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From Matt - We finally got caught up on our sleep so we are staying up late tonite to celebrate! Hung out the "no disturb sign", pulled the heavy curtains shut and slept about 10 hours. I still had to force Rush to wake up or he would have slept thru the day! We had some Turkish coffee for breakfast and Rush said it tasted like dirt. It's the best coffee I've had and I'm sure I will suck down a few more cups before we leave. We picked up the "Tea" habit in London and have contined it since. I'll never give up the coffee but a tea in the afternoon is wonderful even when it is approaching 100 outside.
The Egyptian Museum was basically all that was on the menu for today and sadly they don't allow cameras. The museum is over 100 years old and some parts look like they have not been dusted since 1950. There is very little organization to it. It looks like they just stuck things that look alike all together in one area. Kinda like that Sesame Street song - "One of these things does not belong here...". Very few artifacts are
labeled. some have Arabic script on a fading scrap of notebook paper. Other are describing things that don't appear to be there! Having said all that - It is a breath taking place. Egyptian artifacts going back 4,500 years right there where you can reach out and touch them. A room full of animal mummies! 2 mummified Nile Crocodiles about 18 to 20 feet long. Mummified cats, fish, birds and even a pet mare. (Watch out Miss Kitty - I'm getting some ideas!) The giant granite sarcophogie (sp?) covered with intricate carvings and heirogliphs. How did you carve in granite 4000 years ago? We paid an extra fee to go into see the royal mummies. I hope no one digs me up in 4000 years. They did not look happy. Rush turned to me and said he definitely did NOT want to be mummified when he died. Does he need a living will for that request? The King "Tut" part was awesome. Got to see the famous headdress that everyone recognizes. That room was full of all the gold artifacts and was very shiney! (Is that a word?) We hit "Pharonic Fatigue" about the time they were getting ready to
close. In all I belive we were there for around 6 hours. Rush never got bored. We'll see how he does at The Louvre !
We came back to the hotel and packed a small pic-a-nic for a sunset sail on The Nile. We are in downtown Cairo so it was kinda like sailing thru Dallas on I-30! The pictures will show you better than I can explain. The sail boat is called a felluca. The same type of boat that has been sailing the Nile for thousands of years.
We got adventurous after sunset and walked thru a large well lit modern shopping area. Not the tourist district. We got lots of stares. Can't imagine why? The sidewalks were stuffed full of people in all kinds of garb from something you would see at any of our malls to women with only their eyes showing thru tiny slits in black cloth. Had some tea after about 10 blocks and then walked back down the other side.
Tomorrow - Memphis, Saqqara and Giza during the day and the market in Old Cairo after dark.
Thanks again for all your messages and comments. Rush is going to be
a blogger someday. Vance will need to upgrade their ISP from dial up soon! Welcome to the 21st Century! Love you all.
From Vance - Matt is a great tour guide, he has done all the research and keeps us well informed...had a business meeting in Cairo today (just kidding)....the museum was phenomenal....is seemed hot inside untill we stepped outside...people ask us if it is hot, and i tell them it feels like home...about 95-100 degrees (F)...the trip on the nile was cool....a sailboat, a sandwich, and da boys....the city is like a boiling pot, crossing the street is a unique experience...rush said it was like playing frogger...just a matter of time before you lose...we had a textbook example of the "egyptian hussle"...a man told us not to go towards the market we were heading to, "it would be closed because of evening prayer, and there was a government bazaar where things were cheap", if we would follow him, it would only take 3 1/2 minutes, and he could show us fine quality at a cheap price...he was a "school teacher" and wanted no baksish (tip)...matt very quickly recognized the play, and when we hesitated, he said it would
"take less than 1/2 minute to get there" .... we very politely smiled and thanked him for his time, and told him we had to meet someone at a coffee shop....this confused rush because he knew that our statement was not true, so matt had to give him a little talk regarding cultural differences...the interaction between rush and uncle matt is very cool to experience, and sometimes i believe my son is a man...his insight and knowledge is very surprising, and yet somehow expected....i think he will carry these days for many years and will share them with many others....he has learned how to say thank you in arabic and is very polite and is minding well...he must get that from his mamas people....tomorrow should be an incredible day and rush has been singing "walk like an egyptian" (matt put it on his iPod)....glad y'all are keeping up.....wish you were here, but a big crowd would never make it across the street....
From Rush - I could not sleep lastnight! I tried the turkish coffee it tasted horrible!!! Then we went to the museum and saw many mummies. Not mommys mummies!!! After that we had sub sandwiches. They were
realy good. Then we came back to do our blogs. While dad and uncle matt were doing there blogs I was playing a video game on the computer.
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Anne
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Well, I'm enjoying your trip ...
Guys I'm addicted to reading about your adventures! You really bring the sites you see alive for those of us stuck at home. I think the 'hustle' is universal, because we got sucked in by a similar set-up in Mérida, Mexico (Dad ended up with a hammock. Heh, heh.) Anyway, much love and keep sending photos and tales of your travels!