Europe – Day 1

Once we landed in Paris, we knew that we had a tight timeline to catch the RER B (Blue Line) to the Paris Nord train station. We got through Customs pretty quickly – it was really hot and humid in the airport. And from there we quickly ran to pick up our bags and get on the train. Honestly, we thought two hours was enough time – but I would recommend if you are traveling to Paris Nord train station from CDG to allow three hours to get through customs and on the train. That way you aren’t running and breaking into a sweat. 🥵

When we got to Paris Nord it was really unclear on where we were supposed to go. We were looking for monitors, but overall – not a great experience. I should have done more research ahead of time, but we eventually found our train platform. Once we boarded our Thalys train we felt like we could finally relax. It would be an hour and 45 minute train ride at this point to Brussels. You gotta love high speed trains!

We couldn’t check into our Airbnb – so we checked our baggage into luggage lockers. Now that we were in Brussels we decided that it was time to have lunch. Right outside of the Brussels Midi station there are a bunch of cafes. We could see that a storm was brewing – so we based our choice off of which patio had the best umbrellas. It ended up not mattering much, because the skies opened up shortly after we placed our order and we were rushing inside.

The food was okay – and the service wasn’t stellar. However, I want to be fair. They had to move their entire patio indoors in a matter of a minute. So, they will remain nameless. 😉

I had gotten a manicure done a few days before we flew out, but by the time we had landed in Paris it had turned brown. It was a fashion emergency – and honestly, just looked disgusting. I found a nail salon that accepted walk ins and prayed that they would help my case. Even if they could just help me remove the gel.

An actual fashion emergency 🚨

The salon owner said she could take me – so I ended up switching out the color. Andy didn’t want to participate – so he fell asleep in a chair while he waited. I will say, this owner was extremely fast and efficient. Walked out of there feeling like a new woman!

It was time to check into our Airbnb – the last minute one that I had booked about 12-14 hours earlier. The owner met us there and gave us a quick tour before departing. We freshened up and headed directly to the Grand Place. This is a centra square in Brussels – and it is very extravagant with large elaborate buildings. It is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.

The Grand Place

I had done a ton of reading ahead of time of different restaurants to visit – yes, time for more food. I had read about Mojave Tavern – which served traditional Belgian food. I had the cheese croquettes and Andy had shrimp croquettes. They were delicious, but very rich. I couldn’t even finish mine!

We ate small meals because we knew that we wanted to get a Belgian waffle. We were excited to go to Maison Dandoy – I had seen a lot of good reviews for them. That was technically our dessert – and it didn’t disappoint. Any waffle I’ve had in America could not hold up to this Belgian waffle! So crisp and delicious!

We loved the Maison Dandoy – so cute!

Now that we were refreshed and well-fed we decided to do our own walking tour. We were on the hunt for the Manneken-Pis. The peeing boy – I knew we were close when we rounded a corner to a bunch of people giggling and holding up their phones for pictures. This little boy is from 1388! Supposedly, I’m not sure that anyone is around to ask… this was how many people of Brussels received water. In the late 1600s, the governor gave him his first outfit… and he has hundreds since then!

Starting our walking tour of Brussels
Manneken Pis

The storm had cleared and we had a very beautiful night for walking – we also cruised past the Mont de Arts – a public garden. We were dead on our feet and turned back to our Airbnb where we got a restful night’s sleep.

Mont des Arts

Up Next:

-Road trip to: Luxembourg, Germany, and the Netherlands
-Museum of Luxembourg City
-Fort Thungen
-Wine tasting @ Caves St. Martin
-Valkenburg, Netherlands

Travel to Europe – Day Zero

We left San Diego on Wednesday morning at 7:30 AM. There are no non-stop flights from San Diego to Paris, so of course we connected in Detroit. I know what you’re thinking – who connects in Detroit?!

We did! I guess Delta has a pretty big hub there. We sprung for the Delta lounge so Andy could work for a few hours before our flight to Paris. The one thing that we really liked about the Detroit airport was there was an intra-terminal tram to get you between gates more quickly.

Saved us a lot of walking!

I was handling our first big issue of the trip, spoiler alert – there was another big one coming… When I had booked our Airbnb in Brussels – I found a cute apartment close to the train station and the car rental office. Our host hadn’t responded to any of my messages – which was pretty unusual. We’ve used Airbnb so many times that I’ve lost count, and I can’t say I’ve had this happen before.

I tend to be a bit paranoid when it comes to booking things, and unfortunately, I typically assume the worst. (I usually come up with a Plan B and Plan C ahead of time). I felt like I was likely just making something out of nothing. But the night before we flew out I couldn’t sleep. Our host hadn’t responded to let us know check instructions or anything.

I checked as soon as I woke up – and there was still nothing. So I immediately opened a case with Airbnb while we finished getting ready and packed. Once at the airport I called Airbnb. They said they would try to get a hold of him, but then I hopped on the plane.

Roughly 4 hours later, we landed and I had 4 voicemails from Airbnb. And a few messages in the app. One from the brother of our host – I guess our host had gotten sick and was just released from the hospital. They had to cancel our reservation.

At this point, we were landing in Paris within 10 hours and then hopping on a train to Brussels.

Once we got to the lounge the Airbnb representative called me back. They were refunding me what I paid – and 10% (which is a bit cheap if you ask me!). What they didn’t take into consideration was that I booked this back in OCTOBER – and it was 1/3 of the price of other Airbnbs in the area. I finally got someone competent who helped me get at least 30% additional to help me find a suitable Airbnb.

The new Airbnb was in the same location – and I think a bit of an upgrade. However, we did pay about $100 more to book the place.

I could finally relax as we boarded the plane to Paris. Nothing like a last minute booking to send you into a spiral.

Also, as a side note. We were definitely spoiled after flying Qatar Airways. Delta was nice and all, but Qatar still holds the #1 spot in my opinion!

Up Next:

-Landing in Paris
-Travel to Brussels (train)
-Grand Place
-Dinner and second dinner
-Manneken Pis

Cairo – Day 7 (continued)

After visiting the Coptic neighborhoods, we made our way to the Cairo market. It really is more of a grand bazaar. At this point, we were all very hungry and it had been a very long day of travel.

Our tour guide dropped us off at a cafe, this was on the outskirts of the market. However, that did not stop the hasslers from hassling us while we were trying to eat. They kept coming in to the restaurant, and it became obvious they had some type of agreement with the managers there.

The only hasslers that we enjoyed

I ended up finally purchasing a style of scarf that I had been eyeing for most of the trip. Figured it was our last full day, so why not!?

New scarf – and some of our favorite travel companions

It would be easy to get lost within the Bazaar. I think there was a brief moment of where I was leading, and I think Andy had already sensed that I was going to get us lost. (I don’t blame him!) Thankfully, he pointed out my mistake before we got too far into the maze.

Such amazing architecture… and souvenirs!
We had really wanted to bring one of these home – but didn’t have the space or the energy to barter.
A better view of the bazaar

It was pretty funny to hear some of the lines the shop owners would throw out, “Shakira, Shakira!” or “Welcome to Alaska!” Very clever – “I only want your money!” “How many camels?” All sorts of quips and pick up lines that left us all laughing – or Googling what they meant later. 😂

Chelsea and Michael had to head to the airport that night – and were going to try to get a refund for the hotel. We offered our room for them to use to freshen up before heading to the airport. This worked out well because we needed to wait for our arranged Covid-19 test from the tour company.

They had advised us it could take an hour to an hour and half for them to make it to our room. We ended up messaging our original tour guide, Michael to see if he could find out when they were coming. As we had wanted to go to the rooftop bar to look around. They came shortly after and we were on our way to the rooftop.

Once we got up there, we quickly realized how loud it was. The hoste let us know that they were going to have a DJ that night. Not exactly the relaxing evening we were all hoping for, so we headed down to the lobby bar instead. There really wasn’t anything great within walking distance to our hotel, and to be honest, after all of the hassle during the bazaar we thought it would be easier to just stay put.

Chelsea and Michael headed to the airport and we turned in for the evening.

I’m obviously writing this from the United States, but in the next blog I’ll discuss our last day and our travel back to the USA!

Cairo – Day 7 Saladin Citadel & Coptic Neighborhood

Now that we are home and back into the swing of normal life – I’ve had a hard time finding time to finish up the last leg of our Egypt trip.

After our last night in Luxor, we were all heading to the airport. Michael had warned us that the officials at the Luxor airport were “moody” and that he would try to stick with us as much as possible. However, he had a flight to catch himself.

We quickly found out that Michael was right. We had brought a small portable USB fan – in case it was hot and if the hotel didn’t have AC. Even though we were checking this bag, before we even made it to the counter they ran our bags through security. The agent asked me what “machine” was in the bag – after some digging and limited language we were able to realize it was the fan. He let me keep it – just needed to see it. At this point, Andy made it through the first round of security safely.

We checked our luggage at the counter and then moved through what most Americans would consider the normal security portion. This time – I came out unscathed. However, once I was on the other side I realized that Andy was animatedly working with the agent over something in his backpack. It wasn’t until we were reunited on the other side that he told me they took his spiral remover of stopper crock. Uh, what? They took our travel corkscrew! 😂

It was a rather uneventful flight from there – very short flight from Luxor to Cairo. Once we landed in Cairo and retrieved our bags we were split into different busses. Individuals from all of the tour busses were split into those going to the Saladin Citadel and those that were going to the market and back to the hotel. We would still get to see the market, but would go to the Citadel first.

The Citadel as we walked up

This was a new tour guide – our friends Chelsea and Michael (not to be confused with tour guide Michael!) had him for the whole trip. His day job is as a professor – and he does one week a month as a tour guide. You can definitely see his passion in his work.

We approached the Citadel and were immediately told to take off our shoes. We were heading to the Alabaster Mosque first. At the time, we didn’t know this. And we were standing in our socks (from some people barefoot) outside the mosque. They also let us know that women needed to have their head covered – either by a scarf or a hat. Honestly, I think this was the first time we had been told that.

In the courtyard – not sure of its technical name, but it’s as close as I can get
Another view of the courtyard

And I mean WHOA. The second we walked into the mosque – I was in shock. I don’t know why we were waiting outside. It was STUNNING inside. One of the highlights of the trip for me. I’ll let you be the judge of that.

We walked in as the 12 PM prayer began. It was mesmerizing to listen to!
Repairs or restoration was happening while we were there

This is the Alabaster Mosque, but is also the Mosque of Muhammad Ali. This was built in the 1800s. All of the Saladin Citadel is perched on a high point above Cairo. You can even see the Giza Plateau (the pyramids!) from there!

You can see the pyramids in the distance – around “11”

There was a lot to learn at the Saladin Citadel. Honestly, our new tour guide was hard for me to pay attention to. 😩🙈

Another view

After this, we went to the Coptic neighborhood. Cairo has an interesting religious history – this was the old Christian neighborhood. I don’t want to pretend to be an expert of any sort – on any religion. However, it was fun to get to see so many old buildings.

The Hanging Church
So stunning – we arrived as Mass was going on

It is called the Hanging Church because it was built on the southern gate of the Roman Fortress. From the 7th century to the 13th century, the Hanging Church served as the residence of the Coptic Patriarch.

I don’t think I can do the story Justine, I would recommend looking up its history to learn more about “moving a mountain.” Where we went next was quite, well interesting for those following the Christian faith. Or – if you know some of the stories from the Bible. We entered the area where the Holy Family fled from King Herod.

The path that the Holy Family took

The Cavern Church is a beautiful church and a lot of history. This cave is believed to be where the Holy Family took shelter – and the well that they drank from.

Don’t mind the fan, but this is where Jesus was believed to have slept . It is a very small and dark space.

The Holy Family is believed to have spent roughly 3.5 years fleeing from Herod in Egypt. Look up more details, I know I’m not doing it justice.

Keeping in mind that the church we are walking in was built in 5th century AD. We were back on the main floor.

There was a conflict that took place during 1967 in the Holy Land- members of the church noticed that there was blood flowing from the middle of the second pillar. They called for St. Cyril VI to tell him what happened. He came and prayed and put his finger on the blood which stopped immediately.

You can still see blood on the column.

Looking back at the church and the column

I feel like I can’t do this blog post justice, so please if you are interested look up each of these places. The history has so much to say.

Luxor – Day 6 (Cont. – Valley of the Kings)

The Valley of the Kings is where most of the Pharaohs from the 18th, 19th, and 20th dynasties were buried. There are 62 known tombs in the valley – and based on what we saw and learned in Egypt, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that there were more!

Valley of the Kings is part of the ancient city – Thebes. UNESCO registered the area as a world heritage site. (UNESCO had also designated Luxor, Karnak, and Valley of the Queens were included as well).

Model of what the valley looks like from above

Back in the day, there were a lot of grave robbers. So the plan was to conceal the tombs in a random valley – and create a tunnel system to confuse the robbers. The tombs were filled with items that would help the king in the next world – so there were lots of goodies in each of the tombs.

And the tunnel system below…

All of the walls were decorated with different gods and documenting the king’s journey through the underworld. Most of the tombs had been cleared out or robbed, all except for the most famous one. You know who!

King Tutankhamun (Tut!) Unfortunately, you have to pay extra to see it. However, if you saw our pictures from the Egyptian museum – you actually already got to see a lot of his things! His tomb had been covered by rocks, which helped preserve it from discovery until 1922!

From the Egyptian Museum

Our tour included three tombs – which I think only took us about an hour. We visited Ramses IX first.

End of the tunnel – burial chamber

Next, we went to Rameses III.

To give you an idea of how long some of the tunnels are… and crowded!
Some of the perils that the king will encounter in the after life
Amazing how well preserved the colors were in most of the tombs as well

The last tomb we entered was the Rameses I. The last one was definitely the steepest and the smallest. However, I think it was the most colorful.

And that was the end! We were on our way back to our hotel at this point – just one more picture looking back at the valley.

This is just a small portion of it

As we were walking out, we had decided to pick up a few souvenirs from the market. As Andy was reaching out to pay one man for our guide book, another man put a fake scarab in his hand. He was suggesting that Andy had to pay for it – and of course, Andy, thinking on his feet noticed the man had long sleeves. He quickly put the scarab in the man’s sleeve and walked away without any hassle as the Egyptians like to say. Moral of the story: never have an open hand in the market. 😂

We had checked out of Chateau Laffayette and made our way to Iberotel hotel, which was right on the river. Luxor was by far our favorite (and cleanest!) city that we stopped in.

View from the hotel

This was our last night in Luxor before catching a short flight back to Cairo.

Upcoming Activities:
-Flight to Cairo
-Saladin Citadel

Luxor – Day 6 (The Temple of Hatshepsut)

On the sixth day of our trip, we set out for the Temple of Hatshepsut (it is also known as the Holy of Holies). This temple is special because it honoring a real badass, a queen! Queen Hatshepsut is one of the more important female rulers in Egyptian history. She led the country through some prosperous times.

All of this was completed as a mortuary temple for her – which is very common in Egypt for the Pharaohs. Hatshepsut had been married to her half brother, Thutmose II. Whemn he died, she was appointed as regent for her stepson and nephew, Thutmose III. Michael shared that a “beautiful story” was written for her – a mythical story that would make it possible to take the throne.

In the seventh year of regency, she made an unprecedented move for power and declared herself to be the ruler, calling herself “King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Maatkara and the Daughter of Re.” Obviously her stepson/nephew had some bad blood. Once she died, he spent most of his time erasing all memories of her. He destroyed so much of the temple in an attempt to erase her time as ruler. And an even bigger deal in Egyptian culture is erasing her cartouches from different temples. (A cartouche is a symbol with the name written in hieroglyphics). Her tomb and mummy weren’t discovered until 2007!

View from the parking lot
So stunning – so much was destroyed from Thutmose III, A lot (if not all?) had to be reconstructed with her face on it.

This location had so much to offer. It’s so hard to pick just a few pictures, sorry in advance. I love the fact that so many were well preserved with color!

Loved this one for the cobras up at the top – and the stars.
It was the first (and maybe only!) time we saw an owl depicted.
So much was destroyed at the temple
Our trip was starting to ramp down – we had wanted a picture of the group. We had a lot of fun together! Michael is pictured in the back by Andy.

Upcoming Activities:
-Valley of the Kings

Egypt – Day 5 Continued

We are now entering the Nile, the longest river in the world. It goes on for Niles and Niles and Niles, and if you don’t believe me, then you’re in…DENIAL!

After we finished up the Edfu Temple we started the 3-hour ish cruise towards Luxor. It was quite the spectacle once we arrived at the lock near Esna. I was sleep deprived and was trying to take a nap – and woke up to a bunch of shouting and honking. We figured we had reached the lock.

Once we were on the sundeck we saw a variety of Egyptians throwing packages onto the deck – and hoping tourists liked what they saw. If the tourists did, they would throw money back in the package and pay them. There was a lot of throwing back and forth and I’m not sure if anyone actually purchased anything. Regardless, it was a chaotic and funny scene!

Once we docked, we took off for Karnak Temple. And I know what you’re thinking – and YES! We went to a lot of temples! I don’t think we broke our record from Thailand, but it felt pretty close. Karnak Temple area reminded me so much of the Roman Forum in Italy. It was so vast and spread out. There was a lot to look at and Michael had warned us to be careful to not get lost.

The Karnak Temple dates back from around 2055 BC to around 100 AD. Being the largest building for religious purposes ever to be constructed – it was an ongoing project by different dynasties over the ages.

So much of the Temple is still actively being restored. As this is a work in progress, you can see some colors start to pop out in the pillars and other structures.

Walking down the pavilion
Ram-headed statues
It’s best to keep your eyes open – and looking in all directions so you don’t miss out on some of the details.
The God of Fertility – I’m sure you can point out which one is which…
Stunning detail – as always. Look at the leaves on this one!

While Michael gave us free time, we were walking through the different columns and a man approached us. We didn’t understand what he said to us – but he was gesturing for us to follow him. We realized we were in a pretty secluded spot in the complex – and it just felt like a bad idea. Unfortunately, he followed us for a while until we got back to a more crowded area.

Others in our group told us that they had something similar – and the man took them to look at a black scarab. We don’t think it was the same guy, but thankfully the tour group’s (armed) security guard went with them. Who knows, weird things happen wherever you go. It’s best to just follow your intuition and mine was telling me – run!

Very well protected! We had different security guards throughout the trip – he was on the Luxor leg of the trip.
You can see some of the color in these pillars – and an Obelisk in the background! There are 134 pillars in the Hypostyle Hall.

After Karnak Temple, we head over to the Temple of Luxor. Another cool experience as we got there at sunset. Watching the columns light up was magical.

A mosque had been built in the temple. Also, check out the moon in the background!
It was our 8th wedding anniversary! What a way to celebrate!

We returned to the ship and were able to celebrate our anniversary together and with some of our new friends. Another adventure filled day came to a close!

Cheers to 8 years!

Death on the Nile (Edfu – Day 5)

We started the morning off with a death on the ship. My hair straightener didn’t make it – we thought we did everything right with our adapter, but it bit the dust! Thankfully, no one else was harmed in its untimely demise.

We were docked in Edfu from the previous night – and we woke up to another horse and carriage ride. We realized that four wheels are better than two wheels when it comes to carriages. It was a brisk morning, but we were excited to get back on the horse.

Our driver and carriage (Andy looking slightly nervous)
Already felt much safer on this one!

Our driver spoke enough English to know that we wanted to go slower. In fact, we made the joke “Slow and steady FINISHES the race.” After our accident on the first full day, we weren’t taking any chances.

The Temple of Edfu is one of the best preserved temples in Egypt. It also stands quite tall in stature as well. This temples is dedicated to Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris. Horus is the falcon God – who you see in so many of the pictures from the trip. He is personally one of my favorites!

Again, there is so much detail in all of the different murals within each temple. Michael tricked us into thinking that one of them was the Wi-Fi symbol – it really does look like it! In reality it was for incense.

The “Wi-Fi” symbol

The temple was built with the thought of how birds fly – they soar in circle and then when they dive they go straight down. There are two different staircases getting to the upper level – so you see both on either side of the temple.

Our same driver brought us back in the carriage – Michael had encouraged us to save fruit so we could feed the horses. Some of them looked really skinny and malnourished. Thankfully our new friends, Nancy and Tobin had been stockpiling on apples and she gave us one to share with our horse. (Thank you!)

We tipped the driver with some cash and then gave the horse the apple. The driver had to help me cut it, I guess the horse wasn’t able to break into it on its own.

After the Edfu temple we were going to cruise to Luxor, which I’ll post in another blog because we saw quite a bit there as well!

Upcoming Activities:

-Travel to Luxor
-Temple of Luxor
-Karnak Temple

Aswan – Day 2 (Continued)

After we returned back from Abu Simbel we met up with others from our group and headed on to another optional tour – the Island of Philae. The island was known as the Pearl of Egypt. This was another temple that was moved due to the rising waters of the Nile after the High Dam of Aswan was built.

The temple had many Greek and Roman impacts on the island. The true gem of the island was that it was a temple built to worship the Goddess Isis. It’s crazy to imagine them having to move another large temple due to the water. However, UNESCO stepped in to help protect this treasure.

Michael pointed out quite a few different styles that were placed here over the years. Including Christianity as well.

The complex is very grand – and of course, very detailed.

Honestly, there is a lot to unpack with the mythology behind the place. Definitely worth a read, but I’m not going to do it justice here.

Pictured in the background is the kiosk of Trajan

Returning by boat, we made our way back to Aswan. From here, we moved on to a spice shop. We were treated to a variety of nuts, tea, and got to smell a bunch of different spices.

Once we finished shopping, we returned to the boat for a very late lunch. (Around 2:30 pm). After eating and freshening up – we went to Kom Ombo. It was also interesting because there isn’t enough space to dock and the cruise ships have to coordinate lining them up so passengers have to walk through the different lobbies to get to shore. I’ll post a video later of this – one of our new friends from the trip had taken a video while we were getting off the boat.

The fun thing about these next two temples is we got there as the sun was setting – and got to see all of the columns lit up.

All of the temples are a bit different, but they have a lot of similarities. You get to see a variety of different gods and goddesses – and all of the hieroglyphics tell stories.

A fun change of pace was when we went to The Crocodile Museum. This is directly next to the temple – and was a very quick pit stop. Also, this was within walking distance of our cruise ship.

What went on to be the longest day ever – we returned to our ship and it was the “party” night. They had arranged for a happy hour, dinner, and an Egyptian party. We were exhausted from another early day, but we rallied for part of it. We went to the happy hour and dinner and went to bed shortly after.

We still aren’t sure who this is, but our server let us know that he was a comedian.

Upcoming Activities:

-Ride in a traditional horse and carriage ride (yikes!)
-Temple of Edfu
-Cruise to Luxor
-Karnak Temple

Abu Simbel

We had an early morning wake up call (2:00 am) to head to Abu Simbel.

This was an optional excursion – and a few people had opted out due to the early morning. It took about 3 hours each way to get there, not for the faint of heart. Two temples were carved into a cliff along the Nile. If you have seen images of Petra in Jordan – it looks similar at first glance.

These temples were provisioned by King Ramses II to be built. The interesting detail with these temples was not only were they created, but they actually had to be moved to a new location due to rising waters from the new Aswan High Dam. Between 1963 and 1968 a team dug away the top of the cliff and completely disassembled both temples, reconstructing them on high ground more than 200 feet above their previous site. Keeping them safe from rising water.

There are four 66 foot tall statues on either side of the main entrance to the temple. On two days of the year (February 22 and October 22), the rays of the morning sun penetrate the whole length of the temple and illuminate the shrine in its innermost sanctuary.

Nearby the main temple is a smaller one, dedicated to Nefertari that is adorned with 35-foot statues of the king and queen. This is relatively uncommon to have a queen made in similar size to the king – they attribute that to the love he had for her. I guess she was his favorite wife! (He had many wives and even more children – supposedly 200!)

We figured that most people would go to the main temple after our guide explained some of the history – so we headed over to the smaller temple. Neferari’s temple – let’s go girls! It was stunning.

We had killed enough time and then headed over to the main temple. Although the smaller temple was amazing, the main temple had so many unique features.

For the sake of not making this post too long – I’ll break up the second part of our trip in a separate post! Our time in Aswan/Kom Ombo was short – but made for a very long day.

Other activities:

  • Island of Philae
  • Kom Ombo
  • Temples of Haroeris and Sobek
  • Nilometer
  • Crocodile Mummy Museum

Aswan

Our flight took off around 6:00 am from Cairo to Aswan. It was a pretty quick flight – scheduled to be about an hour and 15 minutes (give or take a few). We didn’t run into any issues at the airport, and we got to watch the sun come up! AND we could see the pyramids as we flew out of the area.

You can see the pyramids near the middle of the frame

Once we landed we boarded our tour buses and head to the Philae Essences Palace. The Aswan area is known for their essential oils (in fact, many of the hieroglyphics displayed the oils). We never really got into the whole essential oils thing back in the US – but did pick up a few items as we thought they could make good souvenirs for us.

The different essences

This shop also did a glass blowing demonstration which was cool to see.

Glass blowing demonstration

We were also served hibiscus tea, which was really tasty!

From the Essences Palace – we moved on to the Unfinished Obelisk. In my opinion, it sounded way cooler than it was. Essentially, the ancient Egyptians were working on carving this out of granite and it cracked. It was so massive so it’s still there in the granite quarry today.

The obelisk from around 1,400 BC

From here, we were able to board our Nile cruise ship – The Chateau Laffayette.

Our cruise boat for three nights
Traditional Egyptian Felucca boat – the rest of the group went sailing

It had turned in to a beautiful day, but we were dead on our feet from the early morning wake up. AND we had another 2:00 am wake up call on Saturday! Thankfully we had a big lunch once we got onto the ship, but found out dinner didn’t start until 7:30.

Others in the group opted to go on a traditional Egyptian felucca sailboat. (Sorry Mark!) And even more decided to go to a Nubian village in the evening.

We opted to go to sleep instead.

Upcoming activities:

Abu Simbel
Kom Ombo – Temples of Haroeris and Sobek
Crocodile Mummy
Spice market

Cairo – Day 2 (Continued)

After we left the pyramids we had a quick stop at a Papyrus Museum. This was pretty cool – definitely a tourist attraction. Not so much a museum – but they did show us how they make papyrus in a demonstration. After the demonstration they encourage you to tour around the gallery – and there are certain things you can customize, such as, a family tree or something with your name in hieroglyphics.

Michael had provided a quick lunch – falafel and tahini. It totally hit the spot – was a little dry, but we were ravenous at that point.

From there we went to the Egyptian Museum – this one was close to our hotel. It is not the Great Egyptian Museum – I think that is scheduled to open later this year. If you were following the news in 2020, there were some 20+ mummies found and I believe some of them will be displayed there. (Don’t quote me on that!) It will be near the Giza pyramid complex.

The museum we went to was rather large, and Michael had a few things that he wanted to show us. We started off by looking at a replica of the Rosetta Stone (which had been found in Egypt) – this was the only non-original item on display in the museum. As you look at our pictures, just keep that in mind!

Honestly, knowing that these were made in ancient times is unbelievable. Being able to carve such intricate designs and details is amazing. They used glass to make the eyes look more realistic!

The items on display varied from large and looming – and also extremely small and intricate.

Some of the statues were even made out of wood.

Sheikh el-Beled

And there were some of the Egyptian Queens as well.

Queen Hatshepsut

There were even mummies on display with all of the items from their tombs. It was really quite amazing to see – and don’t worry, we left them undisturbed! After the last 2 years, we really don’t need The Mummy to come to life!

What isn’t pictured are many of the items that were found in King Tut’s tomb. Pictures were not allowed, but you can find more information through a quick Google search. Very grand – lots of jewelry – gold, etc.

After the eventful day that we had, we decided to get dinner at the hotel and go to sleep. We had an early wake up the following morning. We were set to head from Cairo to Aswan airport. (And when I say early – I mean middle of the night!)

Upcoming activities:

  • Flight to Aswan
  • High Dam of Aswan
  • Granite quarry with the unfinished obelisk
  • Philae Essences Palace – essential oils
  • Board Nile cruise boat