Alexandria and traffic

We woke up at 5:30 this morning (not as hard as it sounds since we're still jetlagged and sometimes wake up at all hours of the AM unable to go back to sleep!) to go to Alexandria. Our driver and guide, who we found out today is a licensed "Egpytologist", met us at 6:30 a.m. in the lobby and we drove 2.5 hours to Alexandria which is on the Mediterranian Sea.

If someone told me I had to live in Egpyt I'd definitely go for Alexandria over Cairo, not that Cairo is a bad place, its just bigger and busier and traffic is a nightmare in Cairo. Alexandria had more green space, really beautiful landscape, and of coure the Mediterranian Sea! We stayed about 3 hours and then had to head back because rush hour in Cairo starts at 2:30, NO EXAGERATION.

A few words on traffic here - ITS INSANE. INSANE. Imagine a 3 lane highway (one way) but the Egpytian drivers really don't pay attention to the lanes and the white lines that signify where you're supposed to drive. They just drive all over the road. So on your average 3 lane highway, there will be at least 5 lanes of cars packed in with people staddling white lines everywhere to accomplish this. From our hotel, the view looks down on a major highway, in addition to the Nile, and at rush hour there are 5 or 6 solid lanes of traffic on a 3 lane road, its crazy! You can reach out of your window and literally punch someone in the face if you wanted too, but luckilly road rage doesn't seem that bad here, although they do honk ALL THE TIME. The horn honking is more "prememtive" here though than in the U.S. They don't honk b/c they're mad that someone cut them off (sometimes they do, but not most of the time), they honk to let the drivers around them know they're coming up onside of them inches away between two lanes, or to let them know not to come over b/c you're approaching, or to tell the pedestrian to not dare walk out in front of you, b/c you will not be stopping for anyone. They're mostly quick short honks to let the drivers around them know they're close by.

OH, and today we had our first sighting of the fully covered women - NOT EVEN THEIR EYES are allowed to be seen. All in black from head to toe with their faces fully hidden behind a black veil. It was unsettling. They were at the library in Alexandria, which our guide said is the largest in the World.

And by the way, about yesterday's post, as you probably know, Sphinx is with an 'i', not 'y'. Jetlag is messing with my head.

Sarah - not only do I have pix of the camel, but Enrique took a video of me getting on, which is really funny. And Jason - unfortunately there is also a video of me dancing but it is going to be highly classified and I might have to delete it because its pretty humiliating. I might let you see it before its destroyed. Maybe!

So this might be the last posting for a while, because tomorrow we leave for Abu Simbel in southern Egypt, and I'm not sure what our internet situation will be there. And the following day we leave for our Nile Cruise, and I'm almost certain we wont have access on the boat.

So if I don't write again soon, HAPPY THANKSGIVING everyone!

Love, Meagan

Standing in a Postcard!

Seeing the great pyramids of Giza today felt just like that. Like I was standing inside a coffee table book or in a postcard. The sites were just surreal.

We started the morning with a trip to see the oldest capitol of Egypt, a place called Memphis. On the way to Memphis I think we did a time warp - we saw sheep herds (and SMELLED them, barf), men and boys riding on donkeys, donkeys and horses pulling 2-wheels carts that were loaded down with vegetables and all sorts of plants. The local villages along the way were in disrepair, buildings that looked like they were condemed obviously had people living in them, as evidenced by the laundry hanging from the windows. We've seen worse though, at least they probably had running water. We also saw oxen and cattle herds, being led my women in burqas or young boys. Also, I noticed an interesting sign in the middle of one of these villages that read, "Egpyt - The Land of Civilization".

Once we got to Memphis we saw some incredibly ancient artifacts, including a collosal statue of Ramses the II that dated back 4000 years, and the 2nd largest Sphynx (sp?) in Eygpt. (Sorry, I don't have time to spell check, I"m on the Hilton computers again.)

And I still ahve to tell you about the pyramids! And the largest Sphynx in the world, THE Sphynx, and it was all really too beautiful to believe. In Giza, we took a camel ride, led by a charming and hustling little Eygptian boy. It was surreal to be riding on a camel, along side the pyramids, so surreal that its almost hard to appreciate while you're in the moment. When you look back at your picturse at the end of the day its like WOW, was I really there!??

I only have 5 mins left so I'd better run. We're about to go have an Egpytian beer at the hotel bar!
Love, Meagan

Dancing on the Nile

So the highlight and lowlight of my day might have taken place when we took a boat trip down the Nile. It was only 2 bucks per person b/c it wasn't a private boat ride and it was only for 30 minutes. So all the women on the boat were wearing the head-dresses, showing their faces (not full burqas) but covering all their hair (as do almost ALL women in Cairo). There's festive arabian music playing and two of the girls get up and start dancing, and I'm horrified because I do have a feeling as the only white girl on the boat and as an obvious tourist they're going to pull me up there, and much to my horror, they came right to me and pulled me up despite my protests. I tried my best but lets just say I sat down as quickly as I could feeling pretty stupid! But all the locals seemed to enjoy it so what the hell.

We also had two very young girls in full burqas today ask us for a picture. They took a photo of us with their cell phones. We knew they were young by their eyes, and the school books they were carrying. I took a photo with my arms around them, but when it was Enrique's turn to have his photo with them, they both purposefully stepped further away, because I'm sure its very important in their customs not to talk to men other than their family members or husbands, etc.

Our day started out with a trip to the oldest Christian church in Egpyt that dates back to the 1st century AD. The ceiling of the church was shaped and built like the bottom of a boat, and although you couldn't tell, the church was about 50 feet off of the ground to avoid Nile floods. Now the land is all built up around the church, and you wouldn't know it had been built so high off the ground if it weren't for a showcased area that displayed the original distance from the church floor down to the ground level.

Next we visted a really beautiful mosque that dated back to about 1300s. A fortress around it dated back to the 1100s. It looked very turkish and in fact was modeled after "The Blue Mosque" in Istanbul. There were a lot of school children on field trips at the mosque and many wanted to say "Hi" to us, ask our names, and have their photos taken with us, which was really fun, and all the girls with their colorful covered heads were especially cute.

Next we visited an outdoor market/bazaar area after the mosque where we saw "a bunch of junk that was made in China" (that was Enrique's exact quote about it).

The Cairo Museum was next, where we saw the mummy of Ramses the II, who ruled Egypt for 67 years (a long time for a Pharo back in the day, when so many died so young). Ramses the Great wasn't looking too hot... actually most of the mummies were looking pretty dead... it was a little bit too horror movie for my tastes, but you can't come all the way to Egypt and not go see the mummies I guess. And if you consider that they're about 4000 years old, they were looking FABULOUS.

My favorites parts of the Cairo museum were the King Tut displays, including his gold mask, which is famous around the world, and his golden coffins that fit one inside another (there were 3), and 2 mummified crocidiles who were about 3000 years old, and they were - no lie- 20 feet long. JUST HUGE. You would not want to run into one of these while out for a swim, let me tell you.

We came upon this internet cafe tonight on a walk around the city center, which is really bustling ALL THE TIME. If you think traffic is bad in Atlanta, you haven't seen anything I promise. I'm getting tired so I need to go for now, but I promise to tell you more about the methods for driving and crossing the street as a pedestrian another time (Have you ever played Frogger?). Don't worry Mom, we're being very safe though!!

Lots of love from Cairo, Meagan

A View from the Nile!

Hi everyone! We are safe and sound in Cairo, Egpyt. Its almost 10 p.m. here and we've been travelling for about 20 hours so this will be pretty short. ALso its $8 for 15 minutes of internet at the Ramses Hilton, and so unless I find a cheaper way to blog, all of my posts may be pretty brief!
So far, so good. Our guides met us as we left the plane and took us to the hotel. Our room has a view of the Nile! On our way down to the business center, we came across an Egyptian wedding! Christy - You would die if you saw these bridesmaid dresses. They are more like Nutcracker ballerina costumes, all white and glittery and with tutu's that literally stick straight out from the waist. White tights and everything. They're very beautiful, but obviously not what we're used to seeing. But it was a very festive proceeding and really fun to witness.
So I think my 15 mins are already up because I spent a few mins on Gmail as well. But I wanted to touch base and let you know we're here and so far Cairo seems really exotic and beautiful.
More later!
Love, Meagan

EGYPT!

Enrique and I leave for Egypt this Thursday!

Below is our trip itinerary if you'd like to know what we'll be up to from day-to-day. And I hope to be able to post more often than I did from Russia, but as I realized on that trip, the best intentions don't matter if you don't have internet access!

NOV 15: Thu - Departure from USA
Board your international flight to Cairo and begin your journey back in time to this charming, ancient land.

NOV 16: Fri - Cairo
Arrival in the Land of the Pharaohs. At Cairo International Airport you will be welcomed and assisted through immigration and customs by our representative, then escorted to your hotel.

NOV 17: Sat - Cairo, City Tour
Start your day with a guided tour of the Egyptian Museum where you will find artifacts of the Pharaonic era and the treasures of king Tutankhamen’s tomb. Drive to Old Cairo, where early Judaism and Christianity flourished in Egypt. Visit the Ben Ezra Synagogue and Saint Sergius Church. After lunch, Citadel of Saladin, to visit Mohamed Ali Alabaster Mosque. Enjoy a walking tour of the largest 13th century covered oriental market, Khan El Khalili Bazaar, overnight at hotel.

NOV 18: Sun - Cairo, Pyramids Tour
After breakfast, a scenic drive will take you to the Pyramids & Sphinx of Giza, which have stood for the last 5000 years. Complete your visit at Giza with a tour of the Solar Boat Museum. After lunch, continue to the ancient city of Memphis, the first capital of United Upper and Lower Egypt, then visit Sakkara, site of the Step Pyramid of Zoser.

NOV 19: Mon – Cairo, Alexandria Tour
Overday excursion to Alexandria by private car accompanied by an English-speaking Egyptologist: visit the Catacombs of Kom El Shugafa, the Fortress of Qait Bay, the National Museum, Abu El Abbas Mosque and Alexandria Library “Bibliotheca Alexandrina”.

NOV 20: Tue – Aswan, Abu Simbel, Kom Ombo, Edfu
Morning flight to Abu Simbel, via Aswan: visit the colossal Temple of Ramses II and the temple of his beloved Queen Nefertari, both temples carved out of a hillside beside the Nile in the 13th century BC. Flight back to Aswan with
overnight.

NOV 21: Wed - Aswan, Kom Ombo, Edfu
Transfer to your cruise ship where you will spend the next 3 nights / 4 days. You will visit the High Dam, the Granite Quarries with the Unfinished Obelisk and the Temple of Philae. After lunch, sail to Kom Ombo where you will visit the
Ptolemaic Temple of Sobek & Haroeries. Then sail to Edfu and overnight.

NOV 22: Thu - Edfu, Esna, Luxor
Travel by horse-drawn carriage to the Temple of Horus, the falcon-god, (237 B.C.) considered the best-preserved temple in Ancient Egypt and the second largest after the Temple of Karnak. Sail to Esna, passing through the Esna Lock, and continue sailing towards Luxor and overnight.

NOV 23: Fri - Luxor
Visit the West Bank necropolis including the Valley of the Kings, the funerary temple of Queen Hatshepsut at Deir El Bahari and the Colossi of Memnon. Free afternoon at leisure. Overnight in Luxor.

NOV 24: Sat – Luxor, Cairo
After breakfast, visit the east bank of Luxor Karnak and Luxor Temples, a centuries-old city of pylons, hypostyle halls, colossal statues, shrines and obelisks. Disembarkation and transfer to Luxor airport. At Cairo International Airport you will be welcomed and assisted by our
representative, then escorted to your hotel.

NOV 25: Sun - Departure
After breakfast, transfer to Cairo International Airport for your departure flight.

FINALLY... INTERNET!!!

So, This is why I called it a "Tenative" blog. Apparently in Russia, either internet cafes are not very popular, or the gov't is trying to crush them, b/c they are impossible to find, and are few and far between. So, when I'm back in the good old U.S.A. I will do a post with details from our whole trip, but for today, I just wanted to let you know that we are alive and well, and just lacking any internet access anywhere we go. Both of our hotels were supposed that have internet access and from what we can understand it never works here. We walked 2 miles to find this internet cafe and we probably wont have time (or energy) to find it again.

That being said, we are having a great time -- the cathedrals are beautiful works of art, and completely awe-inspiring. The Kremlin and Red Square, St. Basil's Cathedral, all absolutely amazing to see first hand. St. Basils and the gold domes (of the cathedrals) of the Kremlin have been my favorite sites so far. I also loved the lively atmosphere of the Artbat (a "bohemian" street/area of Moscow). We just arrived in St. Petersburg and we have a great view from our room of the Winter Palace and Peter and Paul's Fortress (imagine a postcard scene - which was total luck by the way - we had to argue over the price they promised us. we didn't care about the view, just the price they quoted in an email from 4 months ago -- and luckily we had a copy of the email, then we somehow also ended up w/ the great view and the good price!). So the trip has been really beautiful and amazing in many respects.

At the same time, imagine a totally different standard of living!! It really makes you miss the U.S.A. and our conveniences and comfort level A LOT. And also, in China and South Africa they seemed to LOVE seeing us and greeting us, helping us... here... well lets just say, we've gotten a lot of eyes rolled at us and ATTITUDE, but that's ok. If a Russian tourist walked up to me in Atlanta and wanted directions to an internet cafe, I'd like to think --- no I'm positive -- that I'd be happy to oblige, but here, they really don't seem happy to see us. I don't know why, I think we're so nice!! Oh well, I'm generalizing, b/c its not EVERYONE... some people have been somewhat helpful. Its mostly the workers at our hotels (you know, where we're PAYING them) who seem to hate tourists like us.

Can't wait to see all back in the usa! Our flight on the 18th was overbooked so we've been bumped to the 19th, but that they can't change.

This is probably the last time I'll see email/internet until we get back, so at that time I'll write again about all of our adventures and mishaps, and send out pix as well. In the meantime, GO BRAVES (I see we're only 2 games back now? Better than when I left!) and God Bless the USA!!
Love, Meagan

Good news for the flight over!

We found out today that we made our "waitlisted" flight (the direct one from ATL to Moscow)! Basically this means we leave about 8 hours later on Thursday, but arrive about the same time we would have, had we flown through NYC and left much earlier in the morning. So the trip is off to a good start and we haven't even left yet!

I'm all packed and ready to go (minus a few items I'll throw in last minute like my hair dryer and toothbrush), and I'll be very excited by the time we're on the plane. Since it turns out we'll be in town a few hours longer I am going to one last Braves/work event (at 11 AM at a Boys and Girls Club only blocks from Enrique's house, NOT AT TURNER FIELD), and once that is over I'll feel like my vacation has really started.

Sweet wonderful Sarah is taking us to the marta station at 12:15 so we can head to the airport and get on our way.

Mom, Dad, Ry, Sarah, Amy, Riley, and Amelia - I love you all very much, and I'll be in touch!!! Uncle Ted and Aunt Kris, if you're reading this, Dito!

I wont be able to write again until we're there and I've found a place to go online... again we get there about 10:30 AM or so Friday (Moscow time, which I've found out is 7 or is it 8?? hours ahead of EST). Talk to everyone soon, Love, Meagan

This is a tenative blog

Enrique and I leave for Russia on Thursday, and a friend of mine in the local media here suggested that I "Blog" about our trip. Mom, I know you'll like this especially, so even if you're the only person who checks it while we're gone, that's ok by me! I don't know how often I'll be able to write updates, since I'm not sure of the internet situation in Moscow and St. Petersburg yet, but if we have convenient outlets, I'll definitely try to post entries about our daily excursions.

So Mom, and anyone else who is interested... here is a very brief rundown of our itinerary.
June 7 - leave for Russia. Fly from Atlanta to NY to Moscow.
June 8 - arrive in Moscow in the AM (Russia time)
June 11 - fly or take train (TBD) to St. Petersburg
June 17 (or possibly 18th - depends on our Skymiles, we are waitlisted for the 17th, but that's when we're hoping to come back) - Fly home to the USA, arrive in the ATL, I'm not sure what time, but when I figure it out, I'll let you know!

When we get to Russia I'll try to write again. Until then Do svidaniya!