Egypt - Post One

So I'm finally getting around to posting some of our photos from our trip to Egypt. If you've been following this blog, you'll know that my husband and I went to Egypt for our belated honeymoon trip this past November. It was the perfect weather and time for Egypt. Mid seventies and not very many tourists. We had only booked the first four nights at the hotel in Sharm el Sheikh and the rest we played by ear. I'll be posting these pictures in increments. I hope you enjoy them :)

I came up with the idea to go to Egypt because while riding the subway one morning and reading the ads, I noticed that Delta just opened a direct flight from JFK to Cairo.


We took the overnight flight from JFK and this is us flying over Cairo. Yeah. It was huge. Think about this: NYC has 1,104 people per square kilometer while Cairo has 9,031 (via Wikipedia). Yeah. NYC really felt deserted after Cairo. And yes...that is a ton of smog:

But I'll come back to Cairo. We flew into the airport and then took an Egypt Air flight to Sharm el Sheikh on the Sinai Peninsula. (Quick note: we found out once we went there that the Sinai Peninsula is considered part of Asia. And because of it's turbulent history, you don't need a visa to go to Sharm or other resorts, but if you travel on to other parts of Egypt you will need one.) I've lived in different areas of Nevada so I thought I knew what "desert" meant. I had no clue. This is the Sinai Peninsula from the air:

From the airport at Sharm we had to figure out how to get a taxi to the hotel. There really isn't much information. If you go, look out for the black and white cars...they are the taxis and you have to go searching for them. We got a hired car which cost a little more but we learned :) The driver was nice and swung us by a very cool green mosque that I had seen from the road.We stayed at the Hilton Waterfalls and our view was gorgeous. Here's the view from our room's balcony that night:
And the next morning we could see the pools and the Red Sea in the background. Beautiful.And here's views of the hotel grounds as we made our way down to the pools and the Red Sea.

Here's Robb (he said I can use his name instead of "my husband") testing out the Red Sea. It was so clear you could see the colorful fish swimming around:Here's the resort's beach:And this is me chilling with a good book:
I loved seeing the oddness of resort life which is definitely not anything like traditional Egyptian culture:I did get to go snorkeling for the first time. And this was a perfect place to do it. The reef dropped off sharp, I literally gasped which isn't a good thing when you are snorkeling :)
And here's us after snorkeling:
Hope you enjoyed this post. My next Egypt post will take us to the souks of Sharm el Sheikh and to the top of Mt. Sinai.

Honeymoon Tickets!

Today is the day we finally bought our plane tickets for our honeymoon trip. It's OFFICIAL!!!

And just in case you don't know...my husband and I were married a little over a year ago. And we are taking our much belated honeymoon late this fall. I am soooooo excited.

We decided on going to EGYPT!!!! Red Sea resorts, pyramids, sand, sun, the Nile, Luxor, Cairo...sigh.

I am sure I will babble on more about it the closer the time gets.

There are a few books I've found that I want to read before or while I am on my trip.

Maybe I'll call this my Egyptian Book Challenge:

Death on the Nile - Agatha Christie

Linnet Doyle is young, beautiful, and rich. She's the girl who has everything--including the man her best friend loves. When Linnet and her new husband take a cruise on the Nile, they meet brilliant detective Hercule Poirot. It should be an idyllic trip, yet Poirot feels that something is amiss.


The Hippopotamus Marsh: Lords of the Two Lands: Volume I - Pauline Gedge


Seqenenra Tao, Prince of Weset, leads a revolt against the alien Hyksos pharaohs. His provincial aristocratic family is accustomed to a life of straitened gentility. But when the prince decides to rebel they must risk all, even life itself, to restore Egyptians and their gods to glory. The Hippopotamus Marsh begins a trilogy that brings to vivid life the passions and intrigues that ushered in the great Eighteenth Dynasty.

*Perhaps I'll read the whole trilogy...

The Yacoubian Building: A Novel - Alaa Al Aswany

All manner of flawed and fragile humanity reside in the Yacoubian Building, a once-elegant temple of Art Deco splendor now slowly decaying in the smog and bustle of downtown Cairo: a fading aristocrat and self-proclaimed "scientist of women"; a sultry, voluptuous siren; a devout young student, feeling the irresistible pull toward fundamentalism; a newspaper editor helplessly in love with a policeman; a corrupt and corpulent politician, twisting the Koran to justify his desires.
These disparate lives careen toward an explosive conclusion in Alaa Al Aswany's remarkable international bestseller. Teeming with frank sexuality and heartfelt compassion, this book is an important window on to the experience of loss and love in the Arab world.


The Palace Walk (Cairo Trilogy Book 1) - Naguib Mahfouz

Volume I of the masterful Cairo Trilogy. A national best-seller in both hardcover and paperback, it introduces the engrossing saga of a Muslim family in Cairo during Egypt's occupation by British forces in the early 1900s.

* Again, perhaps I'll read the whole trilogy.

Nefertiti: A Novel - Michelle Moran

Nefertiti and her younger sister, Mutnodjmet, have been raised in a powerful family that has provided wives to the rulers of Egypt for centuries. Ambitious, charismatic, and beautiful, Nefertiti is destined to marry Amunhotep, an unstable young pharaoh. It is hoped that her strong personality will temper the young ruler’s heretical desire to forsake Egypt’s ancient gods.

From the moment of her arrival in Thebes, Nefertiti is beloved by the people but fails to see that powerful priests are plotting against her husband’s rule. The only person brave enough to warn the queen is her younger sister, yet remaining loyal to Nefertiti will force Mutnodjmet into a dangerous political game; one that could cost her everything she holds dear.

The Memoirs of Cleopatra - Margaret George

Bestselling novelist Margaret George brings to life the glittering kingdom of Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile, in this lush, sweeping, and richly detailed saga. Told in Cleopatra's own voice, this is a mesmerizing tale of ambition, passion, and betrayal, which begins when the twenty-year-old queen seeks out the most powerful man in the world, Julius Caesar, and does not end until, having survived the assassination of Caesar and the defeat of the second man she loves, Marc Antony, she plots her own death rather than be paraded in triumph through the streets of Rome.


River God - Wilbur Smith

Set against the backdrop of the Hyksos invasion of Egypt, circa 1780 B.C., Smith's adventurous tale of ancient love, intrigue and avarice was a three-week PW bestseller.

* Suggested by fellow blogger, James Viscosi

Honeymoon Plans!!

As you may know, my husband and I were living in Las Vegas for about two years. We arranged our wedding plans for June 26, 2007 . But then my husband got a job in New York City and started work in NYC in June. So we had our wedding on a Tuesday and drove out to New York City on a Friday. It's been hectic, crazy, and tough since then. Suffice to say we need a honeymoon. So every paycheck we've been squirrling away some money to save up for it. For my "big" Christmas gift my husband contributed a chunk to our funds :) Yeah!!! So in case you are wondering, we should be having our honeymoon probably in September and it's going to be in Cinque Terre, Italy!!

Cinque Terre means "Five Lands" and from what I've read is similar to the French Riviera. It comprises of five villages with vineyards, beaches, and even a national park...the Cinque Terre National Park. It's apparently pretty secluded so hopefully not a slew of tourists, has great wine, beautiful beaches, sleepy little villages, and is a UNESCO protected area. Preatty cool!

Here's photos of the five villages from their website:

Monterosso al Mare

Vernazza

Corniglia

Mandarola

Riomaggiore