George and I have done a fair bit of traveling in our day. We’ve been on all seven continents together. We’ve gone off the tourist grid in dozens of countries. And we were the first two people to land on the moon without the aid of a rocket ship. (I’m just making sure you’re paying attention.)
But somehow we had managed to miss one of the most iconic destinations on the entire planet – Egypt. Sure, some of that had to do with the Arab Spring uprisings of 2011, and the intermittent conflicts in the years that followed. But Egypt was on our short list long before those events. We just never got around to it. Until 2023.
For this trip, we were joined by several dear friends who, despite having participated in some of our past group travels, for some inexplicable reason chose to travel with us again. If you’ve been reading my blog for some time, you know this means we wanted to give our group a special name, though this time we were hoping for a somewhat less ambiguous moniker. If you have no idea what the hell I’m talking about, trust me, neither do I. But if curiosity gets the best of you, check out this post from a few years back for an explanation. (For this trip, we never did come up with a suitable name.)
Towards the end of this two-week journey, we spent a few days in Cairo. But following our international arrival into Egypt’s capital city, we headed directly to Cairo West for a one-night hotel stay and some catch-up sleep. As best we could tell, there was nothing of interest to see in Cairo West. But it is very near Giza and the Great Pyramids, which I imagine is why our hotel was teeming with tourists. For us, it was strategic because it gave us a bit of a head start towards Alexandria, where we began our tour of Egypt in earnest. I must say that I was slightly disappointed we couldn’t squeeze a brief side trip to the moon into our itinerary. I’m told the usual luggage weight limits don’t apply there.
Thanks for shlepping me along on your amazing adventures. Being in need of a happy hour, I do so appreciate looking at your repast! Stay safe and enjoy this!
What’s a little schlepping among friends?
Back in the 70s I had a consulting job for UNESCO in Alexandria. Spent nearly a month there staying on the waterfront at the Windsor Palace Hotel. Had low grade stomach problems until I stopped eating in the hotel and started eating with the natives at a hole in the wall a block away. Much of the experience was a bit surreal. Shortly after arriving, I picked up a used copy of the “Alexandria Quartet” by Lawrence Durrel and found myself wandering through places described in the books as I read them. At that time the local wines were fairly good and the local beer even better.
Emjoy!
I think you have been everywhere! We had a lovely dinner in the restaurant at the top of the Windsor Hotel.
I can’t believe you went to the moon without me. However did I miss that trip.
You didn’t miss the moon trip. But your memory of it was wiped by the aliens.
Safe travels! Pics of camels soon?
The camels are actually too domesticated to be of much interest. But of course we photographed them anyway.
have fun
Thanks!
I can’t wait to enjoy another trip with you and George!
Thanks for reading the blog!
jgavin211@comcast.net
Safe travels. Can’t wait to see pictures of the pyramids.
Pyramids? There are pyramids in Egypt? Fuck, I need to rearrange our itinerary.