Frommes on a Journey: 2017

Saturday, October 28, 2017

Exclusive Access to the Sphinx

We just came back from a once-in-a-lifetime experience!

For me, seeing the Pyramids of Giza never gets old. We've been twice now and have seen the pyramids from afar at least a dozen times. Every time we drive by, I loudly announce to everyone in the vehicle that I can see the pyramids. It's kind of like what happens when we pass cows in a field in the States (even though I grew up in Indiana).

About a month ago, we took the 6th graders on a field trip and conveniently drove past the pyramids. In my usual excited, I loudly exclaimed, "Look! The pyramids!" In their confusion of why I was so excited, some students asked if I'd never seen them before. Meanwhile, most of the students were looking out of the other side of the bus at stalks of corn and a swimming pool. I guess it's all a matter of perspective. However, I don't think I will ever get tired of seeing the Giza Pyramids.

While I talk a lot about the pyramids, I need to remind you that the Sphinx is also located on the grounds of the pyramids. The Sphinx was our reason for traveling to Giza today.

There is a group at school made up of teachers and administrators called the Sunshine Committee. They create fun, monthly outings to see the sights of Egypt. One of the committee members is a fantastic photographer and very knowledgeable about the history of Egypt. He was able to get a permit to allow a group of up to 50 people exclusive access to the Sphinx. Usually, tourists view the Sphinx from a designated area. However, we were able to get on the ground-floor, up close and personal. This was literally our last chance to experience this because prices for the permit are going to double starting Nov. 1st.

Here are just a few of my favorite photos from this morning.

Friday, August 18, 2017

Our New Apartment in Maadi, Cairo

We did it again...we moved. We have moved every year for the last seven years! What's wrong with us?! And, you all wonder why I don't keep things. This. This is why. Haha!

We arrived back to Cairo the evening of August 3rd and promptly moved into this apartment the morning of August 4th. We had a very gracious friend store all of our stuff while we were in Europe. Another wonderful set of friends picked up the few remaining items we left in the old apartment the morning we left for Europe.

It's been two weeks since the move, and I think we are all settled in. We like this apartment soooooo much more than the other one! We are starting this school year on a very positive note that will hopefully carry through the whole year.

Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Final Thoughts about our 5-Week Trip

While we've been living abroad on and off for the past 7 years, this summer we took our longest trip to date. A few years ago, we spent 2.5 weeks in Thailand, but have never done anything like this last trip. I want to start off by saying I know how fortunate we are to be able to do this. We are really, very lucky!

**Please don't think that I'm complain-a-bragging. Yes, I know we are living in a different part of the world, getting to experience some really cool sh*t. However, this is our life. And, in life, we all want to share our experiences. Not everything is perfect. Yes, doing all of this neat stuff is really great. However, many times, life is hard, frustrating, and confusing. Sometimes, I think people only ever hear about the really great times - or in contrast, only the really bad times. So, please don't take this post the wrong way. Life is just life.

When planning for this trip, I thought five weeks would not be enough time. Five weeks traveling around Europe?! What a dream! This is true. It really was a dream! However, we learned some things about ourselves, each other, and our life in general on this trip. Here is our "what we learned" list, in no particular order:

1. Five weeks is too long of a vacation (travel) for us.

I don't know how some people travel the world indefinitely. Maybe it's because we were constantly moving from place place. We were were posted up somewhere for weeks at a time, maybe I would feel differently about it.

2. Five weeks is a long time to spend together - just the two of us.

Vltava River, Prague

We spend a lot of time together in our normal life - more so than many other couples I know. We live together, work together, and hang out on our free time together. We love each other, but man, we also need some time apart. That didn't really happen much this trip.

3. Water.

I know this isn't sparkling water, but you could have drunk it. Lake Zurich, Switzerland

In Europe, when you ask for water, you have to choose between mineral water or gas (sparkling water). I cannot stand to drink sparkling water. When at the store, no matter how close I look at the bottle to make sure it's not sparkling water, I ALWAYS end up with sparkling water! Haha! Thank goodness Zach likes it.

4. I really hate tourists.

The Louvre, Paris, France

I know, I was a tourist too. I just hate "other" tourists. People are just so oblivious to what's happening around them. Please don't stop mid-way walking down the stairs without notice just to take a picture. Move to the side.

5. The world is so big, yet so small.

Lunch with a college friend and her family. Amsterdam, Netherlands

There is so much to see and do. However, after talking to people, you find out just how small the world is. It's crazy to me that we have friends living in all parts of the world. It was great to meet up with a friend and catch up.

6. I am not allowed to plan our next big vacation.

Berlin Wall. Berlin, Germany

Zach gets to do that. He hates going from place to place. His idea of a great vacation is staying in one place, relaxing.

7. Zach enjoyed Europe (...traveling through Europe #goals).

However, he would much rather travel around Asia and experience that culture - maybe because it's so different than ours?

8. Beer.

Zurich, Switzerland

Beer is pretty universal in all cultures. We really enjoyed our beer - too much - on this trip.

9. We miss friends.

Hanging out with Joe. Rome, Italy

This one relates to number two. While in Egypt, we miss our friends from back home. (Even if we don't always reach out, we still think about you a lot!) However, we have (good) friends here that we love doing things with. While traveling, it was just the two of. We missed having friends around, terribly. Yes, we met people, but it just isn't the same.

10. Schoolwork is a bummer sometimes - so says two teachers.

Hotel. Prague, Czech Republic

We both started graduate school this summer, so we had to make sure our homework got done...on time. There were days where we stayed in the room most, if not all day instead going out and doing things. We tried to do that only one time in a city. We get new assignments every week, so we tried to do most of our homework in a day (or at least get the bulk of it accomplished) so that we didn't have a ton of homework to do each night.

11. We've gotten really out of shape.

We stayed at the same hotel at the beginning and end of the trip. We were amazed at how far we thought we had walked those first couple of days compared to the end. That is one thing I miss about living in Korea - we walked so much more.

12. Planes still scare the crap out of me every once-in-a-while.

Sometimes, I get these death-coming fears that "that's it"! This will be the last moments of my life. It usually doesn't last long, and I don't panic, but the thought crosses my mind.

13. I packed too much!

Getting our lost luggage! Rome, Italy

I really thought I was doing really well. I packed everything for the trip in a 35-liter backpack. Yet, there were still some things I could have left at home.

Friday, August 4, 2017

Europe Vacation - Paris Part II

Leaving Zurich, we rounded off our trip back in Paris. As I mentioned in my first Paris post, we didn't take the time to see the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, etc. because we were going to do that the second time around.

We got to the airport in Zurich with plenty of time to spare. Since our phones only worked on wifi, we connected to the 2-hour allotted airport wifi. We soon realized that our flight was delayed 30 minutes. No big deal. It was a 12:35 pm flight which meant we would get to Paris at around 2 pm. No big deal. We really weren't in any hurry. It was the most relaxed I felt about a delayed flight - much more relaxed than I felt about our delay to Rome. The 30-minute delay turned into a 7-hour delay. The incoming flight was delayed because of weather. Then they needed to work on our plane. Finally, by the time the plane was fixed, the pilots couldn't fly us because they were over on their allotted time. They kept changing our gates and not giving us information. It was a very frustrating experience. According to some EU regulation, we might be entitled to reimbursement because we were delayed more than two hours. So, that's in the works and we might get a free flight out of it!

Upon landing in Paris, we had another mission. We needed to go to the cash exchange place. When we arrived in Paris at the end of June, we exchanged the USD we had on hand (the more expensive way) instead of just pulling money out of an ATM. Our school paid us in USD for June and July, so we had USD on hand. Instead of transferring it home and then pulling it out using an ATM, we just exchanged the cash. We decided to put 800 Euro each on a prepaid credit card and took the rest in cash (Euro). Since we were only in Paris for about 2 days, we had no need to use the card. By the time we were in Brussels, we wanted to use it to pay for things, but we kept being denied. We called the number on the back of the card and they told us there was nothing they could do. The lady who set up the cards for us did it wrong and we were not in the system. The only way to fix it was to return to the money exchange place in Paris and have them fix it. That means, for our 5-week trip, there was 1600 Euro hanging out that we couldn't even use! Frustrated isn't even the word for it!

When we arrived in Paris, we spoke to a supervisor who seemed just about as mad as we were about the situation. She fixed the problem and told us she would take care of the lady personally who messed with our money. I wonder if she got fired over this situation?

Working cards in hand, we took the train from the airport to the train terminal in downtown Paris. Since we were staying at the same hotel as the first time, we knew where to go and walked there. It was a beautiful night. (It was about 10 pm by the time we got to the hotel.) As some of you may have seen on Facebook, we needed to do laundry. So, the next morning, I took our clothes to a laundromat. Zach worked on his homework that was due that morning. (He was going to do it the night before, but since our plane was delayed, he was exhausted by the time we got to the hotel. When I got back from doing laundry, Zach was so asleep that he didn't even know I walked in the door. I laid down too, and we both slept until about noon. We were exhausted, I guess, and really needed the sleep. The only thing we did that whole day was walk down the canal to grab a bite to eat and people watch.

The next morning, we got up early so that we could avoid the lines at Notre Dame. When we took our tour a month earlier, we saw an extremely long line, and I was done with lines. When we got there a little after 8 am, we thought it might be closed because there was hardly anyone there. However, we were able to walk right in! It was like St. Peter's Basilica when we went - hardly anyone there. We were able to enjoy it without a bunch of people everywhere. It was very enjoyable. Since the only other thing we absolutely wanted to do that day was see the Eiffel Tower, we were able to take our time getting there and enjoy Paris. It was a beautiful, cool morning, and getting to the Eiffel Tower from Notre Dame meant following the river, we decided to walk it. The 3-mile stroll was very enjoyable. We (by that, I mean Zach was) were even able to help direct a couple of older ladies get to Disneyland.

I knew the Eiffel Tower was huge, but it was even more massive than I had imagined. We never had any intention of going up, so we found a park bench and just looked at it for a while. We ended up feeling drops of rain and decided to seek shelter in a café nearby. Once the cloudiness passed and the sun came out again, we went back to look at the Tower some more. We went to the main park area where people take their iconic Eiffel Tower photos. Again we people watched, but this time was more amusing than any other time we've done it. People are so silly when trying to take pictures. We spent hours sitting on a park bench taking turns looking at the Eiffel Tower and laughing at people. It was a wonderful afternoon. On our way back to the hotel, we stopped and got a few bottles of wine. The plan was to have some wine and then go out to dinner. That didn't happen. We ended up drinking all of the wine, ordering in pizza, and watching YouTube. The perfect ending to a perfect day.

The final full day we were in Paris, we went to the Louvre. What a massive place! At the beginning of our trip, we decided that the only museum we were going to go to was the Louvre. As I think I've said before, we just aren't museum people and tend to rush right through them. Why waste our time and money if we aren't interested just because "you have to go there!" We kept our word. The room where the Mona Lisa is housed was annoyingly packed full of people, But, we got a picture with her! Haha! After taking only a few pictures of some iconic works of art, I put my camera away and just enjoyed walking around.

After seeing all of the art we could handle, we went back to the canal near our hotel and had drinks and dessert at an outside table. We talked a lot about life and our upcoming school year, graduate school, and everything in between. The weather was beautiful. Our last two days in Paris were probably two of our most enjoyable days of the whole trip.

Now, it's back to Cairo. (I'm writing this on Thursday - on the plane ride back to Cairo.) Tomorrow we move into our new apartment. Then, it's working on grad school, getting ready for school (our jobs) to start, and waiting for friends to return.

I will be writing one more post about our Europe trip, so stayed tuned!