Highlights:
http://egyptfindley.shutterfly.com/651
Pictures:
http://egyptfindley.shutterfly.com/
Videos for Viewing:
Search for “EgyptFindley” on http://www.youtube.com/
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Friday, March 20, 2009
8 Wonders of the World ( 1 Ancient & 7 New )
Our goal is to see the 8 Wonders of the World, which include the 1 remaining Ancient Wonder of the World and the 7 New Wonders of the World (http://www.new7wonders.com/). We won't be upset if we have the opportunity to see some of the remnants or locations of the other Ancient Wonders if we have the chance.
Machu Picchu - May 11, 2007
The Great Pyramids of Giza - March 15, 2009
The New 7 Wonders of the World:
Chichen Itza, Mexico
Taj Mahal, India
Petra, Jordan
Christ Redeemer, Brazil
Colosseum, Italy
Great Wall, China
Machu Picchu, Peru - May 11, 2007
The Ancient 7 Wonders of the World:
Great Pyramid of Giza - March 15, 2009
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Statue of Zeus at Olympia
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus
Colossus of Rhodes
Lighthouse of Alexandria - March 7, 2009
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Statue of Zeus at Olympia
Temple of Artemis at Ephesus
Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus
Colossus of Rhodes
Lighthouse of Alexandria - March 7, 2009
We saw the remnants of the Lighthouse of Alexandria when we were in Alexandria, Egypt on March 7, 2009. As you look out to the Mediterranean Sea, the Lighthouse was on the left side of the harbor. Fort Qaitbey (visible in the picture) was built on the site of the Lighthouse in the 15th century, using some of its fallen masonry.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Egypt - West Bank of Luxor
In front of Hatshepsut's temple- there were so many people there no picture is tourist free!
After Hatshepsut's temple we went to the stone carving shop and then the Valley of the Kings. We did a tiny bit of shopping but not too much. Amr gave us stone scarabs for good luck- when received as a gift you make a wish and then keep them for good luck.
Egypt - Abu Simbel
walking like egyptians in front on abu simbel!
jumping like egyptians! or leap frogging like egyptians..?
Mary Beth & Margaret in between the temples.
Egypt - Nile Cruise
We had an egyptian party on our last night of the cruise- Ramses II and his 3 wives. Our camels were parked outside. All 40 of them!
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Egypt-Nile River
We are on the Nile River so we have limited access to the internet. Just wanted to let you know that we are here and will be posting soon!
Ok we will try to elaborate while the connection is holding on. We are cruising to Aswan; it is bright and sunshiney out on the deck, and we are planning to sit out there and enjoy the view after lunch. So far we have seen water buffalo, sheep, horses, donkeys, cows...Daniel cannot sit still and gets picture-happy, jumping from one side of the boat to the other to catch stuff on both sides. Last night the sun was setting on the west and the full moon rising on the east.
We had our first experience with "pirates" before dinner---little boats row up next to our boat and attach themselves to our boat, and start to yell "hey lady!" then they toss up bags of scarves, dresses, rugs, etc....let you look at it, and if you want to buy, they climb up and collect your money. We didn't buy anything, but we did catch it on the video camera.
This morning we got up late..at 6am and went to the Temple of Edfu. We were very impressed, and haggled at the market afterwards for traditional dress to wear at dinner (tomorrow night we think? maybe it's tonight.) It is a good thing we have Amr here to keep us straight.
More later. Having a blast.
Ok we will try to elaborate while the connection is holding on. We are cruising to Aswan; it is bright and sunshiney out on the deck, and we are planning to sit out there and enjoy the view after lunch. So far we have seen water buffalo, sheep, horses, donkeys, cows...Daniel cannot sit still and gets picture-happy, jumping from one side of the boat to the other to catch stuff on both sides. Last night the sun was setting on the west and the full moon rising on the east.
We had our first experience with "pirates" before dinner---little boats row up next to our boat and attach themselves to our boat, and start to yell "hey lady!" then they toss up bags of scarves, dresses, rugs, etc....let you look at it, and if you want to buy, they climb up and collect your money. We didn't buy anything, but we did catch it on the video camera.
This morning we got up late..at 6am and went to the Temple of Edfu. We were very impressed, and haggled at the market afterwards for traditional dress to wear at dinner (tomorrow night we think? maybe it's tonight.) It is a good thing we have Amr here to keep us straight.
More later. Having a blast.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Egypt - Day 3
We went to Memphis this morning to see the first capitol of Egypt. It’s the site of Ramses II statues and the Sphinx of Memphis.
Then we went to Sakkara to see the first pyramid, “the step pyramid.” It’s a series of mastabas which make it appear like a wedding cake. When we arrived, it was very clear and sunny, with a warm wind---we took a few pictures and listened to our guide, Amr (pronounced AH-mer), talk about the pyramid’s entrance….and then we were blasted by a giant wave of sand. It has been stuck in our teeth, lined our inner ears, and under our fingernails. We even found sand in our plastic nametags! Crazy. We had to walk around with our hands covering up our eyes. Mary Beth, Margaret, and Daniel held each other’s belt loops to make it back to the bus. Rachel apparently can see through sand because she made it back all by herself. The little old ladies were hiding inside their shirts all the way up to their eyes. We wish we had been brave enough to take more pictures during the sandstorm…but we wanted to protect the cameras for the rest of the trip. Our next destination today was supposed to be the “Great Pyramids of Giza,” but due to the weather change, so did our plans. Next stop became: LUNCH! Our favorite part of every day!
We all ordered a la carte to share, and tried the delicacy of roasted pigeon, pita and hummus, chicken kabobs and a dip made of ground peas. The whiny (non-adventurous-non-diving-into-the-culture-oldies of the crowd looked on jealously. Finger-licking good. Daniel even saved a little bit on his chin for later. Delish.
After lunch we drove through crazy traffic (Egypt traffic is a nightmare and they instructed us NOT to try to walk in town—which was good advice because we would probably be missing limbs by now). We stopped at the carpet making school, where students (kids who were ages 7-8??) as well as instructors were weaving silk and wool carpets of all sizes and designs. Their fingers flew across the loom like ours fly across the keyboard. We were super impressed. Did not haggle for a carpet…decided we might want to save that “splurge” money on a hot-air balloon ride in Luxor later next week!!
Next stop was the Museum of Cairo, which housed all of King Tut’s treasures—we saw the gold mask, sarcophagus….tons of jewelry, chariots, mummified animals, weaponry, thrones, and the list is endless. The kicker is that King Tut was a super un-important pharaoh and really makes you think about how exponential the pile ‘o treasures would be for the really powerful & important pharaohs. All of King Tut’s stuff was found buried in the Valley of the Kings in 1922. The other pyramids that had been discovered much earlier had been looted long ago. Daniel can regurgitate more details.
We are back at the hotel at 6:00 pm for dinner; it was buffet style last night at the hotel restaurant, and we anticipate the same tonight. So far we have not had a problem finding good food. Go figure!
Then we went to Sakkara to see the first pyramid, “the step pyramid.” It’s a series of mastabas which make it appear like a wedding cake. When we arrived, it was very clear and sunny, with a warm wind---we took a few pictures and listened to our guide, Amr (pronounced AH-mer), talk about the pyramid’s entrance….and then we were blasted by a giant wave of sand. It has been stuck in our teeth, lined our inner ears, and under our fingernails. We even found sand in our plastic nametags! Crazy. We had to walk around with our hands covering up our eyes. Mary Beth, Margaret, and Daniel held each other’s belt loops to make it back to the bus. Rachel apparently can see through sand because she made it back all by herself. The little old ladies were hiding inside their shirts all the way up to their eyes. We wish we had been brave enough to take more pictures during the sandstorm…but we wanted to protect the cameras for the rest of the trip. Our next destination today was supposed to be the “Great Pyramids of Giza,” but due to the weather change, so did our plans. Next stop became: LUNCH! Our favorite part of every day!
We all ordered a la carte to share, and tried the delicacy of roasted pigeon, pita and hummus, chicken kabobs and a dip made of ground peas. The whiny (non-adventurous-non-diving-into-the-culture-oldies of the crowd looked on jealously. Finger-licking good. Daniel even saved a little bit on his chin for later. Delish.
After lunch we drove through crazy traffic (Egypt traffic is a nightmare and they instructed us NOT to try to walk in town—which was good advice because we would probably be missing limbs by now). We stopped at the carpet making school, where students (kids who were ages 7-8??) as well as instructors were weaving silk and wool carpets of all sizes and designs. Their fingers flew across the loom like ours fly across the keyboard. We were super impressed. Did not haggle for a carpet…decided we might want to save that “splurge” money on a hot-air balloon ride in Luxor later next week!!
Next stop was the Museum of Cairo, which housed all of King Tut’s treasures—we saw the gold mask, sarcophagus….tons of jewelry, chariots, mummified animals, weaponry, thrones, and the list is endless. The kicker is that King Tut was a super un-important pharaoh and really makes you think about how exponential the pile ‘o treasures would be for the really powerful & important pharaohs. All of King Tut’s stuff was found buried in the Valley of the Kings in 1922. The other pyramids that had been discovered much earlier had been looted long ago. Daniel can regurgitate more details.
We are back at the hotel at 6:00 pm for dinner; it was buffet style last night at the hotel restaurant, and we anticipate the same tonight. So far we have not had a problem finding good food. Go figure!
Friday, March 6, 2009
Egypt - Day 1 & 2
We made it to Cairo today. We got up at 6:00 am Thursday morning and have been up since. It's about 3:00 pm here now (7 hour difference) so we probably won't get any sleep for another 6 or 7 hours. We didn't sleep much on the flight over because people were talking and a lady behind us kept kicking Daniel's seat. So we spent the night watching "The Duchess," "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2," and "High School Musical 3." All of which will probably not be in our favorite movies list. Daniel had chicken & pasta on the plane and the gals had fish and potatoes. We cleaned our plates (or Daniel helped clean the plates).
The hotel we're at now is about a mile from the great pyramids that we'll be visiting tomorrow.
We've been instructed to drink plenty of water, not to play in the traffic around the hotel, take a nap of < 1 hour (which we probably won't partake in), and not to make any major life decisions (with our jet lag minds). We have a group dinner at 7 pm tonight.
P.S. It took all 4 of us to type this coherently.
The hotel we're at now is about a mile from the great pyramids that we'll be visiting tomorrow.
We've been instructed to drink plenty of water, not to play in the traffic around the hotel, take a nap of < 1 hour (which we probably won't partake in), and not to make any major life decisions (with our jet lag minds). We have a group dinner at 7 pm tonight.
P.S. It took all 4 of us to type this coherently.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Walking Totals - March 3, 2008 to March 1, 2009
We've been doing our walking program for 52 weeks now, here are my totals for the year:
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