Egypt and the Eternal Nile - 18 March 2019 - predeparture

Egypt and the Eternal Nile - 

18 March 2019 - The Adventure Begins

We received a flyer from the Purdue Alumni Travel Desk for what sounded like an amazing trip - 12 days exploring Egypt!
Mike and Janet Ewing accepted our invitation to go along!
They would fly from Colorado to Indy and we'd all drive up to Chicago together to catch our flight.
Then it dawned on me that, while the four of us would easily fit in our Sonata, our bags would not!  After discussing all possibilities, Mike suggested he drive his Honda SUV to Indy and then on to Chicago.  Our part would be to pay for covered parking at a hotel near O'Hare.
We packed our gear and hit the road!

We made a stop just north of Lafayette at the Tippecanoe Battlefield Memorial in Battleground Indiana 

This was the site where the consolidated forces of William Henry Harrison successfully beat of a fierce attack by a large number of Indians.  This led to Harrison's slogan during his presidential campaign "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too!"

Our next stop was in St. John Indiana at the Shrine of Christ's Passion. This immense statue of the Blessed Virgin has been added since our last visit

Mike & Janet, Theresa & Bob

Also new is this memorial to the many millions of babies killed each year by abortion

This is the size of a nine week fetus

The main focus here is on Christ's Passion. It began, of course, with the Pascal Meal. We are invited here to join Jesus in that wonderful banquet.

"Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by. But Thy will be done, not  mine." 

"Could you not stay awake and pray with me one hour?"

Jesus is condemned to die 

Jesus takes up his cross

Simon, the Cyrenian helps Jesus with the cross

Veronica wipes the face of Jesus 

The church of St John sits at the top of the hill, overlooking the shrine

Jesus is nailed to the cross

Jesus on the cross, dies for our sins

"Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom"

Mike, Janet and Theresa

Pieta

"The tomb - it is empty!"

"Raboni" "Mary do not cling to me for I have not yet ascended to my Father"

"And, as they watched, He ascended!"

It was a cold day, but we all felt good about our stop

Another new section is Moses on the mountain

Some wild turkeys met us in the shrine

The gift shop has a wide variety of offerings including some great creches 

And statuary

We drove to Rosemont, just east of O'Hare, had a nice dinner in a pub, parked in the Loew's Hotel parking garage ($7/day) and headed for O'Hare on the hotel shuttle.  We boarded a Turkish Air 757 and settled in  for the 10.5 hour flight to Istanbul. 

In Istanbul, we changed planes for Cairo. We would arrive in  Cairo late Monday evening!

Tomorrow: Cairo Museum and the Citadel