Last Weekend in Egypt...

Dream come true.

What a full, quick, unhurried, enlightening, bite of Cairo. 

I know there is much more to Cairo and so much more to Egypt, but I feel I got a good taste of it during our weekend trip.  

I'm so thankful I made it that way before moving on, at least for now, from this part of the world. And so happy for the free spirits who took the plunge with me. 

When we landed, someone was waiting for us, sign in hand, to escort us to our guesthouse. He helped us obtain our visas and proceed through customs.  When we arrived to the guesthouse we were a little surprised. Surprised we had to walk by the front desk and through the lobby to use our private bathroom but also, surprised we only had to open our window to see the pyramids. Seeing the pyramids with my own eyes was a dream come true. 

"You had me at rooftop view".  

The guesthouse reviews said great 'rooftop view' so that was the first thing I sought out.  It did not disappoint.  They had a great breakfast, too.  My two favorite things on Booking.com, of which I am a now a 'honored' member, are "rooftop terrace" and "free breakfast".  

Taken from the window in my room. It was, literally, right there!

The following night we used the terrace to watch the English light and sound show, for free.

Wow!

So enough details. All you really need to know is we had an amazing pyramid-filled, museum-laden, taste-bud bursting, sunset lit- Nile cruisin', shop-till-you-drop Egyptian adventure. And I have the pictures to prove it. Take a look.

 Pyramid love.

 We took a 10-hour Egyptologist guided tour.

 Coming out of a pyramid. I got to go in it!

Such great traveling companions!

Walking up the pyramids. You can't go too far.

Falafel, hummus and dolma(stuffed vegetables).

  The souk/ market. 

I purchased 2 papyruses of paintings found in ancient tombs. 
The above is called the Key of Life which, I think, looks a heck of a lot like something that gives me life.

And the other is of the tree of life. Now trees, the actual physical, large bark & leaf vegetation are one of my favorite things. Trees are even above rooftop views. Right up there with sunlight and blue skies. Next to sunsets. But when I think Tree of Life, to me, it is also intertwined with another love. 
One of many biblical references to trees, and one I really like is found in the first chapter of Psalms. 

Oh, the joys of those who don't follow or even listen to evil advice. How happy are those who don’t scoff at the things of God. Instead they find joy in obeying his word; delighting in doing everything he wants them to. They grow strong, like trees that grow beside a stream, their leaves do not dry up and they bear fruit in season.

I got a little carried away with the pyramids. 
But I won't keep them all for myself.

 Inside the Hanging church.

Sunset on the Nile.

Other cool things:

-We got to see Tehrir square and received a firsthand account of Egypt's revolution.  We got some political perspective from a local, someone who slept and ate there for 12 days during the most recent unrest.

-We got to drive a camel. They put me in charge of my own camel!

-I saw King Tut's mask in person, along with a lot of the stuff found in his tomb. 

-We visited the sites where Moses was thought to be pulled from the Nile in a basket by the pharaoh's daughter.

-We saw the probable cave where Mary and Joseph hid out from Herod with baby Jesus. 

The church is under construction, but that is the cave where 'they' think they hid.

This synagogue was built because it was near to where they think Moses was pulled out of the Nile. 

 

Yep. That was a pretty great trip.