Bad Durkheim Weinfest

12 Sep - The Kennedy's don't let a little thing like moving to the US in 5 days stop of from enjoying Germany!!  We visited the Largest Wine Fest in the World that is only 45 minutes from our town.  We rode rides, ate some good food, had wine and shopped at the booths that were there.  The winefest is similiar the Oktoberfest except with wine, smaller tents and the whole thing is about 5 time smaller than Oktoberfest.  They only sell wine in .5L or 1/2 quart glasses.  Of course we had a crepe - strawberry and chocolate!!

Jamie and Laura are in the last green seats - 100m up!!

Jamie at the Winefest

eating and wine :)

Schweinfleisch mit Bratkartoffel und sausse - YUMMY!!

WE HAD A GREAT TIME!!!!

Bastogne, Belgium

Sep - We took Jamie and her friend, Julia, to see the Bastogne Museum and tour the town.  On the way, we stopped at the Luxembourg American Cemetary near Luxembourg City. 

Bastogne is the central focus of a a great battle of WWII - The Battle of the Bulge.

The girls enjoyed the museum.  We had lunch in town - Jamie had Mussels and fries :) of course.  The girls rode a Ferris Wheel.  We had a Belgiun Waffle with chocolate :) and bought some beer to bring home and no - I don't share!!!!

Kim, Julia and Jamie in Bastogne

Jamie and Julia at the Bastogne Historical Center

Jamie at LTG George Patton's Grave

Waffles :))))))))

Richard the Lionheart Fest

25 July - Annweiler, Germany. We attended the Richard the Lionheart Fest in Annweiler. It is a small town south of Kaiserslautern. It was a very nice fest of Medieval flavor. It is to celebrate the time when Richard I, King of England and a bunch of other places, was held prisioner in the local castle - Trifels - on a mountain above the town. Richard mainly lived in SW France but was King of many lands. On his way home from the Crusades, Henry of Saxony (part of Germany) held Richard for ransom on baseless charges. Since it was illegal to hold a crusader for ranson, the Pope excommunicated Henry. Richard was brought to Speyer, 1 hr SE of Kaiserslautern. He was handed over to Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor, who held Richard I in the castle in Annweiler. Henry VI demanded and was paid a ransom from England but was also excommunicated from the church by the Pope. Richard was the King of England at the time of Robin Hood and the brother of King John who assumed the throne upon Richard's death in 1199. Robin Hood is said to have served as an Archer on the crusades with Richard. The fest was nice. Food, stalls of different items for sale and several medieval acts on several stages from archery demonstrations, fanconry, puppet shows a Knights village exhibition. Alot of people we in clothes of the times, beer serves in stone mugs, gooooooooood food. Knights walking thru town...... Sampling the local cuisine :) Jamie at the fest....Trifels castle where Ricahrd I was prisoner is in the background on the hill.

Heidelberg Castle and Schwetzigen Schloss

6 June - our Favorite Aussie living in Germany, Laura, visited. We took her and some friends to Heidelberg to see the ruins of the castle there (www.visit-heidelberg.com/tours/castle/htm). Then we visited the Schloss (castle) in Schwetzigen (http://www.schloss-schwetzigen.de/.) . Heidelberg is mostly ruins but a few rooms are rebuilt. It was destroyed 2 times by invading Armies and the 3rd time by lightening. The town took it as a sign by God that they castle should not be rebuilt. It was started in 1300 and lighting destryed it in 1764. It ahs various styles and and very nice. It has a HUGE wine keg that you can keep over 500,000 liters of wine. It was nice and only 400 steps to the top. There are over 100 weddings a year in the castle chapel. the grandmother of George I of England lived here. George I was from Hannover in Germany - yep a German ruled England. Now you are asking - so why are you telling me this. Well, George I's grand son, George III was the king at the time of the American Declaration of Independance and Revolutionary war. Small world :)

We had a nice lunch in Heidelberg and then drove to Schwetzegen about 30 minutes away. This was a get away place for the royalty of Baden Wurtenburg. We did not tour the castle since not much to see but the gardens are very nice and HUGE. It even has a mosque. Really nice visit.

Front of Schwetzegen Castle

part of the massive gardens of the castle. Very nice.

Courtyard of Heidelberg Castle. Concert ongoing

500,000 liter wine keg - best filled with Stoffel Wine :)

Our Chalet - Girl Scout Trip

29-31 May - Memorial Day Weekend. We took a weekend trip to one of the four World Culture Scout Centers. www.ourchalet.ch/en/home We met with about 30 other girls and parents and rode the bus to Adelboden, Switzerland. When we arrived, we received an orientation of the site and all the buildings. Afterwards, the girls received an Our Chalet pin in a traditional pinning ceremony that started in 1932. We checked in the rooms and the girls did a scavenger hunt. We had dinner of sweet and sour pork, salad and bread and butter pudding. On Sat night, we had Swiss Night where the girls acted out the story of William Tell and played a Swiss Trivia Quiz game. To top the night, we had a chocolate fondue with fruit and cookies :) Yes, Jamie is a fan of that!!

On Sunday, we had a traditional Swiss breakfast of meuslix, yogurt, fruit, bread, jam and cheese. Jamie packed us a lunch and we took a 5 km hike in the light rain to the second largest waterfall in Switzerland. When we returned, the girls worked on their Chalet Challenge Badge. For dinner, we had cauliflower and peas and a type of Shepards Pie, dessert was a berries and yogurt thingy. We cleaned up and then had an indoor campfire. The girls sang songs from around the world and then had smores!!!!

On Monday, standard breakfast, we packed up, cleaned the rooms and headed out on a 2 mile hike to a woodcarvers shop. The girls enjoyed seeing how it is done, did some shopping and then hiked back to the bus. Enroute to the bus, the girls were stopped to allow the daily procession of moving the cows from the barn to the field. They really enjoyed that!! It was a nice drive back and great memories.

The Chalet is very nice. It was built in 1932 as a gift from an American lady who was a girl scout. There are now 7 buildings. There is a small permanent staff and 6-8 volunteers for 3 months. These young ladies were from the UK, Canada, Argentina, New Zealand, Denmark, Egypt, etc. There were girls there from England and a boy scout troop of Germans there to build a outdoor BBQ facility as their service project. It was a good trip for the girls who earned a patch, met people from other countries who are scouts and enjoyed the outdoors.

Patch board at the Chalet showing all the patches left by the different troops that have visited Our Chalet - just this year!!!!!!!!!!

Jamie on the hike - in the rain :))

Jamie and the girls at Our Chalet receiving the Our Chalet Pin.

Jamie receiving her Our Chalet Challenge badge. There were 20 activities they had to complete to receive the badge from knowing about the Chalet, Swiss life, World Association of Girl Scouts, Physical activities, etc.

James and Jamie at the waterfall.

Brussells, Belgium

22-23 May - Kim and Jamie went to Brussells, Belgium with the girl scouts. Enroute, they toured the European Space Center. http://www.eurospacecenter.be/ It was alot of fun and they had a great time. Jamie was the first to be strapped in a gyroscope and spun around, sideways and upside down for about 45 sec. Great video!! They arrived in Brussells and had dinner.

Sunday they visited Mini-europe which is all the famous places in Europe in minature. www.minieurope.com/en/index.html. It is a really interesting place. It is alot like the place we went in Hamburg but bigger scale. Then they visited the Antomium http://www.atomium.be/ It is a large scale model of a atom of iron magnified 165 billion times :) You can travel in all the cells on escalators or steps. The elevator goes 47 feet/sec.

Then the girls came home.

Jamie at the mini Brussells Grand Palace

Jamie at MiniEurope with the Atomium in the background.

Jamie strapped in the gryoscope - you need to see the video!!

Brussells, Belgium

Jamie giving commands to her Shuttle Crew at the European Space Center.

Mother's Day

8-9 May: Kim and Jamie went to Bern, Switzerland for the day on Saturday with the Kaiserslautern Girl Scouts. They had a good trip, saw the Bern Bears, ate Cheese Fondue, took a tour of the town and did a little shopping. They toured a small family operated Cheese maker. It was a good trip for them for Mother's Day together.

On Sunday, we dined at a local restaurant. The food was good but the service took too long. Kim and Jamie had the asparagus (spargle) and James had the Salmon. For dessert, we had a small Mutterstag (Mother's Day) cake we got at the bakery.

Jamie - Not a Fondue lover :((((((

Famous clock in Bern

Jamie eating a Strawberry Torte - Why? Because that is what her Grandfather would do :) Always thinking of others :)))

West Wall Site Visits

10 April - Jamie and I visited two sites along the famous West Wall or Seigfried Line. This was a defensive belt that Hitler built to prevent any French invasion of Germany. It was basically the counterpart to the French Maginot Line. One difference is that Hitler knew he would one day invade France, the French never had any intentions to invade Germany after WWI. Constructing the West Wall gave Hitler a few things: motivation of the people to protect against a French Invastion. The Germans were still made from the results of WWI. It also gave him a way to employ people after he rose to power. A political truism is - People with jobs love the people that created those jobs - no matter what the job. Some other differences are that while the Maginot Line is not a connected line but a series of fortresses at certain points and all along the French-German border. The West wall was mostly a continual line of dragons teeth, tank trenches, pill boxes, artillery positions, road barricades, bunkers. The fortresses are much smaller than the Maginot Line but just as effective.

We visited the West Wall Museum just south of Pirmesans. It was very well done and preserved. Only part of the fortress is open. The museum has a very good display of vehicles and weapons and how they lived in the fort. We enjoyed it.

Next we drove about 30 minutes north to see some of the dragon teeth. These were ALL along the border. They were built by an organization called Organization Todt with was all civilians with military leadership. After the way, Germany destroyed alot of the pilboxes and pulled up the dragon teeth in the fields and near cities. Only a few places remain in the woods. Across the street is a network of trenches covering the road from franch. This one is about 25 minutes west of our house.

Jamie at some Dragon's Teeth

West Wall museum entrance

Jamie with a German Schutzenpanzerwagon (Infantry Armored Car)

Model of West Wall fortress.

Paris!

28 Mar - We went to Paris with The Gregoire's and Mez Groom from Australia. Mez is working for a year in England. Her family lived beside us in Fairfax for a few years. We got up EARLY and departed at 0500 to drive to Tourcy France where we caught the train in the Paris. It is a 4 hr drive and a 1 hr train to the Eifel tower. The train was FUN!! Especially in all French and us not knowing any French!! yeah.................. We arrived at the Eifel Tower and went to the second level. The third was closed due to the wind and clouds. There was a little rain but we enjoyed it and the view of what we could see. After we descended, we went across the Seine River to take some photos. We had lunch at a small resturant. We had 3 bowls of veggie soup, 2 cokes, 1 ham-cheese baggett sandwich - not bad for $60!!! The weather cleared up and was nice the rest of the day. We walked to the Arc de Triumph, down the Champes Elysses and ALL the shopping, past the Obelisk from Egypt's Luxor Temple, then to the Louvre Museum, down to Notre Dame and then on a boat cruise on the River Seine and dinner. We departed Paris at 8:30pm and arrived home at 2am. It was a very nice trip, a LONG day but LOTS of memories! Kennedy's and Mez at the Eifel Tower.

Mez and Jamie at the Louvre Museum.

Kim and Jamie on the Seine River Cruise

Kennedys and Merrilyn at the Arc de Triumph

Jamie, Betty and Audry at Notre Dame.

Jamie on the Champs Elysees

European Championship

12-15 Feb - We traveled to Eindhoven, Netherlands. Jamie qualified to swim in 2 events in the European Forces Swim League 2010 Championships. She was also picked up to swim in 4 other events. We drove up on 12 Feb and had no trouble. For dinner, we ate at a restaurant that had a traditional Rice Table. We shared it and enjoyed it all.

13-14 Feb - Jamie swam 6 events and had personal best times in all six. She did not finished higher than 14 out of 20 in any of the events but we are very proud of her for qualifying for the championships and for improving in all her events. It was very cold and we had snow the whole weekend.

50m Butterfly - She improved 1 second

50m Breast - She improved 1 second, earned 3 points for the team

200m Freestyle - She improved 0.12 seconds

200m Individual Medley - Improved 7 seconds

50m Freestyle - Improved 0.5 seconds

100m Freestyle - Improved 2 seconds and scored 1 point for the team.

Kaiserslautern won the event - AGAIN and are European Champs.

14 Feb - We at dinner at a local Greek resturant and it was really good!! However, it was Karnival (same at Mardi Gras time) in Europe so we were the ONLY people in the resturant NOT in a costume unless you say our costume was "American Tourtist" :) We had a good time and Baklava for dessert :). Of course Kim does not drive in the snow so I could only have 1 beer with dinner :( We stayed up rather late with friends on the team in the bar watching the Olympics and driving tall, cold, frothy, wheat and barley derivative, alcohol enhanced adult beverages. Alot of Belgian beer!!

15 Feb - We planned on going thru Brussells on the way home but with all the snow and it being a holiday for most Catholics, we just drove on home.

Jamie with US Olympian Steve Genter, Silver Medalist in the 1972 Olympics. He won the Silver, behind Mark Spitz, a week after having surgery to repair a collapsed lung. While he was swimming, his stitches broke, he lost a pint of blood and had to be pulled from the water AFTER he finished his swim that won him the Silver Medal. He is a good role model for the kids.

Jamie's name on the scoreboard after the 50m Butterfly

Rice Table - yummy!!!!!!!!!!!!

Food at the Greek Resturant - Pork Tenderloin.....yummy!!!!

Belgium and Den Haag, Netherlands

15 Jan - Drove to Mons Belgium for Jamie's swim meet at SHAPE. This is the NATO Military Headquarters. Drive was not bad - about 4.5 hours. The hotel was nice and we had a Italian dinner at a local resturant with good lasagne and great pizza.

16 Jan - Jamie had her swim meet. She did not do as well as we wanted. She won her heat in the 50m Butterfly and only marginally improved in 2 events. We left the meet and visited a Belgian Grocery store. We bought some belgian chocolate as gifts :)), purple potatos, of course some Belgian Beer, etc. It is always interesting to visit a different countries grocery store. Then we drove to Den Haag (The Hague) in The Netherlands to visit a friend, Katarina. She was an exchange student from Slovakia we knew a few years back who is now studying Law in Den Haag. We arrived and went out to dinner at 't Gouda Hof in the City Center. GREAT food and great atmosphere. They played English oldies so of course I sang along :) Kim stopped me several times :(( Appetizers, main course and dessert were allvery good to include a beer served in a round bottom glass - figure out how to drink that!! Jamie stayed with Kat so they took the train back to her apartment.

17 Jan - We met Jamie and Kat at her place and cooked her an American breakfast at her request :) Pancakes and bacon!! Then we went out to tour. We visited the Peace Palace that houses both the International Criminal Court and the Internation Court of Justice. Very pretty building. Kat uses the library there for her studies. Then we visited the university she attends in downtown Den Haag. Very LARGE building. The university is a Applied Technology University and is very international - most of the students are "foreign" and the classes are in English. Then we went to the beach to see the North Sea and walk and have lunch. We had a very nice lunch at Scheveningen Palace Promondade. It was a little windy and cold but a nice walk on the beach. ALOT of Dutch out walking on the beach with their dogs and kids!! For lunch Kim had fish and chips, Jamie and I shared a LARGE pot of mussels - (yummy) and Kat had an Eel Sandwich which she ate for the FIRST time and ate the whole thing!! She tried mussels as well. Then we went back to her apartment to warm up and play some table games. Later we went out and walked around the city center and saw the Dutch Parliment at night - very pretty building - impressive. Alot of modern buildings and resturants as well. We had dinner at an ARgentinian resturant. it was the first time Kat had beef from Argentina and it was sooooooooooooo goooouuuuuuudddddd!!!!!! We went back the hotel and Jamie and Kat hopped the tram back to her place.

18 Jan -We picked Jamie up, thanked Kat for a WONDERFUL weekend and headed home. Nice drive about 5 hours - weather was cloudy but no traffic.

Jamie at the North Sea

Argentenian steak in Den Haag

At a resturant for lunch on the North Sea Boardwalk with Katarina.

Jamie and Katarina at the Peace Palace in Den Haag.

Egypt trip

27 Dec 09 - 3 Jan 10 We travelled to Egypt for a Nile cruise and to see the sights. Great trip - very educational and thought provoking on many levels.

Day 1 and 8 were travel from Frankfurt to Cairo. Egypt Air is an experience. Security is extremely tight - they open about 75% of the carry on bags AFTER screening.

Day 2 - Luxor - Visited the Valley of the Kings (no photos allowed) where all the Pharaohs were buried and King Tut's Tomb was found. Jamie was the only one in the group to pay the extra money to go into Tut's tomb - $7. They stopped buying people in Pyramids after the first 20 or so because of the cost and time. Digging into sandstone was alot easier. There are 62 tombs here. Some are short and some are quite deep. They started when the Pharaoh came to power and buried him 70 days after death - tomb finished or not. There is great artwork on the inside, hieroglyphics, etc. Amazing to be able to visit them.

Then we visited the Temple of Queen Hechetsut. Jamie did a project on her for school 2 months ago. She was the first Female Pharaoh of Egypt. As a woman, she could not be Pharaoh. She shared power with her very young step brother Tuthmosis III. She had the priest develop a story that she was the daughter of the Sun god Amen who came to earth and spept with her Mother - BAM - she is a god herself and OK to be Pharaoh. Jamie enjoyed it very much. It is a HUGE temple with detailed drawing on both sides of her contributions while Pharaoh. She was the first to open trade with other countries. When she died and her step brother became Pharaoh, he had her face and name chipped out of the temples and everywhere else.

Next, we visited a few smaller statues and monuments on the way to Luxor temple. This is the most famous. It was built by the Ramses II and added to by all that followed him. It was linked to Karnak Temple by a 1.5 mile (2km) road lined with small sphinx's. It was very nice and interesting. there were actually 3 religions practiced here. Ancient Eqyptian, Christian and Islam. Christianity came to Egypt in the 1st Century AD with St Mark. They used part of this temple, after they chipped all the faces off the statues and carvings of the false gods, they painted over the carvings and made their own chapel; finally Islam came in the 7th Century and they built a mosque that is still in use in the middle of the temple. Really interesting history.

Next we visited a papryus store where they showed us how it is made. Papryus is made from a plant that is flatted, soaked in water then pressed and dried to make paper. This is what the ancients wrote their text on for centuries.

We visited a Gold/Silver/Gem store and bought some items and gifts :))) We returned to dinner and an evening on the boat.

Day 3 - Toured Karnak Temple. Largest temple in Egypt. Really interesting to see all the additions by each Pharaoh. Return to the boat for lunch and began the cruise down the Nile to Edfu. Passed thru a lock at one of the dams. When we did, vendors in boats pulled up to the boat like pirates and started yelling and throwing goods on the boat like blankets, coats, etc trying to sell them. There were about 8 of them in little boats - photos below. really interesting. Stopped in Edfu for the night. Jamie got the Curse of the Pharaoh's and was up most of the night sick - poor thing!!!

Day 4 - Jamie still sick and sleeping so Kim stayed with her. I went off to Edfu temple - rebuilt by the Ptolomeic rulers (Greek). Interesting and very detailed. Alot was defaced by early christians. Returned to the boat and set sail for Obo Kimbo and visited another temple on a hill at sunset. Very pretty. Back on the boat we had dinner. Dinner was an Egyptian meal and Jamie and Kim weredressed in their new clothes. They looked great. Jamie was a real trooper and made it through dinner and then some of the entertainment. There were some games in the lounger (one of which I won!!). Off we went to bed, while the boat sailed for Aswan arriving about 11pm with the hills lit up at the Tombs of the Nobles - very pretty.

Day 5 - Took a motor boat ride about 30 minutes down the nile for camel rides and visit to a Nubian village. Pretty scenery around Kitchner Island and Elephant Island. Rode camels to the village about 15 minutes. During the ride, Kim's camel boy decided he was going to race his friends and started going a little to fast! Kim sat back in her saddle and WHAM!!!!!!!! Off the back and down to the sand!! Fortunately, she was fine - stunned but fine! The security guy was there VERY quickly and they got her up. She got back on another camel and finished the ride. Thankfully, we had a military doc with us who checked her out. We toured the Nubian Village. Nubia is a forner country between Egypt and Sudan. They have their own spoken language - it is not written. The had to be relocated due to the construction of the High Dam in the 60s. The visit was OK. We bought a doll for Jamie and a few spices. Back on the motor boat, we passed the Old CataractHotel. What is it famous for? Well, guess.........nope. It is where Agathie Christie wrote "Death of the Nile". It is under renovation. Then back to our boat for lunch. Then off to visit Aswan Dam built by the British in 1902, the High Dam built by Egypt and the USSR in the 60s - referred to in our history books as the Suez Canal Crisis for those that remember. President Nasser too govt control of the Suez Canal. The US and Britain were not happy and withdrew support to build the High Dam for egypt - so Nasser did what any good leader did back then when shunned by the West. He went to the USSR who GLADLY came in and built the dam. It was feared that Egypt would be a Soviet satellite but that did not happen. Nasser died and President Sadat was elected in the 70s and that turned out pretty good. The High Dam is very pretty and well done. It provides 80% of the power in Egypt and controls flooding of the nile that allows cultivation and harvest year round. We visited a quarry to see how they ancients carved obelisks and items from the red granite. Then we visited Philae temple. That was interesting boat ride. No organization and a little dangerous!! The Temple was moved by Belgium durign the 1960s to prevent it from being covered by water from the damn. Then we returned to the boat. I went out shopping at the local bazaar in town and bought some spices and a few gifts. Jamie and Kim CRASHED on the boat. Dinner was good. I started to get a little sick. I took a nap and woke at 1130 to get Jamie and go to the party in the bar. They ahd some entertainment and we stayed for the countdown. It was anticlimatic. There were no fireworks, no nothing. Jsut cars and boats blowing horns but they do that all day so could not tell a difference. Then off to bed!! Being worried about Kim and her back and beign sick myself a little, I did not sleep but about 1 hour that night. It was going to be a bad next day!!

Day 6 - Happy New Year!! wake-up 5:30 and Flew to Cairo from Aswan. Kim feeling some better but very stiff. Upon arrival in Cairo, we drove to lunch at a buffet place. Luckily for Kim, our lunch room was on the 3rd floor!! She did not eat much but the food was good. Chocolate fudge cake with chocolate sauce was sooooooo gooooooooooood!!!! Then we toured St Mark's Coptic Church that was started by yep, you got it, THE St Mark of Gospel fame. It is built on the ruins of a greek fort so when you look down thru the windows in the floor, it looks like it is hanging in the air.....trust me. Then thru the tunnels and catacombs where Joseph, Mary and Jesus are believed to lived while hiding in Egypt on the way to a Jewish Synagogoe. There are no issues with religions in Egypt. There are 10 synagogoes in use in Cairo. It is a small place but still active. The to the Muhammad Ali Mosque where we got a lesson in Islam and prayer. It was very good. Jamie had to wear a scarf and robe. Kim sat out the mosque tour to rest her back. Then to the Cairo Museum. Kim sat this out as well. We toured for 2 hours - Abdul took us and showed us the key artifacts and why they were important and explained different things. The only way to see the museum is to have a guide. The building is not in good condition. There was asection on mummified animals that was great!! snake, shrew, cats, horse and best of all - two alligators!! Part of the King Tut collection is there as well. The large items and the jewelry and death mask!! fascinating. We saw the other part of the exhibit in Philadelphia a few years ago. Then we visited the large and I mean LARGE bazaar to do some final shopping. It was MAD. TONS of people. Then back to the hotel for dinner which Kim skipped. I only had a bowl of soup. Jamie enjoyed!! Kim and I both had a good sleep.

Day 7 - Visited the Great Pyramids of Giza at 8am. Great view with the sunrise!! It took 30-32 years to build the first one for Pharaos Cheops. It is believed that they only worked in the flood season for about 4 months of the year. The other two pyramids are smaller due to finances. Jamie and I crawled into the Second Pyramid to the burial chamber. It was a little crowded in the 4ft x 4ft space with 200 of your closest Italian friends going in and out of the Pyramid in that space. I had a little difficulty but Jamie had it easy!! The entrance was a 45 degree angle down about 90 feet, then flat to stand-up about 30 feet then up at a 45 degree angle in the small space another 90 feet to the burial chamber. Really interesting. Nothing in there but people and humidity. Then we visited the Sphinx and took photos. Really interesting and big - One piece of sandstone. It is believe to date BEFORE the Great Pyramid. Lunch was at a very good resturant in the open air covered by a tent. Best meal of the trip. Hummus, babaganush, kabob, spiced chicken, fire cooked bread, beer, french fries - YUMMY!!! Then we drove to the Step Pyramid near Sakarra. It was one of the first pyramids. It resembles 7 boxes on each other. The concept was the Pharaoh would climb the "steps" to heaven....Not sure how that worked. THEN they perfected it for the Great Pyramids. Then we travelled to the traditional center of ancient Egypt - Memphis to see some of the famous statues of Pharaohs there. We visited a carpet school where kids age 11 and up learn the trade. Looked more like child labor but it is a school soooooooooooo.... the Rugs are wool or silk and beautiful. We did not buy one. We visited a Egyptian Cotton store and bought a few small gifts and things. Egyptian cotton is some of the best in the world. There were some very pretty things!! Dinner was at the hotel. We packed and got everything for early wakeup and travel back home.

A few thoughts.

Food - the meals were good. Breakfasts were unremarkable. Lunches and dinners were good and desserts - yummy!!!!! Breads were very good and a large variety.

Cairo - LARGE city and plenty overcrowded and plenty dirty. It only rains .2L yearly so everything is covered in dust which is OK. However, there is TRASH everywhere and no attempt to clean it. Poverty, to us, is everywhere. It breaks your heart to know that kids grow up in those conditions. Over 100,000 people live in the crypts in the cemetary.

Pyramids Light and Sound show - Very nice Jamie and our Tour Guide Abdul. Very good and really clicked with the group. Jamie and Kim with the Sphinx

These pyramids are BIG.

Jamie in the Muhammad Ali Mosque in Cairo. It is the oldest mosque in Egypt.

Part of the tunnels and catacombs in Egypt where it is believed that is one of the places Joseph, Mary and Jesus hid while in Egypt.

St Marks Coptic Orthodox Church in Cario. Oldest known Coptic Church in Egypt.

New Year's Eve dessert table

Philea temple. Built by the Greeks and moved in the 1960s by Belgium to current location - piece by piece. The old location was going to be covered by water due to the construction of the Aswan Dam.

One of the dessert tables on the boat

Riding camels along the Nile - Kim is in the blue shirt all the way on the left

One of the bread tables on the ship

Another dessert table on the ship

Kim and Jamie on 30 Dec - dressed for the Eqyptian Evening

One of the vendor markets (bazaar) - They really hassle you. Best is to ignore and don't acknowledge which is just not our way. It is hard to not say "No Thanks" These folks speak about 6 languages or enough to carry on conversation to sell items.

One of the few pretty places on the Nile.

The crew folded towels in the rooms. Before we could get back to the room, the crocodile ate Jamie's Kitty doll!!

Edfu temple - Built by the Greeks to pacify the Egyptian population. The Greeks did not try and convert the Egyptians to Greek gods but instead built or rebuilt temples to Egyptian gods.

"Scenic" Nile??? this is what you see ALOT of on the Nile.

These were vendors that came along side the boat as we were entering the locks. They threw their goods to the top deck of the boat and haggled for a price. If yuo did not want it, yuo dropped it back over the side. Really interesting to watch.

More scenic Nile.

Salad bar on the ship. Nice and interesting side salads.

Another dessert bar on the ship - cannot get enough of these photos!!!

Karnak Temple in Luxor - built by the Pharaohs and added to by many more.

Luxor temple at dusk - pretty

Jamie and Kim at the Mortuary Temple for Hatshepsut at Deir el Bahari

Jamie at statues of Hatshepsut - Her favorite.