Egypt truly is a marvelous place. We spent the whole of last week trying to absorb as much of the vibrant culture & ancient history as we could. Or at least, as much as we could in between hanging out on the beach sipping cold fruity drinks and our afternoon appointment for dual Indonesian deep tissue massage therapy. With the occasional dip in the Red Sea for kicks. That hotel definitely ranks up there as one of the great ones. After a couple of days at the beach, we decided we had unplugged enough from the outside world to get out and see a couple of those old bits we had heard so much about. So we arranged to go to Luxor in an early morning convoy. See, the way it works is that every tourist staying at the Red Sea that wants to go inland has to meet up at a central point and go in, well, a convoy of tour buses, vans, and armed security vehicles. And because we were Americans, we got our own "undercover" police officer. (All of the undercover police officers in our convoy were wearing suits and ties in 100+ degree weather, and had uzi-shaped bulges under their jackets). Mustafa, the Grady's agent for the day, went everywhere with us - it was definitely odd to have a guy armed with a machine gun get up and walk over to stand outside the bathroom when we had to go. But what we also got was Ahmed. Ahmed was our personal tour guide for Luxor, and given that he had a Ph.D. in Archeology from Virginia State univerity and Cairo University, he was incredibly qualified. We had no idea that we would be the only ones in the van from our hotel, and that we'd get this kind of attention and time with our guide. Ahmed led us through the Valley of the Kings (including King Tut's tomb - how cool is that!), the temples of Luxor, and on a boat ride up the Nile. We had such a great time with Ahmed, we half-jokingly asked him if he'd be available for our trip to Cairo later in the week. (It's about a 4 hour drive from Luxor to Cairo - we were planning on flying, rather than driving up). Sure enough, Ahmed was there to greet us at the airport later that week. And once again, he was our private guide for most of the day. (We did meet up with a British couple at the pyramids, but after that, they went on their way, and Ahmed stuck with us). Besides seeing the pyramids and the sphinx (between them, that's pretty much the whole reason we wanted to go to Cairo - everything else was gravy), we took in the Egyptian National Museum, a Papyrus factory and a rug-making school - the kind where they still hand tie a trillion little knots to make the giant silk or wool area rugs for your living room. Cairo was so much more than just the pyramids and the tourist shops, though. Ahmed took us into the oldest parts of the city - literally thousands of years old - and showed us a vibrant amazing community that is just overwhelming in size. There are twenty million people in Cairo - that's just staggering to consider. And of course, what would be a Cairo experience without a flat tire on the bridge over the Nile? Changing a tire on a highway where trucks, cars, and donkey-pulled carts are passing you with near-equal frequency is something else. We ended our evening in Cairo at a coffee shop in the street markets of Cairo. This was the real Cairo - miles from the pyramids of Giza, with the camel-jockeys and vendors incessantly bugging you to spend your money. The streets were muddy and crammed and the whole place was alive with a messy, vibrant sense of barter and haggling. But at every shop, the Egyptian hospitality insisted that you were given a cup of coffee or glass of cold, fresh hibiscus tea. And wherever we went, the Critter was the center of attention - always being pet or made a fuss over, or given little gifts. I was overwhelmed by the generosity and friendliness of everyone we met. Oh yeah - and the Critter rode a camel!       All in all, this was a trip of a lifetime. I'm not sure when we'd ever get back to Egypt (there are so many other places on our list still...), but it's definitely a place I'd recommend to others, and if we do get the opportunity to go back, I'd certainly take it.

Two words: Egypt Rocks It's been almost as hot as we expected it to be here, but in the morning and afternoon there's usually a nice breeze coming in off the Red Sea. Which, the Critter insists is not actually red. She's right of course. I've really got to find out where it got that name.   So far, we love this place. Today - off to Luxor.

A month or so ago, we managed to swing through Virginia to see my brother in Newport News, Virginia for a few days. We arrived in the afternoon, just after lunch time. "Are you hungry?" they asked. Sure, we replied, we're up for anything. "Oh have we got a treat for you - it's a local specialty. The best you'll ever have."       I've got to admit, it was a pretty good chili dog. Cheap, filling, and with the opportunity to re-visit the flavor for hours afterwards, each time you burped. And that's a mark of a good chili dog. A few days later, I had suggested that we try a restaurant where you could get any dish on the menu "with onions and relish, add 15 cents." You know, just to round things out. My brother and his wife suggested we try a Teppenyaki place near their house. You know - one of those places where the chefs cook your food right in front of you while performing Dangerous Stunts With Knives And Fire - the Critter loves those places. They hadn't been to that one before, but they had heard it was really nice, and we figured what the heck. We like Japanese food - maybe we could even get some decent sushi, being right on the coast as we were. We stepped out of the bright sun of the late Virginia afternoon into a very dimly lit waiting area, decorated in the same faux wood paneling my parents had used to transform the basement into the "Rec" room when I was growing up. A very nice Japanese lady greeted us and led us to our seats around one of those big Benihana grill tables and told us our server would be right with us. There was only one other party in the entire restaurant, seated at a neighboring table. We figured we had just gotten there before the crowd. Meet Billy. Billy might have just turned 17. He's got red hair, freckles and bad skin. Billy is apparently trying to compensate for being 5'6" by using substantial amounts of product to spike his hair up an additional two inches. Billy is wearing a kimono. He'll be our server this evening. Billy hands us our menus. No problem. I'm cool with the multi-cultural thing. I don't hold it against Billy that he's whiter than Neil Patrick Harris. I ask if we can see a sushi menu as well. "Oh, no sir. We don't have sushi. This is a Japanese steak house." Hmph. Thanks for clearing that up for me, sport. Meanwhile, young Billy wants to know what we'd like to drink. By the time he gets back around to me, I'm past the lack of sushi (because this is a Japanese steak house), and I ask for green tea. "We don't have green tea. We have iced tea. Would you care for lemon with that?" OK, now hold on. I get that this is Virginia and all, but I'm beginning to worry. I flash a look at my Bride and she's got the same concerned look on her face, but I'm already concerned that Billy's starting to not like me, and while at least I can be assured that my food will be cooked right there in front of me, he has far too much control over what ends up going in my glass back in the kitchen. I go with the iced tea. When our post-pubescent waiter trotted off with our drink order, I looked over at my brother and his wife and gave them that look as if to ask if I was being too hard on the poor young wait staff. My sister-in-law was trying to hide her grin behind her hand, and my brother just shrugged at me. Just then, a kid who looked like Billy's slightly-older brother, down to the same bad haircut and worse skin came out to the other occupied table pushing a cart full of raw chicken. He was wearing a giant knife on his hip. This was apparently the chef. The four of us exchanged one look and collectively stood up and made our way to the door. "Sudden illness - must go. So sorry. Terribly sorry. Yes, really have to go." The Japanese lady in the waiting area didn't really look all that surprised. We booked it across town to the one Teppenyaki place my brother and his wife had been to before (this one had sushi and green tea), and had a great meal, prepared by what can only be described as a Knife Artist - and yes, this one really was Japanese. Poor Billy. He probably loses more customers that way.