Church and Rain, Roman Sunday

Church and Rain

Sunday morning.

Now that's a hot chocolate!

Even with the double glazed windows and shutters I can hear the church bells ringing. I have promised to take Clara to church today so I pop out of bed, leave my boys sleeping, put on a nice dress and take all three girls down the street to the nearest church, which, being Rome, is not very far away.

Of course it is a catholic church, and the mass is in Latin and Italian, but somehow we manage to get the gist of the service and have a few moments of pure spirituality. It's hard not to, with the amazing paintings all around us and the centuries of prayers having been offered here. I don't even know the name of this church, but it is very beautiful. Eighteenth century I would say. Amazing painted ceilings and gold leafed statues. Liana has come with, even though she HATES anything "religious"... It is good for her to experience something like this and I hope with some exposure she can accept that there is a Divine aspect to this universe. I won't make her choose her religion, but I want her to be aware of it.

Clara and Juliet on the Spanish Steps

The church winds up, and we file out with the rest of the faithful just as the rain starts to fall. We find a close by cafe and have some coffee for me and chocolate for the girls. It's a great time to talk about the different types of religions. We've spent a good deal of this trip in Muslim countries to date, so we can compare the differences in the mosque vs the catholic church vs the Baptist church we went to in NZ before the trip. It's also a good chance to talk about the Divine and how it can inhabit all places of worship, no matter what title they give themselves.

We get back to the apartment to find that Randall is not feeling well and Liam had tried to follow us to church - only to be apprehended by a little old lady and returned safely to our apartment.

I make a Sunday brunch and put Randall back to bed.

It's still raining and the kids are getting ancy so we unearth our rain jackets from the suitcase and make some plans.

Liam has wanted to see the Mouth of Truth ever since he got his "'Not For Parents" book about Rome so I decide to take them there. We create a "Team Family" mission and they help with the planning of our expedition. Looking at the map we have to cross most of Rome, but that's good as these guys need a good hike to get the restless energy out.



Liam and I put our hands in together....

It takes a good hour, Juliet stomps in every puddle she sees. Clara stomps in only half. Liana and Liam are not quite sure about who is going to take up the other side of our "formation", since it is only me with the four of them, and the number two in command position is quite coveted. We work it out and manage to get to the Bocca Della Verita without a single glitch.....

The Mouth of Truth (Bocca Della Verita) is an ancient Roman carving that legend says will bite the hand off of any liar who sticks his hand in it's mouth. Liam wanted to see it, but has some reservations about actually sticking his hand in. Funny that.

Liam pretends to have his hand bitten off, making sure his sisters do not put their hands in.... My little comedian!

We have to wait in line to see the statue, a switch from when I was a kid and we just walked right in, but the kids don't mind. When we finally get up there Liam makes a deal with me to put our hands in at the same time (little monkey!) so we do. We come out with our hands in tact. Then Liana puts her hand in no worries. (She's too big to be scared by a carving!) But both Clara and Juliet chicken out. Not surprising. They are still at the lovely age where they believe these things.

We enter the ancient church afterwards. It is an Orthodox church from the 12th century so a bit different from the one we were in this morning. We light candles at the alter. I send my prayers to my Uncle Terry (my dad's brother who is fighting cancer) and the kids each light a candle and I tell them to attach a good thought when they light the candle. Juliet says that she asked to have her Grandma and Grandpa come back alive. Oh, if only it worked that way!

The skull of St. Valentine is preserved in the church and the kids all get a good look. I am pretty sure I will get a few questions about the concept of relics in the coming days. Not sure if I completely understand the practise since I am pretty sure it says in the bible that is is wrong to worship idols, but then I am no authority!

Inside the Orthodox Church

The rest of the day is pretty cruisy. Lot's of puddle splashing and of course a big pizza at the end. Randall and I decide that it's time to limit the kids to pizza at only one meal per day instead of three. At least switch it up to spaghetti every other meal!!!

Tomorrow is our last day in Rome and we have saved our two special tours for the day. It should be very fun......

Liam lights a candle in front of the skull of St. Valentine

All Roads Lead to Rome

All Roads Lead to Rome

I have a brilliant idea.



Trevi Fountain

Let's take the tourist bus that does the loop around Rome. We can hop on and off when we want and see a few sights that we won't want to walk to. Yes, I know the agenda is the Colosseum, but this will get us there....

Sounds good, but the Green bus I picked was a bit of a dog. Something like 60 Euro later we are sitting on the bus just outside of the Trevi fountain (for the first time I haven't thrown a coin in, I am panicking this doesn't mean that I won't return!!!) but it goes forward 5 minutes and stops at Piazza Barbarini and waits for over 20 minutes before moving on to the next stop (Termini) where it waits for another 20 minutes. The kids are not impressed. Randall is not impressed. OK, i am not impressed either! It's hard to watch the red but doing the same itinerary but moving continuously, without these 20 minute breaks!!

Outside the Colosseum and Forum

Getting our money back won't happen and I am still a bit of a Nazi when it comes to the budget so we stick it out on the bus, slowly passing all the most famous places in Rome (I don't think i will EVER get the monument to Victor Emanuelle, I mean really, what on earth did he accomplish in life to achieve such a grandiose monument??????)

Finally we hop bus at the Colosseo - the most famous Roman amphitheatre in the world. It was started by the Roman Emperor Vespasian in 72 AD and was finished by his son Titus in 80 AD. It has been home to the famous gladiator fights as well as all sorts of other spectacles to keep the Roman public entertained. What is the saying: Bread and Circuses?

We side step the long line for the Colosseum and buy our joint Colosseum/Forum tickets at the entrance to the Palatine Hill and Roman forum. It saves us a good hour of line waiting and with kids, that is ALWAYS a good idea.

All of us in the Roman Forum

We spend a full three hours walking through the ancient Roman forum and then up on the Palatine Hill. Centuries of trade and business happened here. The forum was where business was done. People prayed. Deals were made. There were celebratory arches for great deed done by emperors. Temples. It's hard to put your head in the space that the Romans were in back then. Large scale buildings to impress the might of the empire onto citizens and travellers alike. To see it now, it looks like a whole lot of marble that has been toppled. There are some walls still left, but most of the beautiful marble has been stripped over the years to create new buildings around Rome, leaving just the inner shell of bricks standing.

The big kids are really into the whole aura of the place. And the little girls are on the hunt for the Roman fountains that we are continually filling our water bottles from.

I just love the red Mediterranean poppies that are pushing out of all the ruins. The remind me of my mom and how much she used to love seeing these colourful little flowers whenever we came to Europe in the spring. They are a cheerful addition to the scene. Like they are saying to us that life goes on, no matter how old the ground is.



Clara in front of the poppies

After touring through the Roman forum, the temple of the vestal virgins we wander through the Palatine Hill. As Liam is very proud to point out, it is one of the original seven hills that Rome was built upon. It is also the hill that the Roman emperors had their palaces on. There are so many ruins it boggles the mind.

Foot weary we toddle out of the ruins, to see the inside of the Colosseum, but alas, somewhere along the way we've lost our tickets!! No matter what we say they won't let us in, and there is no way we are going to pay the entrance fee a second time.

Liana and Liam in the Forum

With sad big kids (they so want to see the inside of the huge building) and happy little girls (they are sooooo over looking at ruined buildings) we head back to the bus. We take the same halting type of trip back to our little region of Rome. On the way back we pass by the circus maximus and a good drive along the Tiber River a long stop at St Peters square. I make a quick hop off the bus at this point and manage to carry six gelato's back to the bus. I must look like a professional because there are tourists taking pictures of me carrying the six dripping cones as I dodge traffic to get back to the bus.

We finally exit at the bus at the tomb of Augustus Ceaser and head back to our apartment and one of the amazing cafes for dinner.

It's been a long day of sightseeing for these guys, and a well deserved pizza is always appreciated. Tomorrow is a new day. Sunday in Rome. We can relax a little.

Rome - The Eternal City

Rome - The Eternal City

And here starts our European discoveries.

We're off the ship bright and early and catch the train from Civitiveccia to Roma Termini and from there take two taxi's (we really don't fit all into one, especially with our suitcases!) to the Spanish Steps. Apart from having to stand over our baggage the entire train ride, as the luggage compartments were full, it was pretty darn smooth.

I'm a little nervous because I have booked an apartment for us here and didn't have any references or even a trip adviser report to go off of. (And it gives me something to worry about, since that is my favourite past time!) It turns out to be absolutely stellar. It doesn't have every modern appliance or feature, but it is a clean and tidy three bedroom apartment in an ancient palazzo on a pedestrian street just a block from the Spanish Steps. Opening our bedroom shutters we can hang out over Via Le Carrozze and watch the people walking by and eating at the various cafes. Bliss.

We are determined to get through our laundry as none of us have much in the way of underwear.This is a priority. LOL Our little home has a little laundry machine, and soon the entire kitchen is covered in our clothes drying.

Enough domesticity, it's time to explore the city. First off, PIZZA! The kids favourite food and it's everywhere. They are immediately in love with Rome. And who can blame them. The Italians have beautiful buildings, good fashion sense, a long history and amazing food.

We don't have any specific plans for the day, which is more than half over anyway, so we do a great deal of wandering around, which is my favourite way to get to know a city. (Although, Randall and I have both been here several times each, so it's hardly a strange city.) I've got the map and am a bit tense after my last navigational experience in Dubai, but even if I had gotten us lost, the streets are so interesting, and the different styles of architecture can keep everyone entertained.

After the obligatory climb up the beautiful Spanish Steps, which are covered in pink flowers (spring time!!!!) we stop for a gelato before setting our cap for the Pantheon. Liam has built a model of this building at home and knows a bit about it's construction. It was originally commissioned by Marcus Agripa and finished by the Emperor Hadrianin 126 AD, the Pantheon was a temple to honor all the gods of ancient Rome. It is one of the best preserved Roman buildings and has been in continuous use for nearly 2,000 years. It is still the largest unsupported concrete dome ever built. From the 6th century AD it was converted into a Roman Catholic church, which is why it has been so well preserved over the years.

A few wrong turns and we pop out onto the Piazza della Rotunda and stand gaping at the Pantheon. I have been here several times before, but somehow it seems so much larger this time. Maybe because I am seeing it through the eyes of my children. The big kids are suitably impressed. Coming from our background, to pop out of a city of beautiful buildings onto a piazza filled with laughter, cafes, stores, water fountains, birds and ancient temples/churches is so foreign, we may as well be back in Arabia with burka's and camels. I am glad that the big kids "get it". I sincerely hope that this feeling will stay with them and help them to achieve and learn more about the world in the coming years.

Randall is clicking away on the camera and finally we head into the building itself. The large hole in the dome lets in the last sunlight of the evening. It's crowded, but not overly, so we are able to take our time and appreciate the melding of Roman and Christian themes of the building. Raphael's tomb is here. Clara spends a few minutes to say a prayer at the alter. And Liam stands underneath the dome for ages trying to work out the angles used in erecting the huge cement dome. I must find more ways to get mathematics and architecture in his life.

Next we aim generally for the direction of the Piazza Navona. Randall and I want to show the kids the culture and history of Europe, but without being on the strict scheduling of tours that my parents did, or the see, but have no idea what you are looking at, format that his parents adopted. So we try to keep it light. A little shopping after the Pantheon history lesson. A stop to check the score of a soccer game in the window of a restaurant. It's a brilliant walk. It's so enjoyable to be in this city. Kind of like being home, although I cannot imagine ever living here. Strange kind of feeling!

Piazza Navona

Liam at thE Pantheon

Spanish Steps, Come ON  Mum!

At The Pantheon

Piazza Della Rotunda with the Pantheon in the Back

At Bernini's fountain of the four rivers in the Piazza Navona

Inside the Pantheon

The Piazza Navona is beautiful.

I'm sure anyone who has been here would agree... Once the Roman "Stadium of Domitian" built in the first century AD, you can still see the outline of where the chariots raced. It is now a large oblong Piazza with churches and cafes and all sorts of touristy shops selling some outrageously touristy things.

The church bells ring and our stomachs growl. I'm sure we could get a less expensive dinner else where but now is when we are hungry so we sit down at a cafe directly across from the famous fountain sculpted by Bernini (and topped by the obelisk of Domitian) depicting the four famous rivers of the 17th century world and enjoy pizza and pasta and a cold Italian beer.

Gelato Excitement

Tomorrow we promise the kids to delve more into the Roman side of Rome. So a good night sleep is on the agenda to be ready for some serious touristying tomorrow! Buonna Note! Ciao.

Endings and New Beginings

Last days on the Brilliance of the Seas....

It's been a great cruise. We've seen some amazing places. And done it with ease as far as traveling with small kids goes. Thank you Royal Caribbean Cruise line for an outstanding job.

It's been a good place for me to heal and get some time to myself. With the loss in my life so far this year (Dad, Mom, Aunt Susan, the family house!) I've needed that space to regroup. It feels a little bit like someone hit the delete button in my life and and left me with a giant hole. I know that these are events are the normal part of getting older, but it just seems like so much at once....

The final day on the ship was the talent show at the kids club. Liam did a hulu hoop show with a few other boys, being his usual show off self. Liana created a clay figure for a lady in the audience, which was very well done. Juliet with the cutest dancing thing you've ever seen. And Clara convinced Randall to be her back up guitarist so she could sing her favorite James Blunt song. What a great way to end this leg of the trip.

And now it's time for Italy!

xxxxxxxxx

Alexandria

Alexandria

No way, say the kids. We just want to stay on the boat today.

Fine by us, we say. They are all happy to spend the day with their friends at the kids club and Randall and I are thrilled to have the day to ourselves. When was the last time we could be tourists, just the two of us? 2001.......?

Alexandria is relatively young when it comes to Egypt. It was the brain child of none other than Alexander the Great in 332BC and has been a hub for industry and learning ever since. When Alexander died his general Ptolemy Soter took control of Egypt and under his rule, and that of his descendants, the city became a major trade centre and focal point of learning. Today it is Egypt's second largest city and it's main port.

Randall and I head out, hand in hand, looking to take a bit of a tour of the city, but avoiding buses and cars if at all possible. Coming off the ship first we have to run the gauntlet of shops and hawkers. Then there are the taxi drivers. "Mr, Mr, I give you good rate."

Then we head over the long foot bridge and through the security gates and we are out into the smelly, dirty, crazy city. Ahead of us are horses and carriages and their fixers. They swarm us as well. We decide to just go for it and keep walking. One fixer latches on to Randall and follows us nearly three city blocks. Randall: "Do you speak English?" Him "Yes, very well." Randall "Then leave us ALONE!".... he doesn't, but gets a good walk for his time.

The man who tried to pick my pocket got a good downward block and a bruised hand for his time. I gave him a nice smile and he melted back into the crowd. It's always good to be prepared.

After stepping in filth, being touched and prodded, and not enjoying what we are seeing, we decide to take a horse and 1800's hansom cab for a drive of the city. It's well oiled and looks sturdy enough. Randall negotiates a rate of 5$ US for two hours (which included two Arab men to shoo away unwanted attention) and we are suddenly up off the street and clip clopping past some dilapidated but beautiful 18th century buildings.

mosque

Here is a great tip, if you ever make it to Alexandria: Horse and carriages have the rite of way on the streets. City traffic? No worries, they all have to move for the horse. SWEET! While Randall and I cosy up in turn-of-the-century style the taxi's stall in congestion all around us.

After clopping along the East Harbour we make a stop at the Mosque of Abu Al-Abbas Al-Mursi (yes, I had to write that down to remember the name!) for a peek at the cities largest mosque. Randall is allowed to go up the front steps where he washes himself and prays in the ornate and stunningly lovely mosque, while I am led around the side and shown the woman's viewing area. I take off my shoes and head inside, but get a tense shush shushing when I try to look over the lattice that separates our area from the mosque proper. (At least in Oman the Sultan built the women their own exclusive mosque so they could feel equal in their separatism!) Then I am given an armful of literature about converting to Islam and find my way back to the front of the Mosque. Oh, sorry, my husband has all the money so I can't give the shoe holder a baksheesh (tip). So sorry.... not.....

As I am waiting for Randall to reemerge from the Mosque the muezzins begging their songs to bring the faithful to the mid day prayers. It brings the already beautiful building alive with purpose. The ornate carvings seem to be a bit happier and it does feel nice to be seeing a building that is still alive in it's usage. Still a current being, if you will, and not just something that one gawks at because it is old.

Once my oh-so-holy husband comes back out we clip clop our way to the end of the East Harbour where the Fort Qait Bey was built on the foundations of one of the seven wonders of the world, the Pharos lighthouse. The 400 foot tall lighthouse was constructed in 279 BC and stood until it was destroyed by earthquake in the thirteenth century AD. The fort was built in the 1400's and has been expanded and worked on by the powers that be until the final expansion by King Muhammad Ali in the 19th century. The result is beautiful indeed.

I spend my last Egyptian pound to get tickets to go inside and this seems the thing for all young Egyptian people to do. It is crowded by tourists, but tourists from within Egypt. I seem to be the only woman with hair uncovered and and it causes a stir (even if it is tied up). We pose for quite a few photos, the girls all want photos with Randall and the guys with me. I'm pretty sure we are on faicebooook Arabic many times by now as they are all using camera phones and uploading their "celebrity shots" to their respective pages. Classic!

The Mediterranean sea still pounds on the thick walls of fort. It's hard to believe anything could ever breach these walls, and to my knowledge nothing ever did. Most of the plaques telling the history of the fort are in Arabic, so I have little chance of making out it's history, so my mind is free to imagine all sorts of exciting sea battles won and lost here, but then my imagination can get a little crazy....

Back to the carriage.

The next stop our little horse take us to is the newly rebuilt Library of Alexandria. It is an immense modern building. I'm not sure when it was opened but I would say fairly recently. In it Egypt is attempting to rebuild the fame of the ancient library of Alexandria which housed over 500,000 volumes in ancient times and was a mecca for scholars. It was here the Euclid invented geometry. The modern day building is Egypt's way of coming into the modern world with a presence that ties it also to its illustrious past.

Statue of Alexander the Great at the Library

Out front there is a political rally. Randall jokes that he is going to become part of "the revolution" and stands amongst the crowd on the step. There are news camera's and different people shouting into the microphone, but from what I can tell it was pretty peaceful. Disgruntled citizens who want to get their points across would be my best guess.

We don't go into the library, but walk around it's large open air plaza and admire the bust of Alexander the Great, an enlightened man himself. To one side of the plaza are some very Western looking stores and we spot, of all things, a Cinnibon store! As I use the western style toilet (ahhh, luxury!) Randall gets a four pack and takes it back to our horse and two escorts. I really don't think they have ever seen Western food like these gi-normous Cinnamon roles that we bring them. I can only eat about 1/4 before I feel like puking. Randall manages to polish his whole one off, and the two Egyptian men feel compelled to compete, although I'm sure they felt sick for days after wards.... No wonder those Westerners are so doughy, they eat this stuff all the time, you can almost hear them say. Or maybe they did, I wouldn't know since I don't speak Arabic! HEHE......

We head in the general direction of the catacombs which I really want to see. We pass by the Roman amphitheatre (the only one of it's kind in Egypt), and Pompey's Pillar (an 84 foot high pillar made from Granite dedicated to the Roman Emperor Diocletian) and finally end up at the catacombs of Kom Ash-Shuqqafa.

Discovered when a donkey fell into a huge hole in the street, these catacombs date back to the second century AD and held over 300 corpses. Randall and I seem to be the only ones here. It's creepy descending the circular staircase. It's so quiet, the city is only meters above, but down here there is silence. Most of the remains have been removed, apart from that of some prized racing horses. But the fresco's on the walls are very interesting. Roman mixed with Egyptian. Anubis wearing a toga. Both cultures intertwining in these tombs for the middle class. People who were Romans, but for generations were also Egyptians. How mixed they must have felt themselves!

Catacombs

Back up to the surface we have a traditional tea and hookah with our horsemen, as I've started calling them. They don't speak any English, but we all seem to understand each other well.

We drive back through the many city markets of Alexandria. Me without anything to cover my hair attracting huge attention. We pull the cover up on the hansom cab and get a little less attention, and are able to enjoy the scenes. The butchers with meat hanging from the ceilings. The door makers with dozens of doors piled up. Above us laundry hung out over the dirty streets. Buildings built entirely of bricks. (Please lord, don't let there be an earthquake today!) The cotton bails waiting to be made into Egyptian cotton sheets or other textiles. Old warehouses built upon Roman ruins. Chickens waiting to go home and be someones dinner.

We ended up being in our little buggy for over five hours, but I think it was well worth it. We had such a good time together. Ancient ruins, modern city and a little hand holding too!

Back to the ship, and our babies it's time to get ready to leave our ship in two days and start the adventure of Europe in a few days time!!!!

Pyramids!

Cairo and the Great Pyramids

It's the last early up and long bus tour day of the trip I promise the kids (and myself as well). It's dawn and already stinking hot. We are docked in the port of Alexandria, Egypt for the next two days and have open access to Egypt, for as long as we can handle it.

The bus takes us about 2 1/2 hour to go from the Mediterranean Sea to Cairo. We are looking for our first sandy glimpse of the last standing wonder of the ancient world - The Great Pyramids of Cheops. Liam is practically jumping out of his seat. He so wants to be the first to see them. Our bus drives through city, filled with the ubiquitous half finished buildings - until suddenly they are there right in front of us. Huge and majestic. Looking a bit sad and forlorn, wishing for their days of glory, but still standing strong and loyal.

The Pyramids were built around 2560 BC, the largest was finished in just 20 years. A stunning testimony to the Old Kingdom of Egypt and the Pharaohs who wished their tombs to be epoch memorials to their time in power and their home for the afterlife. Tourists have been coming here to see them for millennium. Now that's a really interesting thought. Not years, not decades, not even thousands of years - but millennium. It makes you feel a bit small and connected to humanity as a whole all the at the same time.

The Great Pyramid of Cheops was the tallest man made structure for 3,800 years. Having seen the Burg Khalifa (the current tallest building in the world) in Dubai just a few weeks ago it makes me appreciate the durability of this ancient wonder. I doubt the Burg Khalifa will still be standing 300 years from now, let alone 4,000 plus years. Just pause and give a silent nod to the builders who built for the future and not just the short term glory.

Our bus drives directly past each of the two huge pyramids, as well as the smaller ones, designated for the Queens, and stops on top of a large sand dune/parking lot for a panoramic view of the area.

We are plus one today. One of the kids friends from the ship, TJ, is in our care. (Hey when you already have four, what's one more?) He is a super nice 12 year old from Auckland who gets along with all our kids, but who is also not as used to the rougher side of life. Meaning specifically the awful hawkers of all the crappy Egyptian souvenirs who prey upon the tourist buses stopping at the famous sights.

We get off the bus and are literally swarmed. They are a very hands on sort. They are putting necklaces on my girls, head dresses on my boys and shoving old post cards in my face. I get very angry and start shouting at the top of my lungs which they think is great, taking it to be my interest that is fuelling my outburst. Damn!! The best thing to do is ignore them, but practising that is hard for me. The hawkers respond to a different kind of language, one that we would consider very rude. Complete imperial indifference I jokingly call it. But hey we survived, and got some lovely pictures too.

Next stop we are given another warning about the hawkers and let loose on the pyramids themselves. It's good to get up and personal with the huge structure. Randall, who is the most remarkable bargainer I have ever met, has arranged to have our photo taken on a camel, which is a bit of a crack up. The camel is belching and moaning and growling. The hawkers are all shouting at us. We're all laughing. It's complete chaos. But hey, this is Egypt. You have to roll with it. If not, why come? Other cultures are great to experience, and sometimes they make you realise the things you like about your own!

Just after we are done taking photos with/on the grumpy camel (never did get one with all of us at the same time) I hear a yelp and poor TJ has been physically grabbed and put on a different camel (an animal he is not keen to be around, let alone on). He panics. I yell. The camel jockey asks for money to take him off. I yell louder. Then finally make a jump and physically pull the poor boy off the camel and keep my arms wrapped around him for the next few minutes. (The next day he shows me bruises which he is telling everyone is from the hawker, but I must admit, I think are from me grabbing him, poor guy.)

We head over to the actual foot of the pyramid and this time the persistent buggers side step grumpy mama bear and pick on Randall. Bad idea. He puts one guy in an arm lock and pins his arm behind his back. Suddenly we are left alone and the younger hawker calls him "The Man from New Zealand". TJ and Liam love this. (And so do I.) We are able to continue our tour in peace - and Liam is asking to join karate class again.

The blocks of the pyramids are just so huge! From far away they look like small building bricks, but up close they are far above our heads. The kids scramble up part of the way of one. The hot dusty scene makes it feel old. Once upon a time, this whole place would have been sparkling marble and temples and fountains. The holiest ground of Egypt. Time moves on for all of us, even great monuments and civilisations.

Next stop the Sphinx. So now to test a little of your high school history.... What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the mid day and three legs in the evening?

Yep, the riddle of the Sphinx. Anyone remember the answer?

We have a good half an hour to explore the very crowded area. The kids say they are more moved by the huge human headed lion than they were by the pyramids. And it does look pretty amazing with the pyramids in the background. The scientists think the face of the Sphinx is that of Cheops, none other than the Pharaoh responsible for the giant pyramids. (Makes senses really!)

Back on the bus, we head to lunch at a super plush near-by hotel. It's weird to come from the poverty of the street vendors and unfinished buildings to be met by a brass band dressed as Egyptian Pharaohs playing Jingle Bells (really, that is such a non sequitar it is hard to describe) and ushered into the uber fine, five star luxury that we are eating in. Not that any of us complain about the air conditioning.

The final stop on the itinerary of our last long day is the Egyptian Museum. Home to the treasures of King Tutankhamen and mummies of the Valley of the Kings.

But before we are allowed to go there we must go by the obligatory shopping stop, which must be the bus driver's families store. Papyrus and souvenirs of all kinds. What's your best price?

I was very proud of Liana. She really wanted to buy some Egyptian papyrus, and managed to get the price down by over 50%. She stuck to her price and even started walking out on the guy before he finally gave her what she wanted. She's so happy with her wall art and I was so happy to see her negotiating in the real world.

So, finally, finally we reach the famous Egyptian museum. Next door is a burned out building, left over from the rioting that rocked Egypt a year ago. There is a change in the government, but one can only wonder if the people will be able to shake the corrupt military government that has ruled the country since the 50's?

To see the museum, you really need at least a week, or more! And we only have an hour (due to the extra long stop at Mohamed's brother's nephew's son's sister shopping mart.) There are so many niches, each filled with it's own treasure. We take a brief tour through the funerary equipment that accompanied the boy king, Tutankhamen, to his grave. His favourite chariot. Beds. Shoes. Chairs. Statuary. And finally we enter the heavily guarded room that contains his jewels. His rings and necklaces, and most amazingly, his death mask. A likeness of the boy himself, just 18 when he died, in solid gold, with inlaid precious gems and so stunning all five kids stand in front of it with the proverbial jaw dropped expressions. I can't help shake the feeling that this is really him. Even though 3,000 years separate us, I know him a little.

Randall spots a tiny sign that leads off to another room and it hold animal mummies (because Egyptians mummified EVERYTHING important to them). There are huge crocodiles, tiny cats, baboons, Nile Perch the size of large dogs, and even bulls. It's amazing.

Last but not least we suck it up and pay nearly $100 extra to enter the room of the mummies. Yes, even the Egyptian Museum must hit you up for that last money. This is Egypt right?

I had a talk with the kids outside the room about what we were going to see. The dead kings and queens of Egypt. Their actual bodies and how it is important to show our respect. I don't think it prepared them.

The ability of the ancient Egyptians to preserve their dead is legendary and it is well deserved. The faces of some of the mummies look like they may just open up their eyes and have a chat with you. The bodies are skinny, but most have parts that are so well preserved they could be part of me. My hands, or my foot sticking out of the bandages. To think these were living, talking, breathing, loving people who just happened to walk the earth millennium ago is astonishing. Clara shed a quiet tear or two. Juliet plastered herself against me. TJ refused to come all the way into the room. Liam was horrified at first and then got his courage to come in and read all of their information to us. Liana was fascinated. Getting down and looking into each face. That's my girl. I find it a bit unsettling to look upon them. They wished to be buried in the ground or in their tombs so that they could enjoy their endless slumber, but here we are putting them on display for people to gawk at, all in the name of science. I must say it leaves me with an unpleasant feeling.

Back to Alexandria by bus. It takes forever. The kids are well and truly done when we get back. The girls fall asleep before we even have dinner. As much as I fought the idea of a cruise ship at the beginning of this trip I must say that it is a nice thing to come back to with the little monkeys, safe, cool, and very western. Ah, and a nice shower!!!

Tomorrow is Alexandria. Our last day in Africa!

Suez Canal

The Suez Canal

Normally the idea of crossing through such an iconic piece of real estate would have me up early to see us approaching the town of Suez and meeting up with our north bound convoy of ships..... but, let’s just say I was proud to make it up the stairs for a cup of tea and toast at nine. But the good news is, the breakfast buffet is at the very tippy top of the ship giving a stunning view of the sandy desert we are steaming through!

The first canal through the area was dug in the 13 century BC by the Egyptians, but over the centuries fell into disuse around the time of Christ. Napoleon had a view to build a canal here but nothing happened until the French engineer Ferdinand de Lesseps started in the mid 1800’s. It was officially opened in 1859 with a 99 year lease to the French Suez Canal company. The 1950’s and 60’s were a turbulent time with hostilities between Egypt (who owned the rights to the canal now) and Israel creating “the Suez Crisis”. The Egyptians sank over 40 ships to prevent anyone using the canal, and the canal was closed for years. Today the sunken ships are all gone, for the moment there is no war between Israel and Egypt, and the canal is available for ships of all nationalities. Very good for us, as it would be a very long trip around Africa to get to the Mediterranean!!

The Suez canal itself is 101 miles (160 k’s) long and accommodates around 50 ships per day, 8% of the world’s shipping movement. The canal is only wide enough for the passage of ships one way at a time, so they run scheduled convoys, of which our ship is first. Our speed is greatly reduced going through the canal to prevent the waves eroding the sides of the canal.

It is quite a surreal experience looking out on either side of the ship and seeing land. The canal is only 900 feet wide (300 mtrs) but with our big boat it sure seems narrower than that! To the right sand dunes and to the left, towns and green fields and more sand dunes..... It took us a good 10 hours to come through the canal and head out into the Mediterranean Sea, leaving the port of Suez behind and heading for Alexandria tomorrow.

Over all the kids were a bit unimpressed by watching the sand go by all day. Liam was really hoping to see how locks work. He’d been reading up on the Panama canal, which is of course famous for its locks, but alas the Mediterranean and Red Seas are at the same level and the land is quite flat, so more of a glorified ditch and not quite so interesting to my budding engineer.... Ah well, tomorrow he can figure out the building techniques of the pyramids!  

Quarentine and Sinai Penninsula

Quarantine

Well, the title says it all. Today we are docked in Sharm El Sheik, on the tip of the Sinai peninsula. Home of Mount Sinai, Bedouin tribes and some of the most fantastic diving on the planet. But sadly, I am stuck in my room on solitary confinement. I went to the doctor this morning with Liana as I was still sick and she had come down with a bad case of pink eye, and faster than you can blink the nurse put us on quarantine and took away our sea passes. I’ve had free room service, free pay per view movies, free mini bar (like I feel like drinking!) – but alas cannot leave the room. Not even to go on deck to see the port. Big sad face....

But at least Randall got away today. He took Clara on a day tour to St. Katharine’s monastery at the foot of Mount Sinai. It’s a Greek Orthodox monastery that has been in continuous use since the 4^th century ad! Clara was so very excited as I’ve been reading her bible stories and she loves the one about Moses and the burning bush. And this monastery claims to have a bush that is descended from the original burning bush (how you would know I have my doubts, but hey, I’m glad she has her fledgling faith)....

When they returned in the afternoon Clara’s face was just glowing. They had a fantastic time.

Leaving the coast they traveled through the blistering desert with wild camels and Bedouins dotting the sandy landscape. The monastery sits in an oasis at the base of the jagged Mount Sinai. The Greek Orthodox monks have been the bastion of Christianity in the area since the 5^th century AD. Inside the monastery is a plaza highlighting the burning bush. Passing through the plaza you enter the hall of icons, which is filled by the spirit of belief that the generations of monks have held in this place. The power of the centuries fills you. Incredible artwork and mosaics. The ghosts of the pilgrims who would have crossed such hardships to get there. The view of Mount Sinai rising out of the river of sand, spiky and craggy. It wouldn’t be hard to picture Moses receiving the ten commandments in this place.

Randall said it was absolutely amazing. His exact quote was “when you are there, you almost have to believe” – and those are some strong words from a guy like him.

And to make Clara’s day complete she got to ride a camel named “Whiskey” down from the monastery. I loved hearing her tell the tale. She’s growing up so fast.

Tomorrow we are traversing the Suez canal and will be reentering charted waters, at least for us grown-ups. The Mediterranean Sea is calling.

Luxor and the Valley of the Kings

Luxor and the Valley of the Kings – A tale of speed bumps, dreams fulfilled and way too many trips to the bathroom

After crossing the Red Sea during the night our ship docked at Safaga early in the morning. Safaga is mainly a shipping port, exporting phosphates and other mining ventures from this region of Egypt. In ancient days this was the shipping port that Queen Hatshepsut sent forth her convoys to the land of Punt (Somalia these days) and Oman for spices and exotic goods.

We board a bus (all six of us this time!!) for the three hour drive across the desert to Luxor and the Valley of the Kings. This is one of the most famous places in antiquity and one of my personal dreams to see. It’s going to be one long, long day, but we can’t come this close and not go there. Luckily all the kids seem to be recovered and are excited by the adventure, especially Liana who has picked up on my love of ancient Egypt.

Unfortunately for me, about an hour into the bus drive the stomach pains started. And I spent the next two hours wondering which end was going to get lucky – or unlucky as the case may be!

The second you arrive in Egypt there is a completely different feeling than the countries we have visited to date. It seems just a bit more chaotic, less organized and dirty. The rubbish on the side of the road is piled ridiculously high. No building seems to be finished, each with exposed wires coming out of the roof, waiting in perpetuity for the roof to be built. The souvenir hawkers are that much pushier, just and edge of desperation that we haven’t encountered to date. And the road trip to the Nile from the Red Sea took three hours, only because there were police check points and speed bumps every few kilometers, making for one of the most uncomfortable trips you can imagine in a bus.... even for those in our party who were well.

First we climbed through the rocky mountains into the great sandy desert. Until we near the Nile where the land turned lush and green, with field after field of crops. Small mud bricked farm houses. Donkeys and children running along the dirt streets. Canals have been built to bring water up from the Nile river, and farmers are living their lives fairly similarly to way they did in ancient Egyptian times. Only now that they have built the Aswan dam they need to use fertilizer as the dam prevents the river flooding which would normally bring fresh nutrients to the soil. They had such a good thing for over 5,000 years, it’s sad that the need for electricity over shadowed it, not to mentioned destroying several ancient tombs.

And finally we reach the Nile itself and cross over to the west bank. The east bank of the Nile was where life happened in ancient days. The rising sun, the giver of life, the daily life and toil. And the west bank was for the dead. The afterlife. The journey through the night to the judgment day where the individual’s life and hearts would be judged against the feather of truth and they could continue their lives into the everlasting; or be eaten by a crocodile headed god.

Ever since I was a little girl I have been absolutely fascinated by Egypt. My dad was always trying to get me to study a culture “that wasn’t so obsessed by death” – which of course I did, heeelllooo Ancient Greece – but there is just something so powerful to me about Egypt and their thousands of years of kingdom in this sandy desert.

We finally make it to the Valley of the Kings, burial ground of the Pharaohs of the New Kingdom (think 1500 bc era). As we approach we have to get off the bus into the extreme heat and take a small tram up into valley. Surrounded by high sandy cliffs the tombs are buried deep into the valley floor and into the walls so as to hide them from tomb raiders. Egyptians were buried with everything they would need for life in the afterlife, and as Egypt has plentiful gold mines, the Pharos were to be well looked after indeed. The only tomb to be found with all its treasure is the tomb of Tutankhamen, the boy king, whose face is immortalized in his funerary mask that everyone has seen a time or two. This being Egypt you have to pay a second fee to enter his tomb, even though it is less spectacularly decorated than the rest, given that he died at the age of 18. We’ll see Tutankhamen’s treasures in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo in a few days so we opt for three tombs of different Ramses’.

Ok, I’ll admit it, I cried. I am not sure what overcame me, but I did. As we walked down that long tunnel, inscribed by verses from the Book of the Dead, I was overwhelmed with emotion. The sheer beauty of it. All the years I spent learning about this culture and it’s kings. The powerful meaning behind the texts. Just the impact of it all. I don’t think my kids understood why mum had tears streaming down as we toured the tomb, maybe they thought it was the extreme heat.

But really, it was spectacular. No picture can do justice to the artwork depicted here. And how surreal it is to go from the searing 35C (95F) degree heat, down into the mountain itself where it is cool. As you go you get to see the pictures and hieroglyphics telling the story of the kings life and his hopeful journey into the afterlife. And hieroglyphics from the Book of the Dead, reminding him of the spells he would need to recited to get him through his journey.

We toured a total of three tombs while we were there. Ramses II, Ramses IV and Ramses IX. Liam wanted to know if we could see someone besides a Ramses, but we ran out of time. It was the right amount of time to spend. I would have liked to see all of them, but my stomach condition and the scorching heat told us to be sensible. Clara and Juliet’s faces were beet red, time to retreat to the air-conditioning.

Back on the bus I took a turn for the worse, barely able to get upright for a viewing of Queen Hatshepsut mausoleum in the mountain, before heading to a hotel in downtown Luxor for lunch. I evacuated the dining room and set up camp on one of the couches in the lobby. I fell asleep almost instantly and had the most extraordinary dream. (You, my dear reader could probably care less, but well, you know me, way too verbose.)

I dreamed that my Ba (the Egyptian’s word for your soul, usually depicted by a bird with the head of the soul’s owner) left me sleeping on the couch and headed out into Luxor. And there, in the desert, I met some really fine looking people, all dressed as ancient Egyptians. They all assured me that the afterlife was ok, and there is nothing to fear. If life was too hard I could just come away with them and my work for this life could be done. In my dream I was so tempted, and had to fight to remember why I wanted to stay. So I visualized Liana’s face and showed them why I had to stay. Then Liana’s face morphed into beautiful young girl from the 50’s then it rapidly morphed into girls from all the generations past until finally I was seeing the faces of little girls in ancient Egypt. It was just to let me know that this is the way of life, and all people who pass away leave behind their little girls, and not just the little girls they have given life to, but the little girls that we all are and grow out of. But that it was ok for me to stay, I would be at this cross roads again. And the next thing I knew I was being shaken awake by the hotel staff who were making sure I was ok.

I was just a bit freaked out and decided not to go back to sleep, although I could feel my fever raging. I thought of Randall’s mom, and how she died suddenly of a heart attack on a trip to the Nile just a little over two years ago. I wonder if she had a similar dream and decided that she’d had a better offer, and took it. And then I wondered how Randall was handling being here and seeing the Nile cruise ships, docked all along the Nile, knowing that one of them was the ship his mother passed away on.

The Temple of Karnak was next on the agenda for the day. Considered the world’s greatest open air museum, the temples of Luxor and Karnak are immense and had huge religious significance for the ancient Egyptians as the home to Amun-Ra, their sun god who manifested himself in the Pharaoh himself.

When the two kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt were united into one country the capitol city moved from Memphis in the north to Thebes in the middle of the country (modern day Luxor). And that is when the building began in earnest. Huge temples were started to house the sun god Amun Ra, along with the other many gods in the Egyptian pantheon. And over the next 400 plus years each Pharaoh left his mark with rooms, halls, pylons or obelisks all intricately detailed with carvings and hieroglyphics. In some places the paint is still vibrant. The size is staggering. Pictures don’t do it justice. There is a real spirit of the ancient times as you walk the halls of the priests and Pharaohs of Egypt’s New Kingdom.

I got as far as I could touring Karnak, but every time I looked up to the columns above, with their perfectly preserved carvings and paintings, I spun out. I got to the colonnade and threw in the towel. Leaving Randall and the rest of the group I took the heat wilted little girls and got myself back to the bus. There I took up a whole row and spent my time laying there or in the bathroom. Not the way I wanted to spend this long anticipated day, but what the heck can you do?

At some point the people came back and we made the three hour journey to the port in Safaga, with everyone on the bus cursing the corrupt current government of Egypt for all the nonsensical speed bumps and the police check points. The ship was certainly a sight for sore eyes when we finally rattled down the last few speed bumps onto the dock....

To Be Continued......