As my faithful blog readers know, I have jaunted off to the Middle East
for a grand tour that will carry me from Egypt to Dubai and then onward
through Oman and Jordan before returning to Egypt and then on to Athens
via the Suez Canal.
Yesterday I flew into Cairo from New York, and I wanted to share some moments from today’s adventures.
Pyramid from Mena House Window
Here’s the view I woke up to this morning from the historic Mena House Oberoi hotel in Giza, just down the hill from the pyramids and the Sphinx. Wow, this beats breakfast in bed (which I did, too). Here’s the Great Pyramid, built of some two million blocks of limestone. Until the 19th century, it was the world’s tallest building.
Bathroom Gadget
All of the bathrooms in the hotel have a sort-of kitchen sink sprayer next to les toilettes. The mind can only ponder . . . . Let’s just say I won’t be using this to clean the lettuce.
It’s All Relative
Here I am playing around with perspective. The two pyramids in the distance are those of Menkaure and Khafre. Happily, the Giza Plateau wasn’t very crowded today, but the locals sure like to sell statues of cats and pyramid-shaped key rings.
Maude and Dorothy
My partner, John, and I decided to go on a camel ride, and we nicknamed the gals “Dorothy” and “Maude” in honor of the late Bea Arthur. Besides, these camels sort of sounded like ol' Bea when they grumbled, which was often. A camel ride is surprisingly smooth, who knew?
Camels
Here we are zipping about the Giza Plateau high atop Dorothy and Maude. We are the new Golden Girls!
The Sphinx
The Sphinx strikes a fierce pose from its position at the base of the pyramids. Curiously, there is a Pizza Hut just across the street from the Sphinx that you can see from the statue’s backside. Talk about a mixing of two far-flung cultures!
Mena House Pool
After a day in the desert sands, it’s time to retreat to the Mena House Oberoi’s sybaritic pool. Check out the amazing vista of the Great Pyramid in the Distance.