from1650 BC until 500 AD. No chemicals or glue were used. First you strip the papyrus reed, bound out the water, then press out the water some more, then soak in fresh water for six days to draw out the sugars. The strips are woven in overlapping fashion and pressed for six more days. The finished paper is tough, waterproof, rollable, and durable.

The young lady giving us the demonstration told us that the Egyptians invented paper.  It was very logical but later on we would come to realize this is a theme with Egyptians.  They believe they invented almost everything. LOL

Facts about Cairo.
Here are some interesting facts YW shared with us. The Islamic monuments are inside Cairo. Pharaonic monuments are west of Cairo. There are 23 million residents in Cairo with 3 million commuters daily. The government is building a new capital 35 km to east of Cairo as well as a new Coptic Cathedral and Mosque. This is an attempt to reduce the population in Cairo.

Socialized medicine is available free to all as well as all surgery. President Sisi opened up all hospitals to reduce backlogs. According to the local people, health care is much better.

Unemployment is down to 9% from 13%. There has been a 500% increase in real estate values in the past five years. Currently they import oil and 50% of their food. Egypt is a net exporter of natural gas and electricity. There is compulsory military service at 18 for young men unless he is the only male in  his family.



Hubby D and I enjoyed a cup of Turkish coffee while we shopped. Yummy!

We purchased this papyrus for Little LW. The artist is painting his name inside the cartouche.

Something very interesting we learned as we were touring the tombs and temples is that the members of the royal family are the only people given a cartouche.

In Egyptian hieroglyphs, a cartouche is an oval with straight lines on each side and inside is the name of the royal person. Placing their name inside a cartouche indicates they are royal in hieroglyph writing. It can be horizontal or vertical.

When we toured the Egyptian Museum, I took this photo of the cartouche on the arm of the throne chair of King Tutankhamun (King Tut).

There is some debate on the exact translation of his cartouche  Reading hieroglyphics is not cut and dry. They can be interpreted many ways. However you see a cartouche used frequently throughout the royal tombs and temples.

A cartouche is like a name plate or a title. It is attached to your coffin and also used in writing about you. The ancient Egyptians put it on the coffin because they wanted to make sure that their two souls - the Ba and the Ka - could find their way back to their tomb at night, after they died.

The cartouche came into common use during the beginning of the Fourth Dynasty under Pharaoh Sneferu, but earlier examples date to the mid Second Dynasty on Cylinder Seals of Seth-Peribsen.

This is the artist who created LW's cartouche. He also painted the painting on the wall behind us in this photo.

The filing system in the shop was very detailed.

After the Papyrus shopping, we went to see the Coptic churches. First the Coptic Orthodox Church, then the Christian Church, and finally the Synagogue. All three were situated within feet of each other coexisting with religious pilgrims of all faiths. The area is called Coptic Cairo and the Coptic Orthodox Church is called the Hanging Church.

Interesting fact, while escaping the persecution of King Herod, David and the Mother Mary with Jesus hid in the basement of the church.

Amazing to stand on ground where a person documented through 2,000 years of Civilization once stood. And, the Synagogue to the south is believed to be the very place where Moses was pulled out of the River Nile in a papyrus basket. Unbelievable.



This is one of my first panoramic photos. My new phone has this feature and it very interesting.

Our group with our guide for Coptic Cairo.

SW and Hubby D view things a bit more analytical than most people. This is the first photo of many I took of them figuring out the how and why of some part of the construction of a building.

This is looking through openings in a wall of the Mosque at a mural of Jesus and Mary.

The lights in the Synagogue were very pretty.

This was taken on the steps of the Coptic Church.

The area streets were filled with unique shops. I loved these lanterns.

Every kind of transportation passed through the area.

Back in our bus with our ever-vigilant driver, we drove just a few miles down the street (which took almost an hour) to have a wonderful Egyptian lunch that included pigeon (a delicacy), and Omar’s stew with lamb, rice and hummus. YW chose a very local restaurant and it was a completely authentic experience. For me, it was my favorite meal of the whole trip.

After lunch, YW had arranged for us to ride Arabian horses to the base of the pyramids. Everyone except LW and myself mounted horses.  LW and I rode along in a carriage. We went around the pyramids to the back and stopped on a high plateau. There we took pictures and enjoyed the view of 9 pyramids. 



We had a hard time taking a selfie while the horse was moving.

Looking at the pyramids and then the city of Cairo, you are truly amazed. It is the most incredible sight. To stand there and think of the thousands of people it required to construct such structures and all of this took place 5,000 years ago.

The sprawling city of Cairo could be seen in the distance.

After this unbelievable experience we returned to our beautiful hotel and freshened up for the evening’s entertainment, a dinner cruise on the Nile.

What more can I say?




The day was unbelievable.  YW and LW made the whole thing just perfect.  It was so very much fun to share it with them and to appreciate a country they have been visiting for many years. We are so thankful for all their hard work coordinating this part of our adventure and it was exceptionally wonderful to share the experience with them.

During out time together, DW gave LW and myself the most wonderful bracelets (artlets) from a popular art group in Bahrain, Annada. The artist of my “artlet” is Abbas Almosawi and it is based on his painting Oasis. He was one my favorite artists in Bahrain. I have 2 silk scarves made out of his paintings. It is a very special gift I will cherish it with wonderful memories forever.



I returned from our Egypt experience with 1400 photos on my phone. Hubby D had hundreds on his phone as well. And yet, writing this blog, I remember so much that was not captured. It was a great adventure.

Cheers ‘til the next Cairo blog. . .
Brenda

Three Days to Reach Cairo

In preparation for our Egyptian Adventure, I read a book, The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt by Toby Wilkinson. The book covers 3000 years of Pharaoh Rule.

It is pretty dry and hard to read with a repeating theme of “he came into power, married his sister, killed a large number of people, built a tomb and died” but I have a couple of quotes I thought you might enjoy.

Now that we have returned from Egypt and experienced this history up close, these quotes mean much more to me. I am not sure I can write in words how truly amazing Egypt is.

"The Egyptians’ creation was remarkable, not only for its impact, but also for its longevity: the pharaonic state, as originally conceived, lasted for three millennia. By comparison, Rome barely managed one millennium, while Western culture has yet to survive two.  A key reason for this remarkable survival is that the philosophical and political framework first developed at the birth of ancient Egypt was so well attuned to the national psyche that it remained the archetypal pattern of government for the next one hundred generations.”

One other quote I like pertains to architecture.

"Throughout paranoiac history, iconography and architecture retained important roles in projecting the desired image of kingship to the people. Iconography and architecture were especially effective in a country such as Egypt where up to 95 percent of the population was illiterate.”

I guess architecture just “spoke” to them.  LOL

One other theme of this book is that the recorded history and information left behind was in the image that the Kings (Pharaohs) wanted shown and not the reality of what real life for the typical Egyptian was like. Here is a quote about that.

"The xenophobic ideology masked the practical reality. This should serve as a warning for the historian of ancient Egypt: from the earliest times, the Egyptians were adept at recording things as they wished them to be seen, not as they actually were. The written record, though undoubtedly helpful, needs careful sifting, and must always be weighted against the unvarnished evidence dug up by the archaeologist’s trowel.”

Not much has changed in 3,000 years. Politicians are still trying to mold reality to the way they want it to be seen.

Our friends SW and DW traveled to Orlando a day in advance of departing for Egypt. Their journey to Cairo took 3 days and we were privileged to share it with them.

We picked them up at the airport and had a wonderful evening grilling American beef one last time before we ventured off to the Middle East together. SW worked with Hubby D in the Middle East and we have done a great deal of traveling together. You may remember them from blogs about Istanbul, Jordan or the Seychelles.

They have arrived in Florida!  First leg complete.

I served a Greek salad with our steaks in honor of our friends from Bahrain YW and LW.  I even used the correct "crumbly" feta cheese. Take note of the camel bowls. Those were purchased in Bahrain.

We sent this selfie to our fellow traveling friends, ES and NDL as we were drinking wine from one of their favorite destinations, Umbria, Italy. 

The fun begins - discussing Egypt already!

The next morning with our parmesan eggs and toasted baguettes we had "Horse & Buggy Traffic Jam" that was a gift to us from our friends YW and LW. They also own a home in Pennsylvania in Amish Country.

The four of us all flew on Emirates in business class so we were picked up the next morning at our house by Emirates drivers and deposited at the Orlando airport in plenty of time for our flight.

I could easily get used to having a driver to the airport. 

It is a long flight and Emirates does a fairly good job of making you feel comfortable, but I don’t think they are quite as good as they were when we flew previously.  It was doable, not particularly overly enjoyable.

Flying into Dubai over Africa you could see the shifting sands below. Then our route took us over the Indian Ocean, the empty quarter of sand and back over the Red Sea. Soon the ever-impressive Burj Khalifa towering into the dusty sky came into view. SW said it felt remarkably good to be back in the Middle East.

Shifting sands for miles and miles.

Champagne and roses in the Emirates Lounge in Dubai.

DW savored the dates.

Yes, we are back in the land of the push button toilets with a water sprayer.

We departed Dubai back out over the empty quarter of sand, the Red Sea, crossing right at the Suez Canal, and then down into Cairo. It was so dusty you could hardly see the ground at 6,000 feet. Many of the roads were completely covered. I thought maybe they had experienced a sand storm in the last few days and later we confirmed this.

DAY 1 -- Our Cairo arrival went without incident and our Abercrombie & Kent handlers (our tour company) were right there to greet us. They ushered us through passport control and into a very nice 9-seat bus for an hour trip into the city.  The distance was only a short drive but the traffic in Cairo is unbelievable – buses, cars, trucks with people flowing out the back and motorbikes with an entire family riding.

Traffic!

We arrived at our hotel, Mena to find our friends JW and LW waiting on us with refreshing drinks of lovely hibiscus juice. JW & LW are good friends from Bahrain and we planned our trip with extra time on the front end so we could spend some it with them. JW works in Egypt, all over the Middle East and China. He knows a great deal about the culture. We were very lucky to have JW and LW visit us in Florida back in August last year.

This is from our visit to the Kennedy Space Center with YW and LW.

DW and I were very excited to see LW.

Our hotel, the Marriott Mena House has a long history in Egypt.

The Mena House was initially a hunting lodge; it was a two-story hut nicknamed the "Mud Hut." It was built in 1869 for the Egyptian Khedive Isma'il Pasha. Later it was sold to a couple that had seen it while on their honeymoon. They changed it to a hotel and named it after the founding father of the first Egyptian dynasty, Mena or King Menes.

This is the exterior in 1891.  Thankfully it was renovated several times since then.

In 1890, they added Egypt’s first swimming pool. During World War I the hotel was requisitioned by Australian troops and occupied again by the Australians in 1939. Toward the end of the war it was then converted to a hospital for wounded Australian troops.

The Oberoi Group took over management of the hotel in 1972. In December 1977 Egypt and Israel sat down together at Mena House in a quest for a peace settlement (also attending were American and United Nations representatives). The results of this Mena House Conference were to lead to the Camp David Agreement, which restored Egypt's sovereignty over the Sinai Peninsula. Many saw the Mena House Conference as a cocktail party for the politicians. The link takes you to an article written in December 1977 and appeared in the New York Times.

Our room had a balcony AND a view of the pyramids. It was a great starting point for this adventure.

This was our view of the pyramid from our balcony on our first night. WOW!

The view the next morning at breakfast was even more stunning.

It was obvious from the first evening that this adventure was going to surpass our expectations. YW and LW had a full day planned for us on Day 2.  Off we go!

Cheers ‘til the next Cairo blog. . .
Brenda

Catching Up is Hard to Do

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and have a great Valentine’s Day!

Am I caught up?

I have no excuse for not blogging in a long time. Things have just been really crazy in Florida the last few months. But that is good. I have always done better working under a tight deadline.

This craziness started back in 2017 when I decided that I would throw a surprise birthday party for Hubby D in 2018. He turned 65 on December 9.  That added to the normal crazy activity of the holidays. And, we just returned on Monday from an adventure in Egypt so I was preparing for that as well.

While I was getting ready for our Egypt adventure, I read a book about Egyptian history, The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt by Toby Wilkinson. The book covers 3000 years of Pharos.

It is pretty dry and hard to read with a repeating theme of “he came into power, married his sister, killed a large number of people, built a tomb and died.” The very last chapter about the last pharo was the most interesting because it was about Cleopatra. I will start working on my blog about Egypt just as soon as I post this one (I promise).

In November Hubby D and I traveled to Newton, Kansas to be with his family for Thanksgiving. Granddaughter MVL and son, BB joined us there. It was fun, filling and we almost got caught in the big ice and snowstorm that hit the day we left.

Son BB bought his first home this year so I brought him a White House Ornament so he can start his own collection.  BB was recently elected a Board Member for the Board of Alumni at Colorado State University. We are very proud of him.

The big party for Hubby D was on December 9. It went off without a hitch. For the big celebration we had guests from California, Colorado, Texas, Virginia and other parts of Florida. It was a great party and really, really fun to see Hubby D so surprised.

Son BB traveled 3 days from Colorado TO BE AT THE PARTY.  He told me that being there was very important to him. (IT WAS GREAT TO HAVE HIM THERE.) Granddaughter MVL made the trip to Florida from Oklahoma even though she was in the middle of her mid terms for her masters program (she graduates in May). She told me being there for Opa (Hubby D) was very important to her. She took one of her tests via the Internet on the morning after the party then she popped on a plane and headed back to Oklahoma. It was an impressive effort on her part!!!

Even more impressive – the very next day was her birthday but she still was working on her tests and projects.  Student life can be tough but she is doing a super job.

Granddaughter MVL was right up front in the crowd surprising Hubby D at the party.

There was plenty of dancing - the DJ did a great job.

I came up with the idea for the cake. Everyone thought it was really cute. (except Hubby D)

LW was exhausted after all the dancing!

After the big party, our home was all decorated for the holidays so I decided to through an impromptu Holiday party on the Friday evening before Christmas. After the last guest left, Hubby D said we probably overdid it this year.

We managed to work into our schedule selecting the Christmas tree with grandson LWB.

Son BB, LW and MVL put the angel on the tree after Hubby D's big party.  I was ABSOLUTELY thrilled to have all three of them there but it was an extra special treat for BB to do the honors. He used to always be the person in our family that put the angel on the top of the tree and he usually had MVL help him. In fact, the angel he is putting on the top in this photo is one that he and MVL bought for us.

Good friends gave Hubby D a bottle of Grey Goose for his birthday along with this happy lemon.  LOL

Later in the month, granddaughter MVL came BACK to Florida from Oklahoma to spend the holidays with us and daughter AJ came from Jacksonville. Grandson BSJ managed to get off a couple of days from his new job to come down as well.  It was a very full holiday season.

We managed to work in a cookie decorating session during the holidays.

Even daughter AJ got in on the fun! It was just SUPER!!!!

Both boys had blue tongues from eating the icing while they were decorating.

LW enjoyed reading PaPa's birthday cards for several weeks after the party. 

On January 25 LW celebrated his 4th birthday.  I asked him earlier in the week what kind of cake he wanted.  It has been my tradition to let the kids pick their cake. Mostly we have homemade angle food cake with homemade ice cream. However LW said, “I want a blue cake.”

I reconfirmed this with him as it seemed a strange request, but he assured me he really wanted a blue cake.  So a blue cake it was. I picked him up at school on his birthday and later when his mom arrived he told her, “Mommy, I have a blue birthday cake!” It was so much fun!

We also made homemade ice cream. Tasting it to make sure it was coming along is a favorite activity for both of these  boys.

CARS! and an elevator to raise them up and down!

We had a few of our friends over and they brought some terrific gifts. I have this awesome video of LW golfing with the toy golf club, but it is very poor quality so I won't post it.  What you might want to know is that he hit balls for 30 minutes without stopping.  He is going to be great at golf.

On January 30 we began our Egypt adventure. Now looking back, it seems like a long time ago that we set off on this trip, and now the memories are growing.

I will probably break the Egypt adventure into several blogs, as it is massive – just like the temples, tombs and pyramids.

Cheers,

Brenda