|
Post by marielouise on Mar 15, 2017 16:54:54 GMT
Welcome back, I am looking forward to your tale.
I also came back on Sunday from a short visit with my dad in Malta. I was surprised that I did not suffer from jet lag this time, with the 8 hour time difference. I did take melatonin at night. Amsterdam is a huge airport a bit confusing, since I did not have a boarding pass to continue on to Malta, there is a lot of walking and not many monitors to find the gate.
|
|
|
Post by chech on Mar 15, 2017 17:07:39 GMT
Ohhh...Malta! That's on my list. How many days does one need there to see what needs to be seen?
|
|
|
Post by marielouise on Mar 15, 2017 17:46:49 GMT
I didn't do any sightseeing this time. The island is small but lots of traffic and narrow winding roads. Valletta and the harbour maybe 1 day or less if in a hurry. Mdina is interesting on the other side, there are a few other sites. I have never been to the Blue Grotto, there are also cute fishing villages and tourist areas such as St Julians. We had lunch at a very nice fish restaurant on the water in St Paul, but you don't eat fish. There are not many beaches, it is rocky. I have been to Gozo which is a ferry ride away but you need a taxi or tour to get to the town, I think there are busses too. We went around by taxi and saw most of the island, it is similar to the main island but with no big city. I love the local bread. It is not a very fertile island, very rocky. The plane with Air Malta was full with people of all nationalities and Emirates flies there every day with a huge plane, so it seems popular, although the customs guy in Amsterdam asked me why I was going there, maybe not many North Americans go there. My dad loves the weather there, the only other place he could retire to is England (not Canada), it is very hot in summer for us Canadians, it was 17-18C when I was there in early March but windy.
I think the minimum time for the main island is 3-4 days, probably 5-7 would be nicer.
|
|
|
Post by chech on Mar 15, 2017 18:09:49 GMT
Sounds awesome! Thx.
|
|
|
Post by tassiedevil on Mar 15, 2017 22:40:25 GMT
Good to hear from you Chech. Just 2 days ago when my brother was driving me back from the oncologist (which is in South Hobart on the same road as Cascade Brewery) we went past the turn off to go up the mountain and he asked "how my Canadia friend was". And yes Canadia is the word he used, with emphasis on the second 'a'. I will now be able to tell him you made it safely back from Egypt.
|
|
|
Post by chech on Mar 16, 2017 0:03:04 GMT
LOL! That was such an awesome view with a nice blue sky. I've gotten a lot of compliments on those photos. And of course, the best root beer to be had! Not to mention local hosts. Say hello for me.
|
|
|
Post by chech on Mar 21, 2017 11:41:44 GMT
Finally finished processing 4700 photos from one camera....now to deal with the 600 on the other camera (won't take as long) and I can finally start putting together the tale later this week. Think this is the most photos I've taken on any tour.
|
|
|
Post by tiffany on Mar 23, 2017 11:20:43 GMT
That's a lot of pictures Chech! I think the most picture I've ever taken on a tour is about 600. I can't wait to see them once you have gotten them all sorted out.
|
|
|
Post by chech on Mar 23, 2017 17:37:44 GMT
Yeah...it takes so much time to process each one that I want to keep, my Fitbit listed me as sleeping...LOL So, the Travel Days is up.
|
|
|
Post by marielouise on Mar 23, 2017 20:34:47 GMT
I remember that snow storm, I was worried you wouldn't make it out. I was also surprised that there are direct flights to London and that you didn't originally take that but you answered my question, in your report.
DH and I are going to Scotland with Westjet in mid May, and we have wondered about the sanity of it. Our son-in law works for Westjet and they had a special deal which we only had a couple of hours to decide. Usually flights from Calgary are 8.5- 9hours plus 7 hour time difference for England. We are flying to Halifax, close to 5 hours and then we have a long layover 5-6 hours then 5-6 hour flight to Glasgow. Coming home is worse about 8 hour layover. We can't change the flight so we will endure it. We could have gone with KLM to Edinburgh with more comfortable times and a hot meal for about the same price, we get a sandwich or salad on both legs with Westjet and land in Glasgow although we will spend most of our time in Edinburgh. We thought breaking up the flight might be more comfortable, so we can walk around a bit, we will see, we will probably be exhausted.
|
|
|
Post by Tulips on Mar 23, 2017 21:51:36 GMT
Ah Chech, I remember what fun you had that night and all the messaging. LOL!
i had the same thing going home to Toronto for Christmas. I switched to an earlier flight to beat the bad weather forecast for later and then the flight was late coming from overseas and then the cargo door was frozen open etc etc. By the time I landed in Toronto I had missed my connection. I was rebooked for a flight the next morning but needed to spend the night. The airline refused to cover the cost of the hotel saying the delay was weather and out of their control. The irony is, the original flight I was booked on landed in enough time that I would have made the connection.
i don't buy travel insurance to go to Ontario, so I ended up making a claim on my credit card insurance. I just received the cheque, so I am happy.
Then there was the matter of getting into my locked suitcase when I'd left the keys at home......
|
|
|
Post by chech on Mar 23, 2017 23:07:49 GMT
I remember that snow storm, I was worried you wouldn't make it out. I was also surprised that there are direct flights to London and that you didn't originally take that but you answered my question, in your report. DH and I are going to Scotland with Westjet in mid May, and we have wondered about the sanity of it. Our son-in law works for Westjet and they had a special deal which we only had a couple of hours to decide. Usually flights from Calgary are 8.5- 9hours plus 7 hour time difference for England. We are flying to Halifax, close to 5 hours and then we have a long layover 5-6 hours then 5-6 hour flight to Glasgow. Coming home is worse about 8 hour layover. We can't change the flight so we will endure it. We could have gone with KLM to Edinburgh with more comfortable times and a hot meal for about the same price, we get a sandwich or salad on both legs with Westjet and land in Glasgow although we will spend most of our time in Edinburgh. We thought breaking up the flight might be more comfortable, so we can walk around a bit, we will see, we will probably be exhausted. LOL. There's a reason I don't use Westjet...LOL. Actually, it's because it cancels so many flights out of here compared to AC (Westjet hasn't upgraded all its planes to make it work with the new landing system). And I get lots of Aeroplan miles going to Toronto. There's an Alt Hotel at Halifax. You could always crash there for a few hours. TV...internet...comfy bed.
|
|
|
Post by chech on Mar 23, 2017 23:12:12 GMT
Ah Chech, I remember what gun you had that night and all the messaging. LOL! i had the same thing going home to Toronto for Christmas. I switched to an earlier flight to beat the bad weather forecast for later and then the flight was late coming from overseas and then the cargo door was frozen open etc etc. By the time I landed in Toronto I had missed my connection. I was rebooked for a flight the next morning but needed to spend the night. The airline refused to cover the cost of the hotel saying the delay was weather and out of their control. The irony is, the original flight I was booked on landed in enough time that I would have made the connection. i don't buy travel insurance to go to Ontario, so I ended up making a claim on my credit card insurance. I just received the cheque, so I am happy. Then there was the matter of getting into my locked suitcase when I'd left the keys at home...... LOL...a hammer would work well. I've never claimed anything but I know I could have for the Swiss tour (cost me about $200 to catch up to the tour) but I never thought to hold on to receipts. In Toronto, I now use the Comfort Inn Airport Road. About $110 a night on average with a shuttle I can call for so that I'm not standing there wondering if a shuttle is coming. It's also on the bus route to the big mall.
|
|
|
Post by chech on Mar 24, 2017 12:03:12 GMT
|
|
|
Post by purvis on Mar 24, 2017 17:18:34 GMT
Chech: for some reason I can't download your recent blog ( pre-day) I was able to download your previous two blogs on your Egypt tour. Can you help me.?. Purvis
|
|
|
Post by Boop on Mar 24, 2017 17:23:58 GMT
Awesome so far, although I admit, I had to look up "cartouche" ! I'm enjoying your blend of pictures with explanations interspersed! Very well done.
|
|
|
Post by chech on Mar 24, 2017 21:20:02 GMT
Chech: for some reason I can't download your recent blog ( pre-day) I was able to download your previous two blogs on your Egypt tour. Can you help me.?. Purvis The blog doesn't get downloaded. It's just a link to the website. The link appears to work fine. It might be a problem at your end. You can try turning your computer off and on again.
|
|
|
Post by chech on Mar 24, 2017 21:22:48 GMT
Awesome so far, although I admit, I had to look up "cartouche" ! I'm enjoying your blend of pictures with explanations interspersed! Very well done. I'll have to add an explanation of the cartouche.
|
|
|
Post by solaria on Mar 25, 2017 4:15:29 GMT
Wot!? No T-shirt? oh dear.....
|
|
|
Post by chech on Mar 25, 2017 11:19:25 GMT
That came later....at the same shop. They did custom embroidered t-shirts and I got EGYPT done inside a cartouche...two with small ones on the left top and one large in the centre of the shirt. Only $10 each.
|
|
|
Post by chech on Mar 25, 2017 12:20:49 GMT
Day One is up. Like the pre-day, this was extra since this is the official arrival day. Everyone had arrived a day early, so we had another day tour. Because of this, I saw a lot of stuff on both days that regular tourists don't get time to see.
|
|
|
Post by Boop on Mar 25, 2017 17:06:46 GMT
Wot!? No T-shirt? oh dear..... LOL, not like Chech to come home without a fistful of t-shirts.....I'm betting she bought at least five....mmmm, maybe six
|
|
|
Post by purvis on Mar 25, 2017 17:09:45 GMT
Chech: For some quirky reason I got your day1 blog but still unable to get the one before it. Oh well that's life. Purvis
|
|
|
Post by chech on Mar 25, 2017 18:12:19 GMT
There should be no reason that it doesn't come up. You can just go to the table of contents and click on Pre-day.
|
|
|
Post by purvis on Mar 25, 2017 20:58:29 GMT
Chech: Tried that. There must be a gremlin in my computer as the other posts of your Egyptian tour have come up with no difficulty . Oh well as long as I get to read the rest of your tour tale I will be happy. Purvis
|
|
|
Post by chech on Mar 25, 2017 21:55:18 GMT
This is the text of the Pre-day....just no photos.
----------
Egypt - Pre-day
Friday, February 17, 2017
Weather: Sunny, some cloud, 16.
It’s not often that I’m woken by my wake-up call and this morning was one of them. The first thing I did was open the curtains to check out the view.
Can’t beat that.
Well, you could, but you’d have to be a tent in the desert.
I got my stuff together and headed down for breakfast. The hotel has a pretty good selection of fruits, salad, cheese, hot offerings, an omelet chef and a huge selection of breads.
I filled up and checked to see if I could get money from the hotel ATM but it wouldn’t accept my card. Abdul arrived after I had tried a second time and said we could pull over to an ATM on the way. I was able to take out three thousand Egyptian pounds no problem.
Our first stop was to the Palace of Prince Muhammad Ali Tewfiq (1875-1955).
No, he’s not the boxer.
And there are two. Muhammad Ali Tewfiq owned the palace. He was named for his great-great-grandfather, Muhammad Ali Pasha (1769-1849) who brought Egypt out from under the Ottoman Empire and into the modern age.
Muhammad Ali Pasha is considered the father of modern Egypt. He introduced proper education in schools, taking it out of the hands of religion which worked to keep the common person naïve. He brought in teachers from Europe and sent Egyptians to France and other nations to become educated in everything from medicine to engineering to military tactics and strategy. I will note other accomplishments later in this tale.
Muhammad Ali Tewfiq, the great-great-grandson of Ali Pasha, was expected to become king but his cousin was appointed instead. King Farouk (1920-1965) would go on to be the last king of Egypt. He was deposed in 1952 and left the country. Ali Tewfiq left Egypt in 1953 as the British were also forced out of the country, but Ali Tewfiq asked that his palace be preserved as a museum. Ali Tewfiq died in Switzerland in 1955.
These are some highlights from his palace. Inside he had his own mosque where the pulpit faces east.
The ceiling was a work of art made from wood.
Ali didn’t want people to see him so the windows were covered so that he could see out but people couldn’t see in.
His home was magnificent. The floors made of marble and the walls covered in tile.
Complete with a fountain in the foyer.
In the dining room, the chairs were made shorter because Ali was a short man and didn’t want his legs to dangle.
He didn’t like to go down for dinner before the table was set, so he had a mirror installed in the foyer so that he could see the table without going downstairs. He also had the clock make a different chime for each hour so that he could tell the time by the sound.
In a room nearby, they used to burn sandalwood in the fireplace in order to get the sweet smell.
In another room, the men were entertained by belly dancers called Almas like this one depicted in the painting to the right.
The women were not allowed to join the men, but they were able to watch from above. They could see the entertainment reflected in two large mirrors.
The paintings on the ledge are of Turkish Sultans as they still had strong ties to Turkey.
The door to the room had a smaller door that was used so that the men entering the room would not see the women on the level above them.
I'm not sure how it kept them from peeking.
The throne room was a long narrow room with the sun, a symbol of the Ottoman Turks, on the ceiling.
The paintings on the wall were relatives, some of whom had great accomplishments from establishing the railway to digging the Suez.
This was a painting of the Nile as seen from the palace. The Nile view is still the preferred view of the residents of Cairo.
And this painting is of the Nile when it used to flood. The water would rise up to the edge of the Giza Pyramids.
In another building, Abdul pointed out long black cloth in frames near the ceiling. These were sections of the cloth that were used to cover the Black Rock in Mecca. The covers originally came from Egypt due to their famous cotton, but now the fabric is made in Saudi Arabia.
The French influence can be seen in this room. It looks like it was transplanted straight from a French palace.
This is the woman's winter room. It was built for Ali Tewfiq’s mother and her bed used to be in the centre of the room. Wood covered the walls to insulate it from the cold.
Next door is the stables.
Yeah. That’s for the horses. It was under renovation so we couldn't visit.
Ali Tewfiq also liked to hunt and the Hunting Museum has a long display of animals.
A map shows the native animals in different parts of Egypt at the time.
The taxidermy is more rudimentary than it is today.
And I’ve never heard of some of the animals like the Galagos.
We finished up here around eleven and headed into Old Cairo. We passed a massive cemetery that has become the residence of at least a half million homeless people.
The tombs are shafts dug underneath a cenotaph and the owners don’t mind that the homeless live in the structure above the grave as long as they keep it clean. They are so entrenched in the region that the government provides electricity, water and now sewer.
Many of the residents work at the cemetery as undertakers or Imams who give the blessing at funerals. There were women selling flowers for people visiting the tombs.
Nearby is a five hundred year old mosque called Masser Kaloon which isn’t used anymore.
Abdul pointed out that there are three types of leaders in a mosque. The Koran Reader, the Muezzin (who calls Muslims to prayer) and the Imams. The Imams can be the source of extremism is some mosques, and to avoid this, the Egyptian government introduced regulations that limits who can become an Imam. This way, the regulation helps prevent extremism at the source.
From here, we stopped by a buffet for lunch.
I had an excellent spaghetti and meatballs.
After lunch, we visited the last remaining section of the wall that used to encompass Cairo.
Two gates remain.
We passed through the gate and walked by two good looking studs.
The police officers weren't bad looking either.
We went for a walk through the narrow streets, stopping first at the restored Al-Hakim mosque.
The mosque was completed in 992 CE and over the centuries it has been used as a mosque, fortress, prison, stable and school. Today, it's not in use but is an attraction for tourists and locals.
The interior is covered with a rug that has sections marked off as though each was an individual prayer rug. The tip, pointing east, is indicative of a Shia prayer rug. (The majority of Egyptians are Sunni).
We left the mosque and walked along the streets where you could get anything from fruit.
To liver, intestines and brains.
And hand brooms.
We passed a large bakery that smelled terrific.
And around the corner was a horse and a few goats.
Here, we met two brothers who asked me to take their picture. Getting them to stay still for the photo was an issue.
They invited us inside their workshop. We walked through a short tunnel where there were strips of metal piled on shelves. In the back, he showed us his work. The talented young man fabricates shisha from the strips of metal.
Abdul then treated me to a tea in a small shop.
I sat next to a man who was happily smoking his shisha.
We smiled at each other as I enjoyed my tea.
Then three students came up to me and wanted to ask me some questions for a school project. They were from Malaysia and wanted to know my views on Islam. I said that I had no views. I viewed it no differently than any other religion - that religion, colour, heritage, nationality etc. does not define extremism. Behavior does.
They were delighted to hear a tolerant viewpoint, although they were a little surprised to hear I had no religion. I think they find it hard to believe that I can have no beliefs. When they asked further, I simply told them that I believe in Nature as the creator. That is the one explanation that has grounds for it in science.
They were really sweet and spoke very good English.
We finished up our tea and headed out through the second gate.
Our driver picked us up and we headed back towards Giza. On the way, a man on a scooter pointed to me and said something to his son. The little boy waved just as I got the camera up.
On the way back to Giza, the pyramids are visible for some distance, which gives perspective to their immense size.
On one street, we came across a butcher shop which had a calf hanging from the awning. It actually looked human from the way it is displayed and for that reason, I will link to the picture. It’s up to you if want to view it.
It is, after all, where veal comes from.
I had mentioned to Abdul that I wanted to get a cartouche for my sister. He took me to a government certified shop called the Merit Bazaar where everything sold is authentic and locally made. I have no problem paying a little extra.
The salesman was really good. The first thing he did was offer me something to drink and Abdul said it is taken as an offense to turn it down. I took a Coke and he showed me around. I found a cartouche for my sister and also bought a scarab (beetle) and an ankh (the key of life) for myself. Then he said I needed a box to put it in and I got a small jewelry box.
About a hundred and eighty dollars later, we headed back to the hotel. I went back down to the lobby to check out the internet connection but dinner time is the worst time as so many others are using the same connection. I could get it in my room for seventy pounds ($4) and should have done so. Turns out it was much faster.
As I was working on the computer, an American from Seattle sat down and we had a good chat. He was a tall black man and it was interesting in the conversation that he noted that ‘he was a black man and I was a white woman’ as he talked about something. I had to tell him later that I was a bit taken aback by being called a white woman. I explained that in Canada, no one has ever called me white, and that even in mixed company, no one I know of has ever referenced another by skin colour (except to point them out). He was utterly fascinated that we could be so colour-blind in Canada.
The most interesting part is that he was in Egypt only for two days. He flew all the way from Seattle to Cairo, saw the Pyramids and the Egyptian Museum and was going home tomorrow.
Business Class of course.
By the time he left, Abdul had sat down nearby and then one of the others on the tour showed up. We said hello and then Abdul told us what he had arranged for us for the next day (which is the official arrival day, but everyone on the tour had shown up a day early).
We don’t leave till nine in the morning, so I should be able to get a lot of catch-up sleep tonight.
|
|
|
Post by purvis on Mar 25, 2017 22:51:18 GMT
Thanks: Purvis
|
|
|
Post by chech on Mar 26, 2017 11:48:57 GMT
|
|
|
Post by purvis on Mar 26, 2017 14:57:51 GMT
Day Two was very educational. Thanks Purvis
|
|
|
Post by chech on Mar 26, 2017 19:48:02 GMT
|
|