Epicuriosity

Well, after 12 hours of sitting in airports and 14 hours of flying we made it to Cairo at 1am. Needless to say…..exhausted! We had arranged for a driver to pick us up and not only was he there waiting for us, he got our visas while we stood in the customs line. Nice!

We got about 5 hours of sleep and after a breakfast of foul, baba ganoush, mango juice and pastries we were met in the lobby by our Egyptologist for our private day tour!

Let me just tell you…..this lady knew everything we ever wanted to know about current, historical and ancient Egypt. As we rode through the busy streets Cairo (you can’t watch the road, just trust the driver!) she told us about the palaces, new buildings, pros and cons of their government, social classes and so much more we wouldn’t have learned on our own. We drove past the City of the Dead. It’s a huge area (city really) full of mausoleums and people actually live there. Like squatters. There’s a whole history I don’t have time to share here….but it was eye opening to see what some people have to do just to survive in this highly overpopulated city. Cairo is huge! And every square inch is quickly being covered with apartments. So close together that in some areas they have to use these little motorcycle things to get through the streets!

Just at the edge of the city, through the haze, we could make out the first pyramid! YAY! I don’t know what’s most fascinating about them. Their age, their purpose, their construction ingenuity? Something amazing to experience for sure. We walked around the first one, through all the other tombs of wives and children, around the second one and then to the panoramic for a full view of all three. It was super hazy out so it really added to the mystery. Our Egyptologist, Noha, explained each one, who built it, how they are different and what has been found in them. I thought I knew a lot about them, but Noha really explained it all so well.

One thing about the pyramids….so many tourists, so many people trying to sell you something (including police letting you past the rope restrictions for a tip) and so many camels. Even though we did not ride one I was really just as happy to see them, their decorations and the trail of them off in the distance of the pyramids. There was so much to do that day and Mark was not really into riding one so off we went to the Sphinx.

I think the Sphinx was our favorite. The symbolism in the lion body and King’s head, his paws, the fact that it’s all one GIANT stone. Very very cool! The pictures really don’t do the Giza plateau justice. Maybe we’ll get a chance to go back when the air is clear and really get some good photos.

As I’m sure every tourist does, we visited a papyrus museum and perfumery. We learned (and saw) how true papyrus was/is made and of course walked out of there with our very own beautiful piece of art, and we later saw the actual original design on a piece of furniture that was in King Tut’s tomb!

After a quick stroll through Khan al Khaliji (the market) we headed to the Egyptian museum. Now….let me just stop here. Please note…..this little stop off at the market was purely just to “check it out” we fully intend to spend several hours there on Wednesday.  I saw way too many many things just on one street that I’d like to go back to. Including a whole shop of old tribal jewelry!

The Egyptian museum is gi-freakin-normous! It would take days to visit everything. Today we focused on King Tutankhamen’s treasures. Again, Noha amazed us with her knowledge, her embalming explanations and her ability to read the kartouches (hieroglyphs) on the pieces. I wish I could share with you everything that we saw. It was so overwhelming! The jewels, the furniture, the little statues and their symbolism, the jewels, the sarcophagi, the actual CLOTHES and shoes of King Tut!! Did I mention the jewels??
I think we spent two hours in there and still didn’t see everything in this one exhibit much less any part of the museum! Unfortunately, no cameras are allowed in the museum. But again, photos would never do it justice. I mean, the freakin clothes and sandals of King Tut?! Amazing!

OK, so at this point you’d think the day was over, yes? Well no way. Our tour was over, but our adventures weren’t. We checked into our hotel (last night’s was just a one night thing). We are staying in a palace. Seriously. It’s the Marriott in Cairo, but it was originally built as a palace and then the two towers of rooms were added on later. Let me just say that we are staying at this five star palace by using my dad’s Marriott points (this whole trip is actually thanks to my dad and his millions of points!). So, we check in and our room isn’t ready yet so a manager escorts us to the executive lounge where we have free snacks and drinks. It’s because we are Gold members.  Of course…..I didn’t mention that it’s my dad that’s a Gold member (details details). Room was ready shortly after and we soon received a plate of pastries, a fruit basket, a card and a call to make sure everything in our room was acceptable. This was FOUR separate instances! Needless to say….our five star palace that has 15 restaurants, tons of shops and an executive lounge open to us whenever we want is certainly acceptable!

A quick nap and we were off to dinner…..a Nile cruise. Live music, whirling dervish and a bellydancer was the entertainment. Definitely for the tourists, but that’s what we are so we really loved it. The food was just average, but we had a bottle of Egyptian wine and really enjoyed the entertainment. Mark was so fixed on the drummers at one point I asked him if he saw the bellydancer and he said “yeah, she kept blocking my view of the doumbek player!” HAHAHA!! That’s my man alright!

We ended our evening with hot tea and apple shisha in the courtyard. Ahhhhh….it’s was truly relaxing after such a full day. So relaxing that Mark is passed out and sleeping like a baby. Meanwhile it’s 1am, we’ve been here for 24 hours and after typing this I am so amazed at what all we experienced today! Even if we only had one day in Cairo today would have been totally satisfying. But just thinking about the 6 full days we have left in Egypt has me so excited I can’t even sleep!

Tomorrow….sleeping in, lunch in the park, mosques and a preparing for our trip to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings!