OK... I Give Up

We really cannot keep up with the date or day of the week or day of the trip, so I’ll just let the blog do it’s thing.

I’ll just do some rereading as we go and fill in where I left things out.

Cairo

Arrived on time yesterday and were met at the airport as planned by the tour rep. That was a nice change from having to find transportation into town (taxis in Europe are plenty expensive). The dollar is doing really poorly making things very expensive, however, Egypt seems to be a little better than Europe was.

We checked into the hotel and then promptly met Ahmed, our guide, for a tour of the Egypt Museum, which is right next to the hotel. The museum contained just about everything concerning King Tut including all the stuff that has made the rounds in the US over the past several years. Cameras were not allowed inside so there are no photos of that stuff to share.

We finished up the museum tour about 5 pm and then went to the pool for a dip… very refreshing!! I thought about doing some laundry simultaneously á la the Tierra Verde Yacht Club (hi, Billy) but decided we would rather continue to be welcomed at this hotel. It is a dandy place and we are enjoying the stay here. This is the view of the Nile from our balcony.

Today consisted of a leisurely breakfast followed by an all day tour to Giza (the Pyramids), Memphis (the ancient capital) and Sakkara for a look at some of the older pyramids and a tour through a tomb.

Here are a few photos from the day. Remember, there are more photos on the TravelPages site for which there is a link to the right (sorry about the repeats… there are a few):

Well, tomorrow is the flight from hell… we leave here for Capetown, South Africa and to get there we go through Athens, Frankfurt and Johannesburg. I’ll be sure to let you know how it goes. Later.

A Brief Note from Athens

Lachlan and I are sitting in an internet café in Athens and I thought I'd take advantage of the few minutes of online time he's letting me have to add a quick post.

He and Zeb are really enjoying many aspects of the trip. Sure, they miss many of the things from home, but I am really impressed with how they have latched on to the concept of experiencing new and different things.

Most of the TV watching has consisted of soccer (the European Championships are going on now) and a wide variety of things in languages they don't understand. Our news has come primarily from CNN and we have been able to hear about the heat wave there as well as the flooding and storms in the midwest.

I also wanted to add a couple of pics for a couple of folks in the 'hood... Lucas had told us about the tasty fried fish here in Athens and he told us the name of them two or three times but we could never remember it. We have had people here tell us the name another two or three times but still no dice at remembering it. Fortunately, on the menus, they are called simply "little fish" and we did give them a try... and they were danged good!




Also, for Kim & Mike... grafitti is rampant here although it isn't gang related. Rather it's from "artists" expressing themselves. We found a small, not-so-artistic bit of it here and added our own gang persona to it:

Today is the Day!

It's official... Susan becomes a retiree today!

When in Rome...

June 7

We spent today touring Rome. Through our travel agent, we made arrangements to have a private guide for the day, and we could not have been more pleased with the way it all turned out. Here's a really short list of some of the sights we took in:

Sistine Chapel

Piazza Cavalieri di Malta
Looking through a keyhole at three countries... Malta, Italy and the Vatican

The Colosseum

The Forum

Shasha and the guys

Shasha was our guide and she, along with our driver, Roberto, did a bang-up job of showing us around. She is a dual-national (Italy/US) and has a thorough knowledge base of Rome and all it has to offer. If you ever find yourself traveling to Rome, I can heartily recommend hiring her. Her contact information is available on request.

June 6
Here's another local site that we found while we were out walking around:

Trevi Fountain

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A little note...

Early last week we found that we were having a hard time keeping track of the date and of which day of the week it was. That's why I started using day numbers in these posts. Now I'm beginning to have a hard time keeping up with which number day it is, so I'm switching to using the date. Even though the date is automatically added when I publish a post (most of this particular post has the same date as the stuff I added) I won't always get around to adding things on the same date that they are done. We'll see how long THAT lasts.

Last Tango...

Day 3

Time to leave Paris. We are up to four bags now and it is simpler to transport everything, but still not easy enough for us to be willing to lug everything through the Metro, so we took a cab to the Gare de l’Est, where our ride to Munich originates. We also figured the cab ride would be much shorter than the Metro, plus we wouldn’t have the hassle of having to change trains along the way.

The cab driver was a very pleasant fellow who was eager to improve his English… too bad for us, eh? The ride was good right up to the point that we came to a dead standstill on a narrow street several cars behind a truck that was unloading stuff. This is a common occurrence and these delays are usually only a matter of a few minutes. Well this one turned out to be fairly uncommon as, after about ten minutes, horns started blaring and people began to get genuinely chapped about it. The city bus several cars behind us unloaded and the passengers traipsed by the logjam on their way to the next bus stop ahead. As they passed the offending vehicle, fists were shook and a few words were exchanged.

We were beginning to get a little concerned that we might not get to the train station in time, but the delay only lasted a little longer before we were on our way again. During the last part of the ride, we learned that our driver had previously worked at EuroDisney (as he still calls it). He was Tigger.

We did arrive at the train station in the prescribed time of 45 minutes before scheduled departure only to find that the tracks are not assigned and posted until 20 minutes before the train leaves. So we had plenty of time to stand around and wait. We did eventually get on board and into our reserved seats and the ride to Stuttgart was very pleasant. Lachlan did his usual napping and Zeb, Susan and I enjoyed watching the French countryside pass by, often at 200 or so miles per hour.

We did have a few delays along the way and did not arrive in Stuttgart until after our scheduled train had already left. There was another one, however, that left within about 30 minutes of our arrival and we got on it and finished the journey into Munich. There were no baggage carts available in the Munich Hbf so we moved the bags out to the taxi stand by “hand” and got a cab to the hotel. It was raining very heavily, so after cleaning up a bit, we had a nice meal in the restaurant downstairs and went to bed right afterward.

Day 4

Most of us had a good night’s sleep. Lachlan was a little over-rested from the train trip, so we will spend today getting him onto European time.

We had a nice breakfast in the hotel then struck out for a bus tour around town. We made stops at Schloß Nymphenburg and the Olympic Park. We showed the boys the memorial to the Israeli athletes and the Munich policeman who were killed there in ’72. We then strolled down the pedestrian zone and had a nice lunch at the Augustiner beergarden… one of my favorite places to stop. 

We walked past the Hofbräuhaus without stopping in and finished up the afternoon watching the Glockenspiel do its thing. We will have a leisurely dinner tonight, then get ready to go to Rome tomorrow. 

And We're Off!

Day 1

We got away this morning right on time even after a night full of assorted events… and actually getting packed, finally.

Mark took us to the airport and we certainly appreciate the lift. The flight to IAD was on time and it was a pleasant trip. It was our first time aboard an Embraer 170 and I have to say… my expectations were exceeded. Midway through the flight, the FA came to me and said, “Brainrot says, ‘Hi… and your itinerary will need to be reworked because we’re delaying ya.’"Turned out we got to Dulles well ahead of schedule. Thanks to all involved for the speedy handling.

The move from the arrival to departure gate went well. There was plenty of time. We were all a little tired plus Lachlan had gotten zero sleep the night before after having attended a birthday party. Pushed back on time but were delayed a bit due to weather in the DC area. I had sent a note to the flight deck saying why we were on board and got a nice mention about it in the Captain's in-flight announcement.. Also, our neighbor (a United CAPT) has gotten in touch with the purser and had told her what we were up to. I was not able to pay for any drinks on the flight and the cabin crew also gave us a bottle of bubbly to celebrate. Thanks, Tom!

This trip was as good as any transatlantic flt I’ve ever been on. The B777 is a very nice and comfortable airplane. Lachlan had good naps all the way, Zeb god some "z" time, too. Susan and I got the usual... about an hour (if that) of fitful sleep.We arrived in Paris at 0644. Immigration was smooth and relatively fast considering that there were 270 showing up at the same time. Customs pointed us to the door.

We opted to take the bus into town then a cab to the hotel. At this point I will mention that the fewer bags concept was a bad choice. The number is a good idea but only when combined with less stuff overall. What we have is 2 bags that none of us can easily manage alone. Plus it put us in the excess weght charge zone. It appears that we may be getting some souvenir luggage on this trip. There is also the option to mail stuff home. We shall see.

Traffic into Paris was murder. The bus trip took a long, long time and there didn’t seem to be any means on it of circulatiing air. We finally reached Montparnasse and got out bags lugged up to the Taxi stand. There was a long line of taxis, but no one apparently needed the fare, as they all sat there for a long while... many with no driver in them. We finally did get a cab and had a good ride to the hotel.

The room was not yet ready when we arrived at the hotel (around 10:00am) so we stashed our stuff and hit the streets of Paris. We are a few blocks from the Eiffel Tower so we went there for a quick look.


Walked back toward the hotel while discussing how to kill the next 3-4 hrs. We decided to have a bite to eat then take the Metro to the Louvre, so we got the cultural stuff done early.

Back to the hotel afterward, check in and have shower and the best ever three hour nap. Woke up about 930pm and hit the Tower again. Arrived in time to see it lit then went to have a nutritious meal of crépes, frites and ice cream… stopped at a café on the way back for a night cap, then to bed. Ahh! Paris!

Day 2

Hey Susan Page… you’ve just finished a quarter-century career in service to your government… whaddya gonna do now???

With a few exceptions, Disneyland Paris is very much like the one in Orlando that we are so very used to. Most notable among the differences is the occasional French phrase. Also, it was not at all crowded so there were plenty of opportunities for the boys to make multiple trips on some of the rides. We all had a good time.

We made it back into Paris in time for some more junk food under the Eiffel Tower and for a trip to the top. The weather limited the view somewhat, but it was still a good experience. On the walk back to the hotel, we passed a café where we had stopped for some refreshments the evening before. The waiter that had served then us greeted us as we passed, restated our order from the night before and indicated where we had sat then. You just can’t pass up another stop at a place like that… so we didn’t. This is now my new favorite café in Paris.

Potties

Welcome!!


During my earlier travels to Europe, toilets were not at all standard and the mechanisms they employed were often puzzling. My friend Dan Robbins (with whom I have made several "crossings") and I used to make a game of trying to figure out how to flush the potty.

Back then there were some really bizzare flushing mechanisms ranging from hidden levers to floor pedals to wall fixtures not located particularly close to the loo.

Here is an example of one of the more easily deciphered models:

In more recent times, the water conservation mindset has become more prevalent. However, instead of low flow toilets, most of what I am seeing on this trip consist of the variable flush intensity type, which offer two choices when flushing... usually half or full. It should be easy enough to figure out that they could just as well be named "Number One" and "Number two".

Here are a couple of examples of that type:



As we got to Asia, we encountered a type of potty that none of us had any experience with (but had heard of). Fortunately, the "western style" was also usually, but not always, available.

Sorry for the blurry quality of the first shot... it's not that easy to photograph the interior of a restroom surreptitiously. You get some strange looks when you get caught in the act.

Here is a neat little trick that I have read about but had not seen until now. There is a fly etched into the porcelain which causes a semi-conscious effort on the part of the customer to actually aim. The article I read about it claims that the overall cleaning times (especially of the floor) of such-equipped facilities has been dramatically reduced.

The following shots were taken in the Bangkok airport.

Who says a pit stop has to be strictly business?

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