I love this one.
Osman would say, "We will be going to the pyramids and we will be snapping fun pictures."
Going into the burial passages of the middle pyramid. It was really humid in there. We came out sweaty.
One thing that amazed me, the stones on the pyramids were very smooth. They look so rough from photos.
More fun snapping of pictures.
and more. We all got one. We got some kissing the Sphinx, too.
Ellie and her new friend Osman. They held hands a lot and he kissed her goodbye.
Fun day!
Sound and light show.
view from our hotel window!
van on the road from Alexandria to Cairo. can you believe it?!?!
Well, I don't smell like one anymore, now that we're back on ship and showered. Ewww, camels stink.
Egypt was fascinating. Our guide was named Othman (pronounced Osman) who was Muslim. He and Craig had an interesting conversation about "religion" the whole way back from Cairo today. Our whole experience in Egypt was great. With all the "Oooooo, be careful in Egypt! Don't drink the water! Watch your wallet! etc. etc." we were VERY careful and everything went well. No one's throwing up yet. Yesterday (Sat) we first drove to Cairo (3 hours) where we went to the Egyptian museum. We yet again had a guide who just couldn't help telling us everything he knew about every monument, statue and item. I've learned that all these guides go to school for years to learn the languages and history of their area. It's a career choice/ a college major. It's wonderful for awhile but at the museum by the time we got to King Tut's stuff we were all starving and the kids were getting really antsy. Even so, to see King Tut's golden mask was amazing. We even saw the gold finger and toe tips they put on his hands and feet to protect his fingers and toes. Very cool.
We then went to a fancy Egyptian restaurant where they served us 5 courses (bread, appetisers, salad, main course and dessert). All this was already preordered for us. We just sat back and ate. The salad had no lettuce, just tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, olives and feta cheese. Yum.
Then we went to a papyrus store where they showed us how the Egyptians made papyrus (a very simple process) and hoped we would buy an Egyptian painting on papyrus. We didn't. Not my favorite art form. After that we went to our hotel (Le Sphinx) where we could see a pyramid from our window!!!!! SO COOL! It was surreal. Like Disney World. I kept expecting to see a roller coaster come spinning around it. Later that evening our van came back to get us and we went to the Sphinx Sound and Light show. We sat on a big platform in folding chairs to watch. When it was good and dark they do a light show on the 3 pyramids, the Sphinx and on an old wall to explain ancient Egypt. You can google it to see a clip. It was fun.
This morning we got up early to see the pyramids before it got too hot. Up close I just couldn't believe them. I've always known they were there, but wow. They're so high and tall and well built and amazingly precise. We got to go in the second one. We went down a really tight corridor, even Ellie had to duck her head, for a long way and then got to stand up for about 20 feet. Then down another really long, tight corridor. You could see the scrapes on the wall where they dragged stuff into the tomb (!!!!!!). Then into the burial chamber to see the sarcophagus (stone box that held the coffin). We were remembering Ranofer's tomb journey from The Golden Goblet. Chilling.
In the same area we saw a solar boat discovered accidentally in 1954. They reproduced the ruined parts and rebuilt it. Amazing technology. The whole boat was constructed with ropes and knots, no nails.
Then came the camel ride. Oh my. Craig and Ellie rode one, me and DP on one and Sully and Tucker on a third. Not much instruction on what to do, you just get on and then UP YOU GO!!! No helmet or anything. We were about 8-10 feet off the ground. The guides take you on a stroll into the dessert (some of the guides were little 6 year old boys, they were grinning and tapping the camels with a stick) and then took our picture. It was fun but camels really do stink.
We went to lunch at an authentic Egyptian restaurant where we had fava bean dip with our bread and fried fava bean cakes among other amazing dishes. We really loved it. It was all delicious. Then another 3 hours back to Alexandria where we took a quick visit to the Library of Alexandria (new) and saw the site of the Lighthouse of Alexandria (one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world-not there anymore).
Need I mention Princess Ellie? Osman immediately named her "my little friend" and of course introduced her to everyone as a princess. He bought her dates. He bought her candy. He bought her an Egyptian headdress. Tucker said he's glad we brought her, we got a lot of free stuff because of her. :)
Egypt was fascinating. Our guide was named Othman (pronounced Osman) who was Muslim. He and Craig had an interesting conversation about "religion" the whole way back from Cairo today. Our whole experience in Egypt was great. With all the "Oooooo, be careful in Egypt! Don't drink the water! Watch your wallet! etc. etc." we were VERY careful and everything went well. No one's throwing up yet. Yesterday (Sat) we first drove to Cairo (3 hours) where we went to the Egyptian museum. We yet again had a guide who just couldn't help telling us everything he knew about every monument, statue and item. I've learned that all these guides go to school for years to learn the languages and history of their area. It's a career choice/ a college major. It's wonderful for awhile but at the museum by the time we got to King Tut's stuff we were all starving and the kids were getting really antsy. Even so, to see King Tut's golden mask was amazing. We even saw the gold finger and toe tips they put on his hands and feet to protect his fingers and toes. Very cool.
We then went to a fancy Egyptian restaurant where they served us 5 courses (bread, appetisers, salad, main course and dessert). All this was already preordered for us. We just sat back and ate. The salad had no lettuce, just tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, olives and feta cheese. Yum.
Then we went to a papyrus store where they showed us how the Egyptians made papyrus (a very simple process) and hoped we would buy an Egyptian painting on papyrus. We didn't. Not my favorite art form. After that we went to our hotel (Le Sphinx) where we could see a pyramid from our window!!!!! SO COOL! It was surreal. Like Disney World. I kept expecting to see a roller coaster come spinning around it. Later that evening our van came back to get us and we went to the Sphinx Sound and Light show. We sat on a big platform in folding chairs to watch. When it was good and dark they do a light show on the 3 pyramids, the Sphinx and on an old wall to explain ancient Egypt. You can google it to see a clip. It was fun.
This morning we got up early to see the pyramids before it got too hot. Up close I just couldn't believe them. I've always known they were there, but wow. They're so high and tall and well built and amazingly precise. We got to go in the second one. We went down a really tight corridor, even Ellie had to duck her head, for a long way and then got to stand up for about 20 feet. Then down another really long, tight corridor. You could see the scrapes on the wall where they dragged stuff into the tomb (!!!!!!). Then into the burial chamber to see the sarcophagus (stone box that held the coffin). We were remembering Ranofer's tomb journey from The Golden Goblet. Chilling.
In the same area we saw a solar boat discovered accidentally in 1954. They reproduced the ruined parts and rebuilt it. Amazing technology. The whole boat was constructed with ropes and knots, no nails.
Then came the camel ride. Oh my. Craig and Ellie rode one, me and DP on one and Sully and Tucker on a third. Not much instruction on what to do, you just get on and then UP YOU GO!!! No helmet or anything. We were about 8-10 feet off the ground. The guides take you on a stroll into the dessert (some of the guides were little 6 year old boys, they were grinning and tapping the camels with a stick) and then took our picture. It was fun but camels really do stink.
We went to lunch at an authentic Egyptian restaurant where we had fava bean dip with our bread and fried fava bean cakes among other amazing dishes. We really loved it. It was all delicious. Then another 3 hours back to Alexandria where we took a quick visit to the Library of Alexandria (new) and saw the site of the Lighthouse of Alexandria (one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world-not there anymore).
Need I mention Princess Ellie? Osman immediately named her "my little friend" and of course introduced her to everyone as a princess. He bought her dates. He bought her candy. He bought her an Egyptian headdress. Tucker said he's glad we brought her, we got a lot of free stuff because of her. :)
Praying for Beverly!
Praying for Ivy and Co.!
Wow! We just learned about Egypt in geography and I cant say much but... Wowie!Wowie! By the way, are the tour guides broke from buying Ellie things.?! I know yall are having fun but Im counting down the days!.
ReplyDeleteour bestestesteresterest friend in the wholesterest widesterest world,
K
KY
KYL
KYLE
I've enjoyed your pictures and updates! I just now caught up on the blog, because of how busy these past weeks have been. We missed Ellie at the recital, but it went well. It looks like you all are having an amazing time!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your adventures. :)
I've been out of town for a while and I couldn't wait to get back to see where you guys have been. You DID NOT disappoint!
ReplyDeletewow! the pyramids are just as I remember them (minus the light show-how cool)when I went as a sophomore in high school. your kids will never forget this experience!!I went up in the 2nd pyrmid too in 1980!
ReplyDelete