Pyramids and Such Happenings

So, we made it over to the pyramids at Giza on New Years day. Some interesting things of note. The city comes up extremely close to the area. I guess I had this image that they are way way out in the dessert way away from civilization, and that is not the case. Also, there is a whole range of different structures and pyramids of many different sizes in Giza. Its not just the three pyramids you see in the pictures.

My mom and dad went over with Helen and I in a taxi piloted by one Mr. Abul Mena (aka Captain Nemo). It was probably about a 45 minute drive from the apartment. Captain Nemo told us how the drive used to be a 3 hours drive before they built the large connecting road. When we got to Giza I was interested to see that just outside the gate to the whole complex was a Kentucky Fried Chicken. So, the Sphinx's eternal gaze is now looking at a KFC sitting 500m away.

We first drove up to a high point that looks across to the pyramids where we took some pictures of the pyramids in the back round. Then, we drove down to the base of the pyramids and walked around the grounds for a while. The pyramids are truly monstrous. The largest of the pyramids (which is the biggest in the world) is made up of around 2.5 million stones which weigh 30 tons each (referenced from Capt. Nemo). So, its really heavy. I walked down into one tomb of a smaller pyramid - which was awesome. Its something else just descending into the earth bellow a structure like that. There was also something called the Solar Boat museum there as well which is something pretty amazing. It was getting towards the end of the day so we zipped down to the Sphinx said hello and then ducked out the gate to meet Capt. Nemo behind "Kentucky" as he called it for short.

The last part of our Giza New Years day was spent getting coffee and tea over at the Mena House - a very deceptive name for one of the most famous Grand Hotels in the world. The hotel shares no relation to Capt. Nemo, but he did tell us proudly that it is the greatest hotel in the Arab world. Kings, Queens, Presidents, Movie Stars, and I have all been there. Out the window of the tea room we ate in was the Great Pyramid looking down at me (with no "Kentucky" in the view). I had a Cappachino and Feta and Tomato sandwich with Tempinade (olive spread). It is amazing how international Cairo is. It is the meeting point of the World - where Asia, Africa, and Europe collide.

Happy New Year Everybody.