Arrival into Cairo...

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So my day started out a little hectic... well, I shouldn't say hectic, but let's just say adventurous 😉.

I awoke in the oh so suave city of Como, Italy, and had a lovely breakfast in the outdoor cafe of the hotel I stayed at (complete with a bell tower right outside my window - which of course rang quite early, hehe) 😉. I also found out from some German travelers sitting with me that the swing dancing competition I witnessed last night was actually quite a big ordeal - their friends and such had come all the way to participate. They were quite interesting to talk to. But, anyway, so after that, I left for the main train station...

I get there, and discover that the ticket machine won't issue me a ticket back to Milan... this is odd. So anyway, I find these two young Irish travelers, and we set off to try and discover what is wrong. We wait for a good while, until finally getting cheap tickets for the later train. They both decide to head back off down into the city - I decide (since my backpack is way too heavy to be sightseeing with) to stay in the cute little diner attached to the station (it seriously looked like it belonged in the 1950s - so cute!) 😉. Anyway, I finally ask the nice older couple working behind the counter where all the trains are. The man informs me there is a train strike - and no trains are running from this station - uh oh! So, in my best Italian (which isn't so good, LOL!) I ask for directions to the other train station in town for the private trains that are running. And get this, that station was less than a minute from where I was staying!! LOL! Oh well, so anyway, I go back there, and this lovely older Italian gentleman tries to help me get to Milan (he didn't speak english, so I only got about half of what he was telling me - but it was enough 😊 - so I got on the double decker private train, and off to Milan I went.

The private train actually worked out better in the long run, because from there I could take the express train right to Malpensa airport!! =) YEAH!!

I arrived at Malpensa about an hour before checking in with Egypt Air, yes, for my flight to Cairo. It really was quite exciting for me to be waiting in the terminal for my flight to Cairo. It sounds so exoctic and exciting, doesn't it?! Anyway, so I board my flight of mostly Arabs, and I try my best with the little Arabic I know (which I want to learn more of, it's an absolutely GORGEOUS language!). Luckily these two Italian friends sat next me, and we chatted in a little Italian and a little english 😉. We got a pretty good meal - complete with tahini - YUM! 😉 And watched Norbit - which was actually pretty bad - but it was cool to see us all who worked on it back at Warner Bros. But anyway, after about a 3 hour flight we fly over the ancient city - and I saw the pyramids for the first time from above! They looked so small from above - but still truly amazing!

We land successfully, and we get off the plane and onto this sort of shuttle bus that takes us to the main terminal - now the fun starts... We get off the shuttle, and are ushered around by men with guns - so i get in line for the passport checks - but then realize I didn't get my Visa! Uh oh - so I get out of line and go over to the bank window with my form, and hand the man 15 US dollars and get my two stamps - it really was quite a chaotic experience (but in a really cool way, you know?). It was all so adventurous!

So after all that, I make it out of the airport, and I find my driver holding a sign with my name (I've never had anyone do that - it's actually pretty cool!)

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