Wrap up
I'm home again and making the transition back to life in Pawtucket. I'm especially taking great pleasure in drinking water from the tap!
As I reflect on the past two weeks, it almost seems like a dream. The decision to go on the tour, just days before departure, did not give me my usual time to prepare mentally or time to read up on my destination before hand. I figure it will take weeks for me to process the experience.
Today I will post some miscellaneous photos taken by both Susan and myself of additional sights and experiences. I'm posting them in no particular order.
Cairo is a city of contrasts. It has skyscrapers, expressways, and horrendous traffic jambs while at the same time it is dirty and trashy and sections that are right out of the past. It is not unusual to see a donkey pulling a cart among the cars on a highway.
We spent a good amount of time sitting in traffic, bumper to bumper, going 10 miles per hour.
We noticed a tremendous number of buildings under construction. It seems that many buildings are occupied while the top floors are left unfinished since unfinished buildings are not taxed.
Women in Egypt are free to wear a veil or not, to wear a head scarf or not, to wear a galabeya (robe) or not. In the cities we observed a full range of dress from conservative to western high fashion while in the villages, dress was more traditional. We also noticed, as with these teenagers, their head scarves were also a fashion statement. Men's clothing also varied from suits to galabeyas to tee shirts and jeans.
It was not uncommon to see diversity in dress with couples, families, and within groups of friends.
Clothing store display.
In Cairo our bus was often accompanied by tourist police in a patrol car. We always had a security man on the bus with us when we went on excursions. In the picture above, you can see we had three fellows with us, all packing weapons. We felt safe everywhere.
The Coptic church in Egypt celebrated Easter on April 19. It was a 2 day event because the Egyptian holiday of Sham El Nessin is celebrated the day after. This holiday, the Spring Festival, dates back to 2700 BC. Today it is celebrated with family picnics and the eating of salted fish, lettuce, onions, and hard boiled colored eggs. We were in Luxor where we saw throngs of people enjoying themselves in parks, along the Nile, and along roadsides.
I particularly liked discovering what daily life is like for the Egyptians. The tour organization (Overseas Adventure Travel) responsible for our trip includes many special cultural discoveries that other tours do not. Here you see Susan and myself in a carriage about to set off for a back street tour ofLuxor
There is a lot of grubbiness to the back streets.
These mean and women are waiting at the door of a bakery for their daily supply of bread.
I loved the colors and patterns on the wall behind the donkey and her baby.
A door and wall full of great patina.
Wow, love the color!
And this is a Nubian restaurant in Aswan.
This gaily decorated wall was a Nubian house reconstructed on the grounds of the Nubian Museum in Aswan.
Both Susan and I loved the ambiance of the markets.
We also enjoyed the tourist bazaars as well.
This is Fadel, our favorite shop keeper. He offered to help us spend our money at no extra charge.
We had some wonderful eating experiences.
One of our evening meals on the cruise boat:
Seafood pate with walnut sauce.
Consommé royal
Gnocchis blue cheese sauce
Lemon sherbet with hibiscus
Pink roasted beef tenderloin with peppercorn sauce and glazed seasonal vegetables
Baked Alaska on parade
There were lots of marinated salads, stewed veggies - often in a tomato sauce, eggplant, and fish, chicken, or beef.
Lentils with fried onions, chickpeas, pasta, and tomato sauce.
Stuffed vegetables.
Sweet and rich desserts! It is a miracle that I did not gain more than 2 lbs. on the trip.
We were treated to a home hosted dinner. Here is Nadia with her son and daughter-in-law.
The meal that Nadia prepared for us.
We were also entertained. These musicians greeted us as we attended the Light and Sound Show at the Pyramids. These guys weren't very enthusiastic performers - can't blame them in these silly outfits!
This group really enjoyed themselves and so did we.
I hope you enjoyed the highlights of my adventure in Egypt. It is a trip I highly recommend!
As I reflect on the past two weeks, it almost seems like a dream. The decision to go on the tour, just days before departure, did not give me my usual time to prepare mentally or time to read up on my destination before hand. I figure it will take weeks for me to process the experience.
Today I will post some miscellaneous photos taken by both Susan and myself of additional sights and experiences. I'm posting them in no particular order.
Cairo is a city of contrasts. It has skyscrapers, expressways, and horrendous traffic jambs while at the same time it is dirty and trashy and sections that are right out of the past. It is not unusual to see a donkey pulling a cart among the cars on a highway.
We spent a good amount of time sitting in traffic, bumper to bumper, going 10 miles per hour.
We noticed a tremendous number of buildings under construction. It seems that many buildings are occupied while the top floors are left unfinished since unfinished buildings are not taxed.
Women in Egypt are free to wear a veil or not, to wear a head scarf or not, to wear a galabeya (robe) or not. In the cities we observed a full range of dress from conservative to western high fashion while in the villages, dress was more traditional. We also noticed, as with these teenagers, their head scarves were also a fashion statement. Men's clothing also varied from suits to galabeyas to tee shirts and jeans.
It was not uncommon to see diversity in dress with couples, families, and within groups of friends.
Clothing store display.
In Cairo our bus was often accompanied by tourist police in a patrol car. We always had a security man on the bus with us when we went on excursions. In the picture above, you can see we had three fellows with us, all packing weapons. We felt safe everywhere.
The Coptic church in Egypt celebrated Easter on April 19. It was a 2 day event because the Egyptian holiday of Sham El Nessin is celebrated the day after. This holiday, the Spring Festival, dates back to 2700 BC. Today it is celebrated with family picnics and the eating of salted fish, lettuce, onions, and hard boiled colored eggs. We were in Luxor where we saw throngs of people enjoying themselves in parks, along the Nile, and along roadsides.
I particularly liked discovering what daily life is like for the Egyptians. The tour organization (Overseas Adventure Travel) responsible for our trip includes many special cultural discoveries that other tours do not. Here you see Susan and myself in a carriage about to set off for a back street tour of
There is a lot of grubbiness to the back streets.
These mean and women are waiting at the door of a bakery for their daily supply of bread.
I loved the colors and patterns on the wall behind the donkey and her baby.
A door and wall full of great patina.
Wow, love the color!
And this is a Nubian restaurant in Aswan.
This gaily decorated wall was a Nubian house reconstructed on the grounds of the Nubian Museum in Aswan.
Both Susan and I loved the ambiance of the markets.
We also enjoyed the tourist bazaars as well.
This is Fadel, our favorite shop keeper. He offered to help us spend our money at no extra charge.
We had some wonderful eating experiences.
One of our evening meals on the cruise boat:
Seafood pate with walnut sauce.
Consommé royal
Gnocchis blue cheese sauce
Lemon sherbet with hibiscus
Pink roasted beef tenderloin with peppercorn sauce and glazed seasonal vegetables
Baked Alaska on parade
There were lots of marinated salads, stewed veggies - often in a tomato sauce, eggplant, and fish, chicken, or beef.
Lentils with fried onions, chickpeas, pasta, and tomato sauce.
Stuffed vegetables.
Sweet and rich desserts! It is a miracle that I did not gain more than 2 lbs. on the trip.
We were treated to a home hosted dinner. Here is Nadia with her son and daughter-in-law.
The meal that Nadia prepared for us.
We were also entertained. These musicians greeted us as we attended the Light and Sound Show at the Pyramids. These guys weren't very enthusiastic performers - can't blame them in these silly outfits!
This group really enjoyed themselves and so did we.
I hope you enjoyed the highlights of my adventure in Egypt. It is a trip I highly recommend!
The photos were magnificient!!! I loved so many of them! Thanks for sharing your trip! "Ah, the sites you've seen"!
Reply to this
Hi Joan,
I am good friend of Susan's here in Maine who vicariously enjoyed your trip soooo much. Thank you for taking all those great photos and giving a bit of a travelogue. I was in Egypt nearly 30 years ago, and actually it appears that while the antiquities haven't changed, and the people are still warm and beautiful, the cities have burgeoned, becoming much more oriented to the Westerner and the traffic has a much higher car to donkey ratio!!
Look forward to meeting you when we visit Susan and Andy in Pawtucket. Again, many many thanks for creating this wonderful blog.
Best wishes,
Susan Lerner
Reply to this