The Pyramids of Giza

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WOW. That's about all I can say! When I looked out my plane window last night, I was delighted to see the pyramids of Giza lit up for the evening! It was such a thrill to see these ancient wonders!
After settling in at Chris's place, and having a good rest we traveled over to Giza to see these gigantic tombs! It was so surreal to be wandering around these monuments to ancient pharoahs. We enjoyed our time there, and laughed at the numerous attempts by the locals to have us ride their camels, donkeys, or horses! I did succumb to one of the offers, only because I needed the typical touristy picture on a camel infront of the pyramids!
Chris said he was surprised at how clear it was, they had a sand storm just a few days before which had cleared out the cairo air and we were able to see south to the pyramid fields of Saqqarah and Dashur. It was pretty amazing!
After walking around the pyramids, we decided we wanted to go inside one. So we chose the middle pyramid of Chephren, which Chris had never been inside. At first its a bit intimidating because you have to hunch over and decend into the shaft. As you decend it gets hotter and more humid. But once you get down things open up and you are able to stand up. There isn't too much to see but a few large rooms, but the thought that you are standing inside this great icon is well worth it! I can't imagine what it must be like to enter in the peak of summer, it was hot enough for me and the air is rather stale! But none the less it is well worth the trip!
We wandered on to see the infamous Sphinx. And it is indeed impressive, but wasn't what I had expected! I can't explain why it was different, only that what i had invisioned was not what i saw. The most humorous thing about the whole area, is that the best view of the pyramids and of the sphinx is from the second floor window of Pizza hut! (hence the picture with the pizza hut sign!)
After our pyramid adventure we headed back to Maadi, where chris lives, and went to dinner with his neighbor (and coworker) Kristin and her boyfriend Dave. They took me to this local restaurant called, Abu Sids (ironically you can see it from their apartments across the train tracks that run inbetween the restaurant and their building. We joked that they needed a zipline to get over there... just attach yourself and fly over the train tracks into the courtyard of the restaurant!) We had a faboulous dinner of traditional Egyptian food. It was yummy! I ate Hummous, Taamaya (falafel), Stuffed vine leaves, Babaganouh, flat bread, foul (like hummous, but made out of fava beans) and probably other things I can't think of right now. It was very tasty!!! Hope I can find more of this kind of food once I get home! 😊 But until then, I will just have to take advantage of as much as I can here!

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Photos

Me on a Camel!
Yup, here's the touristy photo! But hey, when in Egypt... you gotta do it! Right?

View of Pyramids and Sphinx
Here it is, the view from Pizza Hut!