Egypt and the Eternal Nile
Day 11 30 March 2019
Fly to Cairo
Find a church for mass!
Lunch in a beautiful park overlooking the Citadel
We did NOT have a "crack of dawn" departure for a change!
We had a nice leisurely breakfast and a nice drive to the airport!
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| After breakfast, Bob had time to sort a few photos for inclusion in this blog |
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| We bid adieu to the Nile Palace and headed to the airport |
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| A woman and her child |
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| Hassan asked our bus driver to stop on the bridge spanning the Avenue of Sphinxes |
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| Won't see much of this in Cairo! |
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| Irrigation canals in place of annual flooding |
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| The Luxor airport is very modest in size |
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| A display of some old Soviet aircraft once used by the Egyptian Air Force |
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| Subdued pyramids on the Egypt Air engine nacelle! |
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Our flight was delayed for almost two hours due to a sandstorm.
It was still going strong when we took off (that's not fog or overcast)! |
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| We reached Cairo and found RAIN and 65 degrees! |
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| On the drive in, we passed some nice looking buildings, almost all of which we nationalized (confiscated) by the socialist government in the 60's |
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These puzzle me! Huge stack of scaffolding on several buildings!
Never had a chance to ask Hassan.
Anyone know what this is all about? |
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| A Roman aqueduct |
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| This hospital was apparently discovered to have some serious defects during construction and is now being redone (although it looks abandoned!) |
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| This short street used to lead to the US embassy but is now completely blocked with a concrete barrier for security reasons. |
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| We arrive at a beautiful park for lunch |
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| The two block walk up the hill was made pleasant by the magnificent views |
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The entrance led to a large hall and to the left an expansive restaurant -m which was full to capacity!
Fortunately Hassan had told them of our delay and they were able to accommodate the group. |
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| As promised, a marvelous view of the Citadel |
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| If the weather were nicer, we might have eaten on this little patio! |
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| And the beautiful patio below, part of the park |
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One of our three tables.
Lunch was served "family style" with the fare we had come to expect, pita, hummus, vegetables, soup, kabobs and a fruit cup for desert (I'm going from memory, so I may be off on some of the items) |
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| Linda and Harry and a packed dining room |
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This is the courtyard of the building just inside the front doors
(they are to the right in this photo) |
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| Not surprisingly, this is a very popular wedding venue |
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| Passing the Citadel after lunch |
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| As we approached the Fairmont Nile City, the sun was just setting behind the Cairo Tower |
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| The boat we had dinner on soooo long ago! |
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| Our mansions were still there! |
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Our room was on the Nile side of the hotel this go around.
Unfortunately, we arrived at the hotel several hours late.
Too late to still make it to mass.
We missed mass on both weekends, a major bummer.
Theresa said that if we ever return, we'll take a priest friend along as a guest! |
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The magazine for Egypt Air was called Horus
This issue contained a couple of articles related to our trip, on on Abu Simbel, our first stop, and one on the legend of Horus.
I've included them at full resolution, hoping they will be legible.
I was unsuccessful in finding this issue (March 2019) on line. |
Tomorrow:
Our Last Day in Egypt!
Memphis
Sakara / Saqqara
Carpet School
Another Fantastic Lunch
Final Cocktail Party
The Last Supper (Farewell Dinner)
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