We arrive around 1:30pm, it is warm and dry. We take a little bus to the terminal where we are met by our Travel Agent’s representative. We get visas immediately and went through customs quickly. There are so many different types of people, tourists, locals - all the men on cell phones!

We meet Naga Gabrial, our Egyptologist who would become our guide, friend, and teacher over the next 15 days. He says we will have many surprises.  Our van fits us all and luggage snugly. Our first views of Cairo are from the small van, a statue of one of the Pharoahs, maybe Amenhotep II (or III) outside the airport.

A highway reminiscent of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway. We see Mosques and housing, reminiscent of Queens with the steeples now minarets. Cairo of the thousand mosques! Ther city is all limestone and yellow ochres.  Noisy, crowded, so many cars and very sunny!

A huge old, old cemetery, The City of the Dead, looms for at least mile. Mosque tombs and other burials have become homes for the people of Cairo. Even electricity has been run to them now.

We travel through the city - now more like old Paris, on the river, more modern housing, office buildings, a glimpse of the Cairo Museum (soon to become a landmark in my mind). We finally see the Nile.  From the air we saw it snaking through the countryside.

We cross the river to an island where our hotel lies. The Meridian, endlessly under construction (according to the guidebooks) is - under construction. However a new giant tower with a revolving restaurant looms (scarey post 9/11). Now in retrospect perhaps a target for terrorism in Cairo. The only other tall structure in this location (skyscraper office buildings inhabit one other part of Cairo) is the Opera with it's needle point tower.

Such a lovely combination of modern and old Islam.

Our rooms look over the Nile. Feluccas and tour boats dot the landscape. A fountain - sometimes off, sometimes on, sometimes on high (and always blown back by the strong Nile winds) is on one side. We cannot see the pyramids they are too far away to the south. Yhey show us the modern tower where we will have dinner the next night. Our room has twin beds and a little fridge.  Wine, water and a great view of the Nile.  The feluccas are so peaceful and serene.  The Nile moves slowly and looks quite clean. No East River here despite the 20 million people.  There is smog and noise and construction. Many cars and people but the people are so friendly. Some women are all in black, some with only a slit for their eyes. All the local women have their hair in scarves. Our travel agent welcomes us and introduces us to the hotel manager, giving us a tour of the new wing.  We get into our rooms and shower.

We meet the group for dinner at a Nubian Restaurant in the hotel. We pass the young lady who rolls and bakes out in the open on the terrace. The pita bread dough smelles like english muffins. The grilled chicken and fresh baked pita are magnificent, I have veal stew with a mushroom cream suace flavored with cinnamon (equal to the mushroom stew I got in Moscow!), then some lamb chops with a tomatoe garlic hot sauce (so tender!) and a great beer! Stela is the main beer in Egypt and it is very slightly similar to Germany's Weiss Bier - lighter and more lemony. Not anything like English beer, if anything more American? Mom has a lamb dish with curried rice.  She has little spinach pies.  The chicken on the grill looks and smells divine. The girls love it.  The tahini is very, very good.  All in all a great cheap dinner.

Then we go to watch the musicians in their Turkish hats playing very interesting looking instruments.  A large zither, some big drums, a large guitar and an accordion. I walk down by the Nile, a great breeze and the Nile is so calm. The hotel pool is round and shallow with a gorgeous mosaic tile bottom. Gorgeous. It is great we have a small group so we can be flexible in our itinerary. I think we will have better luck getting to do things.  Naga says he can get a tomb at Saqqara opened for us that is usually closed to the public. I know for certain already I will need to return to see more, spend more time on the Nile and go see the Red Sea (and go on a safari!). Naga also makes tours to the Oases. The people are so honest here and there is little or no crime.

We have to get up early the day next day so it's off to unpack. However Mom has left behind in NYC all the luggage keys (and most of her important papers). I call the front desk - they say they will notify engineering - but no one comes to help us. Ken from Seattle stops by - we are always roomed next to each other - and he sees our predicament (Mom filing away at the lock with a German nail file - ya vol!). He tells the front desk we need assistance as he goes off on a walk.

Ken's trademark for the ENTIRE trip was his going off to explore on his own, while I lagged behind with the video camera all the time. "Ken!!  RRRRRita!" was often heard being exclaimed by Naga during the trip. We often had to spend time while Naga found him to get back on the van and go <grin>.

Anyway, the "guys" from engineering come up, they clip the last two locks but not before Mom bravely files through a few others. I drink the only half bottle of wine in the room and tape video. Crazy.

Day 3

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