Rose and Ron Krumpos in Egypt

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Egypt

Bad strawberries at Mena House-Oberoi, near the Pyramids

In Cairo we were provided a car and guide by Thomas Cook. Travcoa used the Nile Hilton downtown. We were hosted by the Mena House-Oberoi Hotel & Casino in Giza, in a room looking at the Pyramids...flood lit at night. Rose walked to the evening Sound & Light Show at the Pyramids (Ron saw it on tours). The hotel's Moghul Room served some of the best food in Egypt, with a good show, but Rose got sick on bad strawberries.

The Oberoi's casino required formal attire, which neither of us had packed. A guard at the Egyptian Museum saw Rose 'loose it' near the mummies exhibit. Our guide said that she never let her children eat strawberries. Rose regrets missing the Khan ei-Khalil bazaar, but had an 18-kt. gold cartouche made...her name in hieroglyphics. Later, IBM invited us to a black tie reception for the Tutankhamen exhibit in San Francisco (Rose finally saw it).

A costume dinner aboard the MS Osiris on the Nile

Ron had escorted three groups to Egypt, but the trip with Rose was different. Vivre International Tours in Tokyo arranged for us to be guests of the MS Osiris. The riverboat took us on a four night cruise on the Nile (all other passengers were Europeans) - revisiting the tombs and temples at Dendara, Luxor, Edfu, and Kom Ombo - then we flew on to the massive temples of Abu Simbel! One night there was a costume dinner aboard the Osiris.

At Karnak - another James Bond locale - Rose's water bottle opened inside her bag and 'drowned' her small camera: we saved it with a hair dryer on board the boat. Ron regrets not taking Rose to the (Sofitel) Winter Palace in Luxor...they serve outstanding tournedos. Ron was sick for one day; he soon learned it was an allergy to the facial tissue of the Osiris. In the Valley of the Kings a young boy, speaking English, tried to sell us souvenirs. When we ignored him, he spoke in German to Ron and then Japanese to Rose. We broke up laughing and bought a palm-size scarab from him, symbol of rebirth.

The Stanford Court was then a member of Leading Hotels of the World, as were the Dorchester and Savoy in London, the Nassauer Hof in Wiesbaden, the Crillon, Ritz, George V, and Plaza Athénée in Paris, the Ritz in Lisbon and Barcelona, Son Vida in Palma de Mallorca, the Hassler in Rome, the Excelsior in Florence, Grande Bretagne in Athens, and the Mena House-Oberoi in Giza.

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