Citadel of Cairo

Our first day in Cairo began with a visit to the citadel and the Mosque of Muhammad Ali. Before we entered the citadel Rob gave a bus report that focused on medieval Cairo and a group of people known as the Mamluks. Rob's interest in the history of the city of Cairo have grown significantly since we visited and because of this we are already drawing up plans for a return trip. We have a lot of research and learning to do, but we're interested in a Cairo, Red Sea, Sinai adventure. Anybody care to join us? :)

Back to Mosques...the Mosque of Muhammad Ali was very photogenic on it's hill above the rest of the city. If you visit Cairo you might find that the citadel is a little oasis of peace and quiet in a very large, noisy, chaotic city. We had the mosque all to ourselves while we visited and the interior was almost as beautiful as the outside.

Happy Easter

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that there are not many better places to spend Spring than in Greece. The wildflowers are in full bloom and the weather is amazing. Below, Rob is standing on our street which never looks better than in April. I'm glad we're here to enjoy it this year (although Corinth is a fantastic alternative).

On Good Friday Rob and I went out for a walk but ended up doing a tour of sorts consisting of ten different churches. In Greece (and probably many other Orthodox Christian communities) Good Friday is a day for churches to open the front doors, ring the bells, and allow neighbors the opportunity to mark the death of Christ. Each church had an alter that was wrapped in fresh flowers containing an image of the crucified Christ. We waited in line at each church to get a close up look, while the Greeks waiting to kiss the image. It was such a great way to spend the afternoon. But, I didn't have my camera. :(

On the evening of Good Friday Rob and I headed back out into the city for a stroll and found ourselves following the sound of church music. We ended up at a little church and stayed to participate in their services. I didn't understand the lyrics of the Byzantine sounding music, but it was probably the most "religious" experience I've ever had on Easter. Next we processed with this church in a candlelit walk around the neighborhood with the cantor and priest at the front of the line. Again, it was an experience that I am unable to describe in words (and I still didn't have a camera with me).

Below is a church in Moni Petraki (a Byzantine monastary) in our neighborhood. We stopped by on Saturday afternoon for a quick photo so I would have an example of these little Greek churches to show you!

The most important church service takes place on Saturday night beginning around 11:00 pm and ending just after midnight. You see, the Orthodox Greeks have been fasting since Carnival so following the late night service they all rush home or to the local taverna and have a feast! :) Rob and I along with a few other friends spent our night on Lycabettus at the St. George. It's a little church so besides going in for this quick photo, we stood outside for the duration. Although it was very windy and a bit chilly, the views of the city were well worth the effort. The best part for me is when midnight approaches and the church bells throughout the city begin to ring. At about the same time fireworks can be seen from all directions and awesome red flares shine in the nighttime sky. As you can see, we weren't the only people who made the trek up to Lycabettus.

Another highlight was the lighting of the candles. The flame is flown to Athens from Jerusalem and then it is spread around the country. Oh, and the flame doubles as a hand-warmer on this chilly evening.

To top off the Easter celebrations the school hosts a lamb roast. It's a fun day filled with lamb-basting and good eating! Oh, and did I mention the weather? It was sunny and 70 degrees! Best Easter Ever!

 

Abu Simbel

After our last overnight on our Nile cruise we packed our bags and headed to the Aswan airport. About half way to the airport I realized that I didn't have my sunglasses...my cool "blue" Aegean Sea sunglasses. :( And, if there is ever a place to NEED sunglasses, it is Egypt. I was bummed but thankfully my friend Sara had a spare pair to lend me.

Our flight out of Aswan headed south to Abu Simbel which is about 20 miles from the Sudanese border. We spent about three hours in Abu Simbel and although that doesn't seem like a very long time it turned out to be perfect. In fact, the Abu Simbel airport was built specifically for the convenience of visitors to the ancient site.

The ancient site of Abu Simbel now sits along the banks of Lake Nasser. This site is one of the most famous that was moved when the Aswan High Dam was created. The photo below shows where the two temples were before the move:

And below is one of the temples as seen today. As you can see an artificial hill had to be created in order to recreate the mountainside that the two temples were originally created out of.

The Great Temple was built during the reign of Ramses II and as you can see it is considered one of the most beautiful temples in all of Egypt. Sorry, no photos allowed inside.

This smaller temple is known as the temple of Hathor & Nefertari and was dedicated to the goddess Hathor and Ramses' lover Nefertari.

Felucca

Sailing around Elephantine Island on a felucca is the perfect way to end a long day of sightseeing. Our group of 31 boarded the felucca a few hours before sunset, and although it was a bit more crowded that I would have liked, it was still an enjoyable ride.

 

The boys paddling in the photo above make a living by hanging on to passing feluccas and singing for money. I  wish I had a way to record their singing as I thought they had great voices.

The Old Cataract Hotel (seen above) overlooks Elephantine Island and was built in 1900. It is believed that Agatha Christie wrote portions of her novel "Death on the Nile" while staying here. A room at this hotel will set you back anywhere from 400-1250 Euro. Yikes.

Philae

During the afternoon we took a small boat to an island in the middle of Lake Nasser to the temples at Philae. This Nubian temple complex was saved during the Rescue Nubia Campaign by dismantling it and re-erecting it on a nearby island that wouldn't be covered over by the lake. Below, Rob posses near the entrance of the complex.

One of my favorite hieroglyphs is the Eye of Horus. I found a cool eye represented in relief inside of one of the temples.

Get a load of these capitals on Trajan's Kiosk! What you can't see is that the lake is just below on the left and the setting was absolutely stunning.

The complex was quite large and with the free time that we had Rob and I enjoyed exploring the various temples and souvenir stands. We settled for a diet soda (for 15 Egyptian Pounds) and spent a few minutes checking out the wild flowers. Pure beauty!

Aswan High Dam

Following our visit to the unfinished obelisk we took a short drive over to the Aswan High Dam so that I could give my presentation. I spoke about the UNESCO Rescue Nubia Campaign that took place between 1960 and 1980. The quick version of the presentation is: President Nasser was building the Aswan High Dam and a HUGE lake was going to be created behind it. This lake would become known as Lake Nasser and would cover many ancient antiquities in it's path. UNESCO sent out an international call for help and many countries responded. Because of the efforts put forth many antiquities were saved, including four temples now in Spain, USA, the Netherlands, and Italy.

Lake Nasser is one of the largest man made lakes in the world. It is about 550 km long and at it's widest point is some 35 km across.

Behind Rob and I you can see how the dam controls the Nile River...which of course allows for smooth sailing!

Unfinished Obelisk at Aswan

After an early morning wake-up call in Aswan, we headed out to visit the unfinished obelisk and were the first visitors to arrive. The obelisk is in situ at the granite quarry in the southern part of the city. It was probably left unfinished because of a crack as it was being removed. If it would have been completed it would have been the largest obelisk ever, measuring about 42 meters.

From the quarries we had a great view of a Fatimid (medieval Muslim) cemetery. This cemetery dates from the 9th century AD. Pretty cool, huh?