Florence, Verona, Venice

On Tuesday we got up very early to head off to Termini station, where we caught our train to Florence, about an hour and a half away. Florence is beautiful - the old part, anyway. Lots of cobbled streets and very old buildings. Lizzie was keen to see the Duomo - a HUGE church - so we went straight there. The line to get in the front was very very long so when we saw a shorter line to see the dome, we opted for that one. After we'd queued for about a half an hour and were nearly at the entrance, someone mentioned steps. Here we discovered that we were lining up to climb 463 steps to the top of the dome. Apparently Lizzie had an inkling of this but was keeping it to herself!

It was a very hot day, and they were dark, winding, sometimes steep steps, but it was so worth it! The first stop was inside the dome, right near the top - the people in the vast church looked like ants. We could see a higher level inside, and bravely set off (in a long line of other tourists) to go up. Up... up... up... until we emerged OUTSIDE, ON TOP OF the dome! It was incredible - an amazing view.

Florence was jampacked with tourists. After the Duomo, we just walked around. Lizzie and Rachel went back to the backpackers' place, and Hugo and I opted for the Medieval Torture Museum. There wasn't much torture (phew) but some great av stuff about life in the middle ages in Florence. Terrible food - poor people often ate straw or dirt in their bread, lots of disease, human waste thrown into the street with old food - leprosy, plague, typhoid - it was a really difficult life.

The next morning, we went to see Michelangelo's David. It was incredible. We loved that museum/gallery. David is about 4 meters tall and just amazing. He looks alive because every part of him is in a state of movement. We also walked across the Vecchio Bridge - Rachel said it was in a song she had learned with Brother Montgomery. There are shops all over it. We also saw an amazing church - San Croce, which held some clothes of St Francis of Assissi (he wrote All Creatures of Our God and King) a saint's bones, and some amazing art as well as the tombs of Michelangelo, Dante, and Machiavelli.

From there we went to Verona. That night we went to the Arena - a two thousand year old structure that looks like the Colosseum and can hold 15000 people. We saw Aida with a cast of about 270 people. The acoustics are famous and we heard every word, even with a full orchestra and no mikes. It was just amazing. The set was designed by Franco Zefirelli. We had to buy these little cushions and fans and we bought cheap binoculars so we could see what was happening up close. Our 23 euro tickets allowed us to sit on this really bumpy stone - the three hours would have been horrible without the cushions! It was an amazing experience. The next morning we went to the main square of Verona - so beautiful - it looked like it was straight out of a film set. Nearby was the Capulets' house - Juliet Capulet from Romeo and Juliet. We all took pics standing on her balcony. There is an incredible amount of graffiti on the walls in the archway you enter into the courtyard - thousands of couples of recorded their love in felt pen:) Upstairs you can 'write a note to Juliet' on a computer. Rachel's was hilarious.

Juliet - you cow. You stole my man even though you knew he was mine. I'm going to push you off your stupid balcony.

Inside there was also a room with the bed and some costumes used in Franco Zefirelli's 1968 film version. There's a statue in the courtyard of Juliet. Legend has it that if you rub her chest you'll fall in love. That particular part of her anatomy is wearing away. There are also padlocks all over the fences which young (or maybe old) lovers have attached, their names penned on the locks. Cute.

On Friday we went to Venice, another short train trip away. Venice is like nothing else I've ever seen. There are over a hundred canals winding around the island, and it was so weird to come out of the backpackers' and see a narrow path to the right, and, three meters away, water to the left. The streets are so narrow - often less than two metres, and some were less than a metre. Since all the buildings are three stories or so tall, it was often very dark and made me feel a little claustrophobic. Every now and again they widen out into a square, where you can breathe easily! The busy areas are amazing though.

The large square in front of the San Marco church (unbelievable!) is huge, with massive ornate columns and decoration all around it. A jazz festival was on while we were there, and Nora Jones was playing the night we left. Venice was ridiculously expensive - one place sold a 310 mL can of Sprite for 8.20 euro. That's about $12 AUD. The shops were gorgeous though. We didn't have time to sightsee much, but the architecture is just incredible - hundreds of years old and so ornate. Venice used to be a shipping capital, and there was lots of money. Lord Byron the poet swam in the Grand Canal - the main drag. You wouldn't do that now. Actually, there was very little rubbish, but I guess there's lots of oil and pollution in it. There are tons of little islands nearby - with beautiful palaces and buildings. It was an amazing place, but I couldn't live there. Some of us really fell in love with it, but not me so much.

We're back in Rome now, and Lizzie left yesterday morning. I miss her horribly already. We had a great last day together. We went and stood inside the Pantheon again, and just felt it. Apparently it's supposed to rain on Friday, so the rest of us are planning to run down and watch it pour through the oculus in the top. Yesterday we went to visit the 'magic doorway' - all that's left of a renaissance villa, where the owner paid someone to try and discover the secrets of alchemy. The alchemist disappeared one night, leaving all his mysterious papers behind. The owner left the alchemist's strange symbols on the doorway, hoping someone could understand them in the future. Sounds fun, but they were rather boring and we were very disappointed. We found an incredible gelato shop near the Colosseum - I had lime, like the fruit - no milk! Delicious. Made up for the magic doorway!

We also visited the strangest place - a Cappuchin Crypt, where the bodies of about 4000 Capuchin monks are stored - not buried. In a very interesting fashion. Their bones have been rearranged into flowers, light shades - all kinds of designs. There are withered up monk-mummies amidst it all. A chandelier made from tailbones is something you need to see once in your life.

For lunch we went over to a famous cheap pizza spot near Piazza Navona and had two euro pizza in a brown bag straight from the wood oven. Delicious. Lizzie took us to dinner as her farewell, at 'Life', a great restaurant nearby. I had smoked duck and fresh figs - yum. We all enjoyed it enormously and had trouble walking home. Of course we had to swing by San Crispino where those of us with room ate a final gelato with Lizzie.

To help us get over Lizzie's departure yesterday, we went to the Palazzo dei Conservatori - to see Constantine's foot - it's huge! And a treasure trove of other ancient art. We saw lots of ancient sculptures and some Caravaggio paintings, as well as Rubens and Van Dyck. Today we've done almost nothing, but we're going out to dinner at the home of a family we met at church on Sunday. Tomorrow we'll go out to Ostia Antico - like Pompei but closer, and it's supposed to be just as good but much cheaper! On Friday, we'll take it easy, hope to catch some rain at the Pantheon, and then fly out at night.

Aida at the Verona Arena:

Is it possible to fall off a Segway?

Yes.

We’ve had a relaxing few days. On Friday Lizzie went off on adventures while the rest of us sat - or semi-reclined - around the flat and read or looked at screens.

On Saturday, it was going to be another 36-degree day, so we thought we would head off to the cool of Villa Borghese Gardens. They weren’t so cool. In fact they were almost empty, because of the heat. We walked around the little lake with the temple and the rowboats, and ate some lunch. We found a puppet theater, and I know there is a full-size replica of the Globe Theater there somewhere (it’s a huge place) and I’d really like to look inside, but I don’t think we’ll see a play. The Tempest is on, but it’s in Italian. Maybe.

Finally, after walking past anything you had to pedal yourself, and therefore get even hotter, we found a guy renting out Segways at a cheaper price than I’ve ever seen anywhere. We decided to go for it. The guy wasn’t very friendly until we found out he was Egyptian, and then we had a lively conversation about how wonderful Egypt was, and he was very friendly and helpful. He gave us short lessons and made sure we could all stay upright.

Segways look really simple. They are really simple. The rule is: you should make sure your body stays on your Segway.

Here is how you drive. Going forward and backwards is easy - just lean forward or backwards. Steering is unlike anything else I’ve ever driven. On the left handlebar is a section that twists to the left and right. It’s like the way you accelerate on a motorbike, except that it’s only part of the handlebar. So going, stopping and steering are different from any kind of vehicle. Can you see what’s coming?

The little streets were quiet, with most of the other traffic being a variety of pedal-able vehicles, and a few Segways. I was doing great, and thought it was a breeze, when I realized that the bicycles coming toward me were in the right - we were in Italy and I should have been on the other side of the road.

The conditions leading to my unspectacular-and-non-injury-causing accident were:
I was on a sideways slope, since the road wasn’t flat.
I was going quite fast.
I turned the handlebar steering device too quickly.
The Segway turned sharply.
I did not turn at all.

They’re rotten to fall off, because the wheels are high, and you can’t jump off without completing a little hurdle. I was fine - just a mild knee graze. But oh the shame! The Segway took off by itself across the road and then stopped in the dirt. But a bit came off! When I realized it had only been held on by sticky tape, I didn’t feel so guilty. My concern was mostly that I couldn’t turn the thing back on. I pressed every button, turned every lever, used my angry face, but nothing helped.

My shame swelled as I had to walk around the park (stay on the asphalt!) DRAGGING my Segway along. Apparently that’s an amusing thing to see, judging by the faces of the people I passed. Hugo and Lizzie had gone off to get the guy as soon as it happened, (Rachel stayed at the accident site with the victim) and after I had dragged it a hundred meters or so, he turned up making the sound of an ambulance, made sure I was okay (Lizzie suspected he didn’t have insurance) and stuck his special key somewhere to get it going.

We were off again, but I didn’t really trust it after that. But - I kind of enjoyed falling off. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve noticed that I don’t like the idea of hurting myself. When you’re a kid, you don’t care - it’s part of playing. Falling off the Segway made me feel young - like I’d taken a risk and gone splat, and had a good laugh, and gotten back on. I liked it.

I hope I get a scar, but I don’t think I will - two days later there’s nothing there.

Yesterday, Lizzie set off on an adventure to the Appian Way, and the kids and I went to church. As we arrived, a girl got out of a taxi,and we got talking. She’s a lovely Australian, with an Italian dad, and her family owns a large fruit and vegetable store in Perth. After church I asked her where she was staying, and we discovered we were staying within fifty meters of each other! We hung out for the afternoon, and I did the free walk from the Spanish Steps with her at 5:30, then I made dinner for us all afterwards. Lizzie came home during dinner, after a great day which included the Catacombs.

This was the third time I’d completed the free walking tour, but yesterday two new things happened. First, just as we were about to enter the Church of St Ignatius (another unbelievably beautiful church) our guide said hello to two nuns who lived in the convent next door. One of them - whom I liked immediately - started talking to our group, and she asked people what religion they belonged to. She didn’t get to us - she was just waiting for someone to say “Protestant”. She praised the Protestants for several minutes for their superior knowledge of the Bible but then talked for a few more about how they
had really botched it by forgetting how important Mary was. She was lovely, but I think our tour guide was getting a bit antsy by the end of it. Yay - we met a nun in Rome! The tour guide said she gave his tour group - half of whom were Jewish - a similar talk last week.

The other interesting thing was very surprising. In this area of Rome, cars can only park on Sundays if they have a visible permit showing that they are permanent residents. Scooters, however, don’t need permits. The tour guide then pointed to a small car, about the size of a Smart car, and said it didn’t need a permit because it was a scooter.

We all said, “Ngh?” He explained that it has a 50 cc engine, and so it doesn’t need to be registered like a car does - it’s counted as a scooter. What’s really interesting is that you don’t need a license to drive one on the road AND fourteen-year-olds are allowed to drive them! They’re not allowed on the freeways, but they must be fantastic for zipping (what’s slower than zipping?) around the little streets. Hugo of course, asked if he could have one. At 11 or 12,000 euros, probably not.

All I can say for sure about today is that we’re taking our new friend from Perth to the restaurant we learned about on the walking tour last week, which has over 100 dishes. We went there a few nights ago. It’s a non-tourist place, so it’s a bargain and it has incredible food. Last time I had Spaghetti Alex - prawns, walnuts, parsley and walnut oil. Delicious.

So much gelato, so little time

The last couple of days has been hot! On Wednesday we needed a recuperation day after the Vatican, so we had just a small adventure. Lizzie, Rachel and I went off to the Pantheon - easy walking distance. We hadn't been able to see the interior on the weekend. It was a beautiful as it was two weeks ago. Rachel suggested that if it rains, we all run down and watch the water pour in through the oculus in the ceiling. Great idea. We wound our way back through the neighborhood, looking at churches and stopping occasionally for gelati. I think that even the simplest of Catholic churches in Rome is amazingly elaborate. And it really is true - that there's a church almost on every corner. One of our favorites was the church dedicated to Saint Nicholas. My favourite angels were in San Carlo al Corso. Instead of standing up seriously, they loll around or are in action stances, looking down on the congregation or the events in the art with great interest and liveliness. Some just hang about, reclined, looking like they're having a great conversation with each other.

Rachel bought some shoes for school and Lizzie bought a beautiful bag and leather-bound journal.

Yesterday Hugo came with us and we set off for Castel St Angelo. It is near the Vatican, and was sometimes used as a place for the Pope to hide during military attacks. We saw the narrow pathway on the wall that he used. Apparently some serious torture happened in the dungeons, but we didn't get to see that. Spectacular views from the top.

Next we went to the Isola Tiberina - a tiny island in the middle of the Tiber River. Apart from a hospital, there's not much on it. One end looks as if it must come alive at night, with an outdoor cinema and eating areas. The Bocce della Verita - the round stone face where you place your hand in its mouth and if you're a liar it will bite it off. This is from italyguides.it:

This legend probably originates from Roman times. It is said that the rich wife of a Roman noble was accused of adultery. The woman denied the accusations, but her husband wanted to put her to the test by making her hand inside the stone mouth. Knowing perfectly well that she was lying, the woman used a very clever strategy. In front of a group of curious bystanders who had gathered around the Mouth of Truth, the man who was actually her lover embraced her and kissed her. She pretended that she didn't know him and accused him of being a madman and the crowd chased him away.

When she put her hand into the mouth, the woman declared that she had never kissed any other man apart from her husband and the poor madman who had just kissed her. In this way she was certain that she hadn't lied and her hand was saved. The betrayed husband saved her honour, but the Mouth of Truth lost its credibility and it is said that since that day it no longer carried out its function as a right and unappeasable judge.

We all made it through! Its right next to a very old church- catholic, but the art was decidedly Arabic so I think it's somewhat coptic. They do say masses there in Arabic.

Next we were off for a swim. It is REALLY hard to find a public swimming pool within Rome itself. The temps are mid-thirties and it's very humid, so we really need to swim! We found a pool next to the Colosseum, and trudged up the hill. Ten euros. 10 euros. That's about $15 AUD. Can you imagine? $15 to go for a swim! We had no choice - we were melting. The pool was very small, and the sides were grubby. I think the NIle was cleaner. You had to wear a swim cap, and some people chose not to wear their bikini tops. We stayed in one corner, watching our stuff. It was cooling, but I wouldn't pay 10 euro again.

We then waited for a metro train back to our neighborhood. Three came past so crammed with people that we didn't have a hope of getting on. Peoples backs were flattened against the doors and they had to breathe in when the doors opened. We went upstairs and waited another half an hour for a bus. Once on the bus we discovered we were only about a fifteen minute walk away from home!

We had dinner at an inexpensive restaurant a couple of blocks from Trevi Fountain - L'Archetto. The place was recommended by our free walking tour guide and they have 100 dishes from which to choose. Hugo: Spaghetti Carbonara. Rachel: Spaghetti with Funghi (mushrooms and tomatoes). Lizzie: Spaghetti Chanel: Lobster, brandy, cream, garlic and olive oil. Me: Spahetti Alex: Prawns, Walnuts, garlic, oil. Delicious!

Today it's going to be 36, so we're not sure what we'll do, yet. The laundromat is a strong probability...







More pics coming!

Vatican City

Today Lizzie and Rachel and Hugo and I went to the Vatican, which consists of three parts as far as tourists are concerned: the Vatican museums, the Sistine chapel and St Peter's Basilica. It was incredibly crowded - everywhere, but we had a wonderful day.

We decided to join a tour group because otherwise the lines are ridiculously long. It was still over two and a half hours between signing up and actually seeing anything in the museum. It was all wonderful, but I have to admit I was a little disappointed in the Sistine Chapel. I didn't realize that it's pretty much an art gallery. Glorious art of course, and great stories. Apparently Michelangelo's peers recommended he be commissioned to paint the ceiling, hoping he'd fail. He had had very little training in painting. He rounded up some people to teach him - they all worked on the ceiling with him while he learned, then he sacked them and started again. Interestingly, he didn't know how to paint a woman, so he just painted his usual muscular men and then put dresses on them! It was a common idea, the guide said, that the male body, being formed 'in the image of God' was perfect and couldn't be improved upon:) I did enjoy finding out about how the cardinals are kept in the rear of the chapel when the pope dies, until they decide who the next one should be. Apparently once they took months to decide. Nowadays they are given three days of food and after that they're rationed, to encourage them to decide swiftly.

Unfortunately the Pope was nowhere to be seen - like all the popes for about the last four hundred years, he spends his summers south of Rome, to escape the heat. We were very interested in the Swiss Guards. They are like the military of the Vatican City - sworn to guard the pope. To be recruited they must be Swiss, between 19 and 30, male, single and Catholic. Their outfits are Renaissance style - brightly coloured - unlike any other military in the world! When Rachel and Hugo went to have their pictures taken in front of the two at the front gate of St Peter's, one of them was a little nervous when Rachel was about two meters away, holding up his hands, saying, "Distance! Distance!"

I adored St Peter's. The largest Catholic church on the earth, it's a treasure trove of history and beauty. There is too much to describe - many domes, many chapels on the sides, Michelangel's Pieta, Bernini's INCREDIBLE ornate canopy (that's an understatement) over what is believed to be St Peter's tomb - so so many other things to look at. This website has lots of photos and information: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/italy/rome-st-peters-basilica

There is a wonderful bronze statue of St Peter from the 13th century. It's considered good luck to rub his foot, the toes and sandals of which have been worn away by visitors over the centuries. I lined up and gave it very good rub for Nana, and then another good rubbing for Aunty Kath. We sat quietly for a while in the Chapel of the Eucharist - a tiny but amazingly ornate (like everything in the basilica) chapel on the right hand side of the basilica.

It was an exhausting day but well worth it. I think the best thing to do would be to make a friend 'on the inside' and go some time outside regular visiting times! it was so crowded and hot, but absolutely beautiful.

Afterwards we found a little restaurant a few blocks away and had delicious food. The chef was very friendly, pointing out the Los Angeles newspaper cutout on the wall about the restaurant he had there, and showing us a photo of Gary Sinese who ate there some time recently in the very spot in which Hugo was sitting. I had pasta with mussels - delicious. Between us we had bruschette, grilled vegetables, spaghetti carbonara, spaghetti al ragou (probably not the right spelling) gnocchi with gorgonzola and my pasta with mussels. My dream has come true here - sparkling mineral water is always the least expensive drink on the menu!

Yesterday we visited the Colosseum again with Lizzie, joining a tour group this time. We met a very nice Russian girl called Anna, with whom we ate lunch. I must round up those photos! Tomorrow we go with Lizzie to see the inside of the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, and who knows where else. We've decided to have a sleep-in. Last night we went to see Toy Story 3 - fun!

We absolutely love Roma.

Hugo's Epiphany in Egypt

"Whoever invented Cinnabon must have been praised like a king."
- Hugo

Shwerma

We walked a couple of blocks for shwerma - what we would usually call a doner kebab in Australia. We joined the group waiting outside and just hung about waiting to move up in the line, when someone explained that we had to go inside, order and get a ticket which we then had to give to the men outside who were making the food. I wish I could have caught the guys' pants in the pic - they were fitting around the calves but they had that saggy pouch thing happening such that the pants hung down to their knees. Delicious - chicken or lamb, with some kind of herby salad. We bought six, so we'd have breakfast tomorrow, or maybe lunch, with soft drinks, for about $15 AUD.

Back in Cairo

We survived our overnight trip in the train from Luxor. After checking in at the hotel - very modest but good internet! - we met Mariam, our favourite guide, and headed off. First we visited the Citadel - a huge old fort which includes the oldest mosque in Egypt. The mosque was amazing - like stepping into the Arabian Nights. So beautiful! It's one of the mosques which don't require female visitors to cover their heads. Women wearing strapped tops or brief pants or skirts are given these huge green capes. Of course Hugo wanted to wear one. He didn't:) We sat down on the vast floor covered in various carpets and Mariam pointed out a lot of details in the architecture and tradition. It was really interesting.

Next we visited the Hanging Church - a Coptic or orthodox church built over the top of two towers from an early Roman fort. It was so interesting - the art is all Arabian looking, but it depicts Christ and stories from the Bible. We saw two secret tunnels where the Christians used to hide when the Romans came looking for them. One Christian would stay behind to close the trapdoor, pull the carpet over the top, look the church door and then wait for the Romans to arrive and kill him. We visited another Coptic church where they believe Joseph Mary and Jesus lived when they went to Egypt when Jesus was a baby.

We also visited a synagogue, which has a spot where they believed Moses prayed. I guess a lot of things happened in Egypt, even if we're not sure where. The synagogue was beautiful too.

Mariam took us to a great place for lunch - like Egyptian Sizzler, but half the price. After lunch we went to the Egyptian Museum. I would like to go to the museum every day for a couple of hours for about a month. It is glorious. The building is about 100 years old, so it feels like you're already in a historical context. Tutankhamen's treasures are glorious. He was buried like a Russian doll. His mummy (which we saw at Luxor) wore the famous mask (incredible!) and was then placed in the golden coffin, which was then placed in a wooden coffin, inside another larger gold coffin, and then all of this was placed inside three gold-gilt wooden boxes - huge! I can only begin to imagine how Howard Carter must have felt, after he had all but given up and run out of funding, to stumble upon, in the one spot he hadn't looked, the single step which led to this extraordinary discovery. It was fantastic to see all the trinkets, statues, jewelry and furniture stored in the tomb.

Lastly, at the museum, we visited the mummy room. The mummies had had their heads and often their hands and feet unwrapped. So we could see Rameses II's eyelashes, Hatshepsut's teeth, Seti 1's toenails and Amenhotep's hair. It was amazing to be a foot away (with glass in between) from these fantastic pharaohs' faces. I wished we could pour some water on them, reanimate them and talk to them!

A lot more to see there - maybe on another trip:) Bored, and without realizing the others were doing it, all three of us learned to recognize Arabic numbers on the train this morning. We played 'read the number plate' as we drove along. I need to find out why, if we use the Arabic number system, we didn't just stick with how they write them. Their six is the same as our seven, and some other numbers are easy to confuse. I think we've got it though:) You only need to know the 10 digits, then the numbers are constructed exactly like us.

We are relaxing in our room, playing online and watching America's Funniest Home Videos. Rachel has congested sinuses so I visited the pharmacy to get some medicine for her. They offered me antibiotics. When I asked for a sinus decongestant, the pharmacy assistant brought out Ventolin. I ended up getting some Rhinocort. No prescriptions necessary, and it was very inexpensive.

Tomorrow - off to church in Maadi, the expat suburb and then we'll see.

Hugo, Rachel and Carolyn of the Desert

We spent a casual afternoon quad-riding in the Sahara Desert. It was just the usual, basic stuff you do out there – you know, wearing face-covering scarves under our helmets, finding wolf tracks and fossils, climbing a rocky hill to look in the directions of Libya, Algeria, Morroco, Sudan and Egypt, trying to see through clouds of sand and dust while driving fast enough over rocks, dips and bumps that various internal organs got to know each other like never before. It was FREAKIN’ AWESOME !

It was so exciting in so many ways.I knew we were in for some thrills when the sticker on the quad said DANGER Use by drivers under 16 will increase likelihood of serious injury and death!

I found the desert exhilerating. An expected wave of happiness and freedom swept me up and covered me in yellow dust. It was so bare, so beautiful and so BIG. The quad bikes were tons of fun – they slid through loose sand and over gravel. I was at the back, so I had to make it through everyone’s dust – at times I couldn’t see a thing except Hugo’s helmet vaguely in front of me.

We passed lots of dogs, some camels, donkeys of course, and some old mud brick structures. Nothing grows out there. Nothing. No cactus. No palm trees. Nothing. Foxes, wolves, bugs and scorpions manage to live off each other. There are no oases for hundreds of miles. Just sand and rocks. It was incredible. Egypt is full of great contrasts.

We rode about 16 km into the desert in the late afternoon. Afterwards, one of the guides used a compressor to blast the dust off us as much as possible.

What a way to leave Upper Egypt. It was a highlight of our trip – amazing.

We are about to get on a train to go back up to Cairo. I’ve got a great book to read – Gone – a YA dystopian. It’s really intriguing. I finished the latest Alexander McCall Smith Precious Ramotswe book a couple of nights ago. It was so fun to read on the same continent as Botswana. Brilliant series if you haven’t read them. Interestingly, I’ve tested my iphone down here in Luxor. Lizzie called me this morning, no problems, but I can’t get internet. My Kindle had no problems getting me online to buy a couple more books to keep me going ! I finished The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake last night – interesting.

Cairo museum tomorrow !

Pewel of the Nile

The Lotus Hotel where we are staying has a beautiful pool, right next to the Nile River. We went swimming just on sunset last night – it was lovely. For the first time in my life though, I was told to put on more clothes. I mistakenly thought this was a more ‘international’ hotel. My usual swimming is a modest one piece suit with boardshorts that come to my knees. I was told to put a tshirt over the top. I really don’t quite understand the rules here. Most of the women on tv – on news shows, in sit coms, in ads, dress like non-Moslem women. I talked to our guide about how belly dancers fit into the picture today. Apparently they sometimes have them at weddings. They are definitely not good Islamic girls, I worked out.

A couple of days later… I think I may have misunderstood the guy the other day. Yesterday Rachel went swimming and the attendant told her she couldn’t wear a cotton tshirt in the pool. Rachel was not going to take that and we went to reception to explain that she didn’t feel modest without a tshirt, having left her swimsuit in Cairo. The guy at the front desk rang management and Rachel stood her ground very firmly. They said it was a safety issue and that it could affect her skin. HAHA ! I think the real rule is that cotton dyes might be bad for the filter, or something like that. In the end, they were apologetic but unyielding. Hugo gallantly gave Rachel his sunshirt and we hung about the pool for hours.
My skin has a lovely sandy feeling. Time to go eat figs and goat cheese. Or pizza. We’ll see.

Karnak and Luxor

We met our guide this morning and popped off to the Karnak temples. They are amazing – there are tributes to every Egyptian God somewhere within, and almost all the pharoahs have made their marks there somehow. It’s an amazing place.
Our guide here has been a little difficult – he speaks very fast in a strong accent and insists of giving us long lectures in monotone when I really just want a couple of interesting facts, tidbits about what life was like. Then I want to wander in awe, trying to imagine what it was like to live in ancient Egypt, looking for secrets in the carvings and paintings, listening for whispers from long dead gods and pharoahs. Karnak is a magical place. I asked the guide to give us less information – just pick out some key points, but it didn’t help much. If I asked a question, the guide said every single time, « I already told you that over there, » and then he’d sound irritated and give me another lecture. Finally I told him that it was rude to say that and that it was impossible to follow what he was saying when he said everything so quickly. He laughed. It showed in his tip.
Luxor Temple was beautiful too, although, like so many of the temples we’ve seen, it’s been used by other religions who feel the need to remove or deface images and text. What I want to do now is find a video about life in the Karnak Temples back in the day – over 80000 priests worked there ! I so wish I could travel through time and see what life was like. I am really looking forward to the museum in Cairo on Thursday !

43 Degrees

Today was the hottest of our days here in Upper Egypt. We visited the Valley of the Kings, Hatshepsut’s temple, the Valley of the Queens and the Collosi of Memni. It was so hot ! The tombs were all amazing – with lots of art, still in colour – beautiful, despite having been raided of all their treasures hundreds, in some cases thousands of years ago. We got to see two mummies – a five month old baby whose mother miscarried from grief when her pharoah husband died, and the highlight of the day – Tutankhamen ! He was very brown and shrivelled, and 1.5 meters long. We will see the golden mask on Thursday at the museum in Cairo.
We bought some cotton scarves today. We had another one of those situations where we suddenly turned up at an alabaster factory where they ‘show you how alabaster ware is made’ but really it’s an excuse to put the very heavy sell on you, and try to get you to buy stuff. We resisted. We even resisted these absolutely gorgeous pale alabaster pots that would make brilliant little tealittle lamps, because the alabaster is transparent. We resisted. I was weak, Rachel was strong – she won. No purchase.
We have grown accustomed to saying ‘No’. Honestly – nobody offers anything here without expecting payment. Some of the tombs were really hot – Tutmoses’, for instance, or Seti’s, but do not take the old bits of cardboard the old men offer – you’ll have to pay. At Hatshepsut’s temple, the little train driver invited Hugo to sit in the front. Of course we had to pay at the end. Extra, I mean.
The funniest thing all day was when we came back to our hotel to find that the housekeeping staff had constructed a person on Hugo’s bed out of towels, clothes, scrunched-up toilet tissue for curvy bits and sunglasses.

Post-Felucca Purification

We just spent our night on the felucca. It was a wonderfully slow way to drink in the Nile, floating windlessly down-river past palm trees, drinking donkeys and sand dunes. Breathtakingly beautiful – but we really roughed it ! In my terms, anyway.
Our captain and his helper, Mohammed and Joseph, were fine. The food was simple but good – for dinner we had a sort of vegetable stew with rice and bread. Breakfast was french toast (very very fried) made from pita-type bread and scrambled egg and more bread and jam. I guess what put me off a bit was the fact that Joseph washed the dishes in the Nile. Yes, near Aswan the Nile is very very clean, but we did see bits of human waste from cruise boats floating by. So far all of our tummies haven’t reacted.
We pulled over to one spot for a swim, but it was very green and weedy and reedy, and there were lots of local guys swimming there – no women – so Rachel and I didn’t swim. Hugo had fun. The second spot we pulled over to was incredible. It was sandy, at the base of a huge dune. An old man and his donkey were there, with two young boys, swimming. We tried to race up to the top of the dune to see what was on the other side, but it was so hot, even a foot below the surface of the very loose sand, that we only made it halfway, and even after we ran back down to the very cold water of the Nile, our toes kept burning underwater for a while. It was hot.
Hugo made friends with the two boys – Mohammed and Ahammed, and we all skimmed some shards of pottery which may or may not have been ancient, but probably wasn’t. We played for quite a while. In the spirit of the whole Nile-as-the-life-of-Egypt thing, I felt inspired to rub some of the sand on my cheeks, but the old man started screaming – our guide translated and said that it was too dirty. Mind you, his boys and Hugo kept putting their heads under the water. All in all, it was an amazingly beautiful spot.
We sailed on, with the three of us sitting on the bow of the felucca, the sunset on our left, to the west, and then we just floated for ages. The sleeping arrangements weren’t that great. Two thirds of the felucca was covered in boards and foam, with fabric on the top. The guides moored the boat next to a fairly steep incline and we had dinner. I was very proud that I only made one trip to the loo. Something about sand, prickly bushes, nearby villages and possible scorpions makes my renal tract get with the program. I was very grateful that my digestive tract also came to the party. You see, you think about these things when there is no plumbing available.
During the night we were very cold – I looked up to see our guides asleep on the bow with blankets, but we had none. I didn’t want to wake them up. Rachel and Hugo were awake, cold, so I pulled up the fabric from on top of the foam and we slept on that. It was a very hard, grubby bed.
It was absolutely beautiful, and an unusual experience for me to do nothing but float for hours – I found it a little scary, actually, not doing anything, or really going anywhere, but I’m not sure I would recommend it to anyone who likes any level of comfort. I was a little envious of the cruise boats that zoomed past, imagining that they’d be sitting down a table for dinner and sleeping between clean sheets, but I’m really glad we had the chance to sail down the Nile like the did a couple of thousand years ago, slowly, and sleep beneath a millions stars. At least we didn’t have to worry about crocodiles and hippos !
This morning we gratefully and grubbily got into the air-conditionned van that took us to Kom Ombo – great temple honouring both Horus and Sobek, the crocodile god. Then we travelled to Edfu, to see the temple of Horus. It was buried for a very long time by sand, and a village was built on top of part of it, so it’s very well preserved, and it’s the temple that has most helped archeologists learn about ancient Egyptian culture. There is even some colour left on some of the carvings.
Next we travelled to Luxor, where we are currently taking turns to cycle through the shower. It feels wonderful !