There was so much awesome-ness today that we couldn't fit it all in one day. I have been, mostly, awake for the last 34 hours. Yesterday, I left off the blog while at the Minneapolis airport.
From there, I took a quick trip over the lower Great Lakes to New York's JFK airport, traveling the furthest east in the United States than I have ever been. For most of the flight over, we were above the clouds. From my window seat I was able to see the sun come up in the horizon ahead and the receding darkness behind us.
At around 9:30 - 10:00 Central Time (10:30 - 11:00 Eastern Time), I landed in New York. I was pretty amazed at how non-descript the airport was. I easily could have been convinced that they had taken us up in the air for 2.5 hours and taken us back down to another part of the same airport, it was so similar. If I hadn't caught a glimpse of the Atlantic Ocean as we circled above the runway, I may have convinced myself.
We parked our group in a little seating area nestled within shops and fast-food stops within the airport to wait until our Egypt Air flight boarded. The 7 hour wait was quickly filled with check-in lines, baggage lines, food lines, and many games of cribbage and gin.
We boarded Egypt Air around 6:00 PM Eastern Time and took off around 7. That particular part of the journey I really could have done without, as the 11 hour flight was absolutely miserable. I only managed a few minutes of dozing spread throughout the flight. I was stuck in aisle seat within the center section of seats next to a young Egyptian man who seemed to have some serious personal space issues. It didn't help that an aisle up there was a pair of young children who were very vocal of their dislike of high altitudes or that the attendant responsible for my section's beverages and foods was constantly giving me the evil eye. I'm sorry for wearing a Transformers T-shirt?
When we mercifully landed however, the flight from hell was quickly forgotten as we were met by our Wings Tour guide. We were quickly whisked through customs onto our personal coach bus, where we were given a brief tour of the city of Cairo on route to our gorgeous hotel, the Sofitel El Gezirah.
This is a panorama of my view from my 8th floor hotel room, overlooking the Nile and the Cairo Tower. In the distance, across the river, is downtown Cairo.
After my roommate and I finished squealing about our room (see video below), we took a quick nap and woke for dinner at 7:30 with the group in the elegant Sud restaurant. I tried Egyptian hummus, babaganoush, baklava, and fresh Kalamata olives. My roommate and I also ordered Sprite for our dinner beverage, which proved to be a big no-no. While we were aware that stateside, name-brand beverages were expensive, we were not expecting a $40 price tag for just two Sprites.Also unexpected is the Internet access. My first night here at Sofitel is on the house but after that it is subject to charges. What those charges are, I haven't the faintest but after the experience with the Sprites, I'm not all that willing to find out. Friday we will be boarding the MS Tulip, our Nile cruise ship, and it is unclear whether or not we will have Internet access. So, although my plans were to update daily while abroad, my photos and videos may have to wait until my return trip.
However, the view, the hotel, and the people are so worth the miserable flight, expensive sodas, and touchy Interwebs. As will be the rest of this amazing tour.
Tomorrow, we will begin bright and early by visiting the Cairo Museum, then move on to touring the older Coptic and Jewish quarters of Cairo, as well as several synagogues and mosques. I cannot wait! Much love to all!
My roommate and I wax fangirl over our amazing room. I apologize for the grainy quality of this video - my camera takes great video but converting the file into a flash file is the only way to make the file size manageable.
Click here to visit the home page of the Sofitel El Gezirah to see more professional photos of this beautiful hotel!
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