Ok, first of all there is way to much i could tell you about Cairo to even type in this blog, so when I get back I can give you the whole story.
So we got into Cairo at about three in the morning. Customes took forever, which you wouldnt thing at three in the morning. After about an hour trying to actually get into this city, we finally made it out of the airport. Our hotel had arranged for us to be picked up by a cab. We headed toward the hotel about about 4 am as we were flying through the streets at some crazy speed, only I did not really know how fast we were going because the guys speedometer was broken. We got to the hotel and got ourselves settled in by about 5 am. It was interesting at first because the two people at the front desk do not speak english, and the owner was trying to get some sleep for his trip to france (everything worked out).
I will start with traffic here in Cairo. First of all, there really are no rules of the road here. Drivers are really allowed to do whatever they want, and believe me they do. Lanes in the road are really just suggestive things, but dont really mean much. Most of the taxis dont have a working speedometer, and if they want to back up on a four lane road, they do (it happened to us). Walking accross the steet is like taking your life in your hands, however, supprisingly one gets use to the entire situation. People at will will lust cross the street accross 2, 3, or 4 lans of moving traffic to get to their destination. I got stuck in the middle today (that is, the road). I think we must come close to hitting at least 10 people and maybe 3 times more cars every time we take a cab, only, I have seen no accidents at all. Oh, and the buses...Most of them either have not doors or have them open all the time. People will at will just jump on and off as the bus is moving through the streets. I saw one the other day that was so full of people that about four or five of them were actually hanging out of the door. I can describe this in more detail later, and maybe add in some much needed animation to the stories.
Bazar (not strikingly odd or queer) In Cairo they have the largest bazar in the Arab world. It is like Tijuana only ten times better and cheaper. It is fun bartering down for goods and whatnot. Kyle and I are going back there tomorrow for some more goodies.
Pyramids of Giza, Sakkara, and Dahshur
We woke up early in the morning because we arranged to have a driver take us to the three pyramid sites (this is was very cheap by the way). We started out at Giza where we bartered with the man running a stable for two camels and a guide to take us around the 12km area. We entered the park on camel back and wondered through the desert (or dessert, can never remember that one). The park police are patrolling the area on camel and horse back and check to make sure that people actually paid to get in. Evidently one man did not because we saw them fighting (literally) as the man pulled the police officer off of his camel and put him in a head lock. Another police man showed up to help out his buddy. I think the guy ended up getting beat down. We got some great shots in of the pyramids before we headed over to the 2nd one (the middle one) to go insided. This was also a crazy experience because if you are afraid of tight spaces, you would never be able to make it. The hole is at the base of the pyramid and is only tall enough for you to crouch down, almost in a crawling position. The total size of the hole is really only just big enough for one person to go up and the other to go down. it is 150m to the tomb, and the thing is practically straight down, but even more of an incline at Dahshur. We entered the tomb to find that it was practically a sweat box in there, but still extremely awesome to see. We left the pyramid to see the Sphnx and the tomb of the slaves, also very cool.
After Giza we headed over to Dahshur where there are three pyramids: the main one, bent pyramid, and black pyramid. I will limit this to the main pyramid for time's sake. Kyle and I were practically the only ones around and decided to go inside this one as well. This one you have to walk up about a quarter of the way and then head down the tunnel, which is pretty steap, to the center of the pyramid. We snuck some "no, no" pictures from inside because we were the only ones around.
Then we headed to Sakkara, but only took some pictures from the surrounding area...
Today...
Today, we headed over to the Cairo Museum which is the most awesome museum I have seen. Cairo is pretty poor so the museum is not state of the art or anything, but the things inside speak for themselves. Here is just a couple of the things we saw: the oldest sculture found in Egypt, The Book of the Dead (scrolls), King Tut's "stuff," and many old kings, queens, and priest's mummies.
Food in Cairo. Out of all the cities we have been to thus far, I think the food in Cairo is the most "sketch." We have mainly been sticking to the American food places, but tonight we decided to try a local place. We walked by one that looked pretty "lagit" and so entered and sat down. They guy came up to us and said in broken English "small, medium, or large." Not knowing exactly what we were getting we both requested the small. He brought us over a bowl of macaroni and pasta with some things that looked like capers and stuff that looked like small corn flakes; it came with a side of this tomato sauce (very watery). We both dug in...there were other sauces on the table that were decent aswell. We left there still not knowing exactly what we ate. What we did know is that it was extremely cheap (I had a coke with mine and it came to 5 L.E. for me. Less than a Dollar). It is now just about midnight and I have still not gotten sick, so I guess the food could not have been that bad. We got back to the hotel where I asked the manager what we had. She said that it was a very popular traditional Egyptian dish that consisted of macaroni, pasta, fried onions, and she said "little bean type things." There was some other stuff in there that I would be happy now knowing about...
Well, in short, however short that really was, that has been our experience in Cairo thus far. The stories will def. be better coming straight from out mouths however. You all will just have to wait for those.
Until Rome everyone...
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Pictures! Finally!
We finally found a place to upload pictures so here they are.
At the Guinness factory, a great day.
Central square in Brussels.
Belgian waffles for breakfast in Brussels.
Nighttime in Amsterdam.
More from Amsterdam.
Berlin Cathedral.
Gate in Berlin.
On a bridge in Prague. Notice how obvious it is that Ihave a moneybelt, thus defeating it's purpose.
The Prague Castle.
Charle's Bridge in Prague.
America, Canada, England unite! (in Prague)
Palace in Vienna (it's much, much bigger than what is shown).
Little Venice in Mykonos.
Typical house in Mykonos.
Acropolis and surrounding area.Adrenaline
I have entitled this new story adrenaline for a good reason, which I will get to in a moment. I will leave you with this for now...There is an old saying, you don't have to be faster than the thing chasing you, just one of your friends...
Kyle and I are back in Athens now and decided to see the major sights for the day. We started up to hill to see the Acropolis around ten thirty in the morning. It is blistering hot here (around the mid 90s). This temperature does not sound very hot, but there is absolutely no shade in Athens. To give you an idea here, I have drinken 6 liters of water (about 1 1/2 gallons) and have not had to pee. The Acrpolis is very cool by the way. We hiked around the other mountains as well, even making our way to The Temple of Olympian Zues.
Here is where I get to the good part...After walking around for several hours, I had to use the bathroom (not # 1). We come accross a bathroom up this trail by the observatory, but they did not have any "poo" paper left. I remember spotting another bathroom a little ways up the hill in the gated area of the observatory, so we headed a little ways more. We found the bathroom just where I thought it was, but to my luck the doors where locked. Kyle and I rounded the corner of the bathroom to find a dog about 50 yard in front of us. Now this was no real shock to us because there are stray dogs and cats everywhere here in Athens, but most of them are too malnurished or dehidrated to even lift their heads. Well, that was not the case for this one. As soon as the dog spotted us, it got up and began to bark as it inched closer to us. Kyle was a little bit ahead of me and I guess he was thinking that the two of us could scare the thing off. The dog then started to jog at us as it was still barking. I thought to myself, "screw this" and took off running in the other direction. Kyle sees me run and heads off behind me as the dog picks up into a full run.
So here Kyle and I are running down this mountain on rocky ground trying to make it to the front gate of the park so we could shut it behind us. Now, I am not at all a fast person, but I was out running this dog, seeing that it was probably dehidrated. All of a sudden, my foot lands wrong on this rock and I start falling toward the rocky, hilly ground as Kyle was passing me by (this was like slow motion in my mind). However, in one smoothe motion as I was falling down, I roll, pick up a stone on the ground and jump to my feet. I turn around and face the dog, ready to defend my ground. The dog came within feet of me as I was cocking my arm back ready to throw the stone. I was thinking, "man, you better not miss cause this is your only shot." I stand tall and shout at the dog as it comes to an immediate halt. I make a motion toward him as he turns around and walks off.
I meet Kyle by the gate and say to him, "man, did that really just happen?" I dust myself off and check my self for scrapes and cuts. Both of my knees where bleeding and my arm had small cuts on it. It was better than getting eaten by some stray dog in Athens though.
As I look back on it, I can't help but chuckle, thinking that the whole thing was crazy...
Kyle and I are back in Athens now and decided to see the major sights for the day. We started up to hill to see the Acropolis around ten thirty in the morning. It is blistering hot here (around the mid 90s). This temperature does not sound very hot, but there is absolutely no shade in Athens. To give you an idea here, I have drinken 6 liters of water (about 1 1/2 gallons) and have not had to pee. The Acrpolis is very cool by the way. We hiked around the other mountains as well, even making our way to The Temple of Olympian Zues.
Here is where I get to the good part...After walking around for several hours, I had to use the bathroom (not # 1). We come accross a bathroom up this trail by the observatory, but they did not have any "poo" paper left. I remember spotting another bathroom a little ways up the hill in the gated area of the observatory, so we headed a little ways more. We found the bathroom just where I thought it was, but to my luck the doors where locked. Kyle and I rounded the corner of the bathroom to find a dog about 50 yard in front of us. Now this was no real shock to us because there are stray dogs and cats everywhere here in Athens, but most of them are too malnurished or dehidrated to even lift their heads. Well, that was not the case for this one. As soon as the dog spotted us, it got up and began to bark as it inched closer to us. Kyle was a little bit ahead of me and I guess he was thinking that the two of us could scare the thing off. The dog then started to jog at us as it was still barking. I thought to myself, "screw this" and took off running in the other direction. Kyle sees me run and heads off behind me as the dog picks up into a full run.
So here Kyle and I are running down this mountain on rocky ground trying to make it to the front gate of the park so we could shut it behind us. Now, I am not at all a fast person, but I was out running this dog, seeing that it was probably dehidrated. All of a sudden, my foot lands wrong on this rock and I start falling toward the rocky, hilly ground as Kyle was passing me by (this was like slow motion in my mind). However, in one smoothe motion as I was falling down, I roll, pick up a stone on the ground and jump to my feet. I turn around and face the dog, ready to defend my ground. The dog came within feet of me as I was cocking my arm back ready to throw the stone. I was thinking, "man, you better not miss cause this is your only shot." I stand tall and shout at the dog as it comes to an immediate halt. I make a motion toward him as he turns around and walks off.
I meet Kyle by the gate and say to him, "man, did that really just happen?" I dust myself off and check my self for scrapes and cuts. Both of my knees where bleeding and my arm had small cuts on it. It was better than getting eaten by some stray dog in Athens though.
As I look back on it, I can't help but chuckle, thinking that the whole thing was crazy...
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Well Kyle and I are here in Mykonos, a Greek Isle. It was interesting getting here considering that we only wanted to spend a maximum of 30 euro for the boat ride. After barely making the boat that we did, and spending 80 euro to get on, we finally made it to the island. The Greek Isles are not the typical island that one would picture; they are not at all tropical, but are still beautiful. We saw the sun set just a few hours ago, and it was probably one of the most beautiful sunsets i have seen.
We are staying on Paradise Beach where the water is the clearest and bluest water I have ever seen. If you want to go nude on the beach, that is perfectly acceptable. Now, when I say nude, I mean completely nude. Most of them are old ladies and men that no one really wants to look at anyway, but some of them are quite nice (I know you would really like them Rickie).
We have this tiny little cabin that is only big enough for two beds and a night stand. The beds are just a little bigger than my shoulder width, which makes sleep somewhat of a difficult thing.
We head back to Athens tomorrow morning. Our hotel is about 10 min. from the Acropolis, which is amazing to see. Athens reminds me of a little Tijuana, only more beautiful. It was strange to place the toilet paper in a trash can next to the toilet rather than flushing it down ( i guess the toilets cannot support the paper). We have already had one night in Greece before coming to Mykonos. We got to eat dinner at a restaurant under the Acropolis that over looked the city.
Upon return to Athens we are going to explore all of the major historical sites; there are many of them, so it might take some time. Then it is on to Cairo. I have not shaved since Dublin which was at the beginning of the trip. I am expecting to blend in in Cairo fairly well.
Well until the next city...
We are staying on Paradise Beach where the water is the clearest and bluest water I have ever seen. If you want to go nude on the beach, that is perfectly acceptable. Now, when I say nude, I mean completely nude. Most of them are old ladies and men that no one really wants to look at anyway, but some of them are quite nice (I know you would really like them Rickie).
We have this tiny little cabin that is only big enough for two beds and a night stand. The beds are just a little bigger than my shoulder width, which makes sleep somewhat of a difficult thing.
We head back to Athens tomorrow morning. Our hotel is about 10 min. from the Acropolis, which is amazing to see. Athens reminds me of a little Tijuana, only more beautiful. It was strange to place the toilet paper in a trash can next to the toilet rather than flushing it down ( i guess the toilets cannot support the paper). We have already had one night in Greece before coming to Mykonos. We got to eat dinner at a restaurant under the Acropolis that over looked the city.
Upon return to Athens we are going to explore all of the major historical sites; there are many of them, so it might take some time. Then it is on to Cairo. I have not shaved since Dublin which was at the beginning of the trip. I am expecting to blend in in Cairo fairly well.
Well until the next city...
from Mykonos
We got into Athens a couple days ago and finally it's hot somewhere. This is the first time that we have gone more than one day without rain. It rained at some point in all but two days during the first two and a half weeks. We took the underground from the airport and as soon as we got out we looked right and there was the acropolis, pretty amazing. It's much better than I had imagined it. I can see now why it's so famous. There was actually a fire there the night that we were walking around. There were lots of people trying to put it out themselves but they finally got it out when the fire department showed up 20 minutes later. You would think that they would have a faster response time for something so important, but I guess not. Luckily though, it didn't make it to any of the structures, just the brush around it.
We made it to Mykonos where we are now. However, we had some problems getting here. We woke up at 6am in Athens, took the underground to the port and got there around 7. There are two kinds of boats, normal ones (6 hours) which cost 28 euro and fast boats (4 hours) which cost 50 euro. Obviously we are cheap and wanted the normal boat but it was sold out for the day. So we checked the fast boat and it was leaving in 1 minute and also sold out. But they did have VIP tickets for the fast boat which cost 82 euro each. We had about 30 seconds to decide and figured that we had to get out there since we had reservations. So we paid way more than we expected but Mykonos is definitely nice.
We decided that in order to offset the huge cost of getting to Mykonos, we would skip Santorini and save money on the extra boat trip that we aren't making now. That will give us an extra day in Athens which will be nice since it seems like an amazing city after spending one night there. After that it's finally off to Cairo which will be incredible I'm sure.
We made it to Mykonos where we are now. However, we had some problems getting here. We woke up at 6am in Athens, took the underground to the port and got there around 7. There are two kinds of boats, normal ones (6 hours) which cost 28 euro and fast boats (4 hours) which cost 50 euro. Obviously we are cheap and wanted the normal boat but it was sold out for the day. So we checked the fast boat and it was leaving in 1 minute and also sold out. But they did have VIP tickets for the fast boat which cost 82 euro each. We had about 30 seconds to decide and figured that we had to get out there since we had reservations. So we paid way more than we expected but Mykonos is definitely nice.
We decided that in order to offset the huge cost of getting to Mykonos, we would skip Santorini and save money on the extra boat trip that we aren't making now. That will give us an extra day in Athens which will be nice since it seems like an amazing city after spending one night there. After that it's finally off to Cairo which will be incredible I'm sure.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Vienna is a beautiful city. The buildings are nice, there are parks and gardens everywhere, the people are friendly, and there is little to no trash anwhere in the city.
Yesterday we saw a lot of the things outside of central Vienna. We went to the graves of a lot of famous composers like Beethoven and Mozart. Then we went to the palace here which is amazing. It has 1440 rooms and the grounds are enormous. Andrew and I spent 3 hours just walking around there. They even have the Vienna zoo on the grounds, and it only takes up 1/8 of the area. It really was amazing to see the place.
Today we are going to walk around the central part of Vienna and see all the really touristy stuff. Then tomorrow we fly to Athens!
Yesterday we saw a lot of the things outside of central Vienna. We went to the graves of a lot of famous composers like Beethoven and Mozart. Then we went to the palace here which is amazing. It has 1440 rooms and the grounds are enormous. Andrew and I spent 3 hours just walking around there. They even have the Vienna zoo on the grounds, and it only takes up 1/8 of the area. It really was amazing to see the place.
Today we are going to walk around the central part of Vienna and see all the really touristy stuff. Then tomorrow we fly to Athens!
Wednesday, July 4, 2007
Storie from Prague
First off, Prague is easily one the best cities that I have ever been to. They have great food, beer, sites, and people. Everything is good about this city (except for the mobs of tourists, but we are among them so I can't complain as if I were a local). The beer here is really good, everyone drinks Pilsner Urquell which is one of my favorite beers, even before coming to Prague. The menus at restaurants are just a list of meat dishes - there aren't many greens so Andrew and I are very happy with eating out.
The city of Prague is beautiful. I've been taking about 100 pictures a day of everything that we come across, down to normal buildings that are just so much nicer here than anywhere else that I have been. The Prague castle is amazing. It's a bit of a hike getting across town and up the hill its built on, but it's worth it once you are there. Today we went in the cathedral there and climbed a tight spiral staircase 287 stairs to the top of one of the towers. It was really fun trying to fit traffic through in both directions when you can't even fit two people shoulder-to-shoulder on a stair.
We've made some friends in the hostel. The girls that Andrew mentioned sleeping in the room are from Canada and we drank with them last night at the hostel bar. We had absynthe for the first time which doesn't have the effects people say that it does, at least not for me and Andrew. However, it is really strong, about 70% alcohol so it's not like you're wasting your money by buying it. And it's really really fun burning the sugar cubes. There were multiple times that I was afraid for my life with the fire going nearby.
Today is the 4th of July so Andrew and I are being especially patriotic (which is really Andrew being himself). We stopped by the American embassy here to see if they were having a bbq or something fun, but they were sadly closed for the holiday.
We got everything set up for Greece - one night in Athens, two on the beach in Mykonons, one on Santorini, and three more in Athens (all for $140 each person). That part of the trip will be a nice vacation from the vacation. We are off to Vienna tomorrow though for a few days before we get to start that part of our trip. The next few weeks are going to be amazing.
The city of Prague is beautiful. I've been taking about 100 pictures a day of everything that we come across, down to normal buildings that are just so much nicer here than anywhere else that I have been. The Prague castle is amazing. It's a bit of a hike getting across town and up the hill its built on, but it's worth it once you are there. Today we went in the cathedral there and climbed a tight spiral staircase 287 stairs to the top of one of the towers. It was really fun trying to fit traffic through in both directions when you can't even fit two people shoulder-to-shoulder on a stair.
We've made some friends in the hostel. The girls that Andrew mentioned sleeping in the room are from Canada and we drank with them last night at the hostel bar. We had absynthe for the first time which doesn't have the effects people say that it does, at least not for me and Andrew. However, it is really strong, about 70% alcohol so it's not like you're wasting your money by buying it. And it's really really fun burning the sugar cubes. There were multiple times that I was afraid for my life with the fire going nearby.
Today is the 4th of July so Andrew and I are being especially patriotic (which is really Andrew being himself). We stopped by the American embassy here to see if they were having a bbq or something fun, but they were sadly closed for the holiday.
We got everything set up for Greece - one night in Athens, two on the beach in Mykonons, one on Santorini, and three more in Athens (all for $140 each person). That part of the trip will be a nice vacation from the vacation. We are off to Vienna tomorrow though for a few days before we get to start that part of our trip. The next few weeks are going to be amazing.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Praha
We arrived in Prague (Praha) yesterday. The train ride in was spectacular. Prague is in somewhat of a valley with a river running through it (basically it looks spectacular).
For those of you who have seen the movie Hostel you will be able to relate to this. So we arrive at the hostel here in Prague, and suprisingly it is really nice. We get to our room and open the door to find 4 girls sleeping. I thought to myself, this must not be the right room (it was). Now if the girls had been naked, Kyle and I would have been on the next train out of here.
This city itsef is actually very beautiful and can be very cheap. We are getting about 22 kc (Czech Crowns) to the dollar. Today we hiked up the mountain to see the palace and cathedral. We walked along Prague s famous bridge, Charles Bridge, aswell.
This is my kind of place...Czechs are very big on meats and gravy and less on fresh fruits and veggies. The weather finally cleared up also. We had been following a storm from England.
Well time is about to expire on the internet so...until the next city. Mozart country.
For those of you who have seen the movie Hostel you will be able to relate to this. So we arrive at the hostel here in Prague, and suprisingly it is really nice. We get to our room and open the door to find 4 girls sleeping. I thought to myself, this must not be the right room (it was). Now if the girls had been naked, Kyle and I would have been on the next train out of here.
This city itsef is actually very beautiful and can be very cheap. We are getting about 22 kc (Czech Crowns) to the dollar. Today we hiked up the mountain to see the palace and cathedral. We walked along Prague s famous bridge, Charles Bridge, aswell.
This is my kind of place...Czechs are very big on meats and gravy and less on fresh fruits and veggies. The weather finally cleared up also. We had been following a storm from England.
Well time is about to expire on the internet so...until the next city. Mozart country.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
brautwurst and currywurst in berlin
It's our last night in Berlin tonight. It's been good so far. The people here are a little different - not in a bad way, but definitely different.
We went to the Berlin wall and the Jewish museum yesterday - not the two happiest places in the world but very interesting to see. We also went for an authentic german dinner. We both had brautwurst and beer. I had my first mishap with a menu in a foreign language though, and I think the "beer" I pointed to was more like a super-fruity, non-alcoholic hefeweizen. The brautwurst and saurcrowt (I can't spell any of this, I'm sorry) were amazing. You haven't tasted sausage until you've had it in Germany.
Today we walked a lot, and then walked a lot more. We covered all of central Berlin and saw a lot of cool stuff. We went in the Raichstag (again, sorry about the spelling) and walked through the glass dome at the top. We also walked around a giant park they have there and went to the Sony center (which is basically a small city under a tent). We ended by going to the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral) and walked to the top of the dome. It was an awesome place and the view from the top was even better.
We are headed to Prague in the morning, I'm really excited for it. I feel like it'll be the first really different place that we go to since a lot of the countries we have been in are very western. My travel book, Lonely Planet - Europe On A Shoestring, says there are lots of internet cafes in Prague. Hopefully we'll finally find one where we can get some pictures up.
We went to the Berlin wall and the Jewish museum yesterday - not the two happiest places in the world but very interesting to see. We also went for an authentic german dinner. We both had brautwurst and beer. I had my first mishap with a menu in a foreign language though, and I think the "beer" I pointed to was more like a super-fruity, non-alcoholic hefeweizen. The brautwurst and saurcrowt (I can't spell any of this, I'm sorry) were amazing. You haven't tasted sausage until you've had it in Germany.
Today we walked a lot, and then walked a lot more. We covered all of central Berlin and saw a lot of cool stuff. We went in the Raichstag (again, sorry about the spelling) and walked through the glass dome at the top. We also walked around a giant park they have there and went to the Sony center (which is basically a small city under a tent). We ended by going to the Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral) and walked to the top of the dome. It was an awesome place and the view from the top was even better.
We are headed to Prague in the morning, I'm really excited for it. I feel like it'll be the first really different place that we go to since a lot of the countries we have been in are very western. My travel book, Lonely Planet - Europe On A Shoestring, says there are lots of internet cafes in Prague. Hopefully we'll finally find one where we can get some pictures up.
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