Dee autour du monde

The Royal Jewelry Museum houses major jewelry pieces and art acquisitions of the dynasty of Mohammed Ali and his descendants, who ruled Egypt for nearly 150 years from 1805 until the Egyptian Revolution of 1952. Following the Revolution, the jewelry left by the Royal Family was kept secure and unseen until a 1986 decree by President Mubarak was issued to assign Princess Fatima Al-Zahra'Palace in Alexandria as a special museum to house those pieces. I have attached photos of some of my favorite pieces. The Library of Alexandria was the most famous in the ancient world, home to an unsurpassed collection of manuscripts, codices and many thousands of papyrus scrolls. The Library’s destruction is a matter of historical debate. The Roman historian Plutarch blames an out-of-control fire set by Julius Caesar in 48 BC, while other ... read more

Today was a pretty relaxed day. We took the train from Cairo to Alexandria. upon arrival we took a bus tour through part of the city. Stopped to photograph the citadel then on to a seafood restaurant for lunch. Alexandria is much smaller than Cairo, only 5 million population and at first look seems to be cleaner. It was founded in 331 BC by 25-year-old Alexander the Great. Where the citadel stands now, was a towering Pharos lighthouse, marking the ancient harbour's entrance. It was one of the Seven Wonders of the World, and its Great Library was considered the archive of ancient knowledge. Unfortunately, the Pharos collapsed and the Great Library was torched. Part of the ancient city disappeared under the sea and part under the modern city, so there are few visible remains of ... read more

We flew back to Cairo Tuesday the 17th. So here we are. Unbelievable. Never thought I’d ever see them. One of the chambers was open for visiting but I didn’t go in. Our PD told us there was nothing but an empty chamber, you had to down very steep stairs, there were no paintings or carvings and it was a like a sauna. I regret it now. I had always imagined that the pyramids were in the middle of the desert. Well they were when they were built. Now the city of Giza is right there. The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza pyramid complexbordering present-day El Giza, Egypt. It is the oldest of the url=https://en.m.w... read more

This morning we docked in Quena. It is 39 miles north of Luxor and is responsible for 64% of the sugar production in Egypt. Quena is one of the most important industrial cities in Egypt. It has 3 sugar factories, one spinning and weaving factory and it has one of the biggest aluminum plants in the Middle East. This morning we visited the temple of Denderah, known as the temple of the goddess Hathor, goddess of love, beauty and motherhood among the ancient Egyptians. It was once considered a holy city. The colourful scenes and the carvings are incredible. When the Christian came they defaces the goddess. In the middle ages people actually lived in the temple and also making fires inside the temple. Now they are cleaning it to get ride of the black on ... read more

This morning we visited the Temple of Edfu by horse and carriage. Our horse’s name was Rambo, the driver a young boy of maybe 16yrs. According to him Rambo is number 1. The temple of Edfu is unique as it is intact and almost in its original form. The construction began about 237 B.C. and was finished in 57 B.C. It is dedicated to the god Horus, the sacred hawk, usually represented by a hawk-headed man. Every available surface is carved with hieroglyphs describing offerings to the god. The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing by the pool. We passed through the locks of Edna and as the boat was approaching the locks some vendors in small boats came close to our boat to sell their goods. They throw things at us, if you don’t ... read more