Author Archives: lisanordlund1

Our afternoon was spent at the amazing GEM which officially opened last weekend to much fanfare. What can I say about this museum? First, it is the largest archeological museum in the world and holds over 100,000 artifacts. Upon entering the Grand Hall, a 36’ statue of Ramesses II holds court among the many visitors.Continue reading “The Grand Egyptian Museum – GEM”

We started early this morning touring old Cairo with a Coptic Church and Synagogue on our schedule. Our first stop, but not off the bus, was the front of the oldest mosque in Egypt the Mosque of Amr Ibn Al-As. Our next stop was the Coptic Church of Saint Barbara. It was originally built inContinue reading “A Very Busy Day In Cairo”

Our time on the MS Farah was over. Brief but lovely. I really wish the river cruise was longer. We stopped at Philae Temple in Aswan. My camera battery has died so unfortunately I can’t show the pictures. Bruce took one shot but that was it. This temple was the last one built and itContinue reading “Heading Back To Cairo”

Today part of our group went on an extra excursion. They had to be up at 4 am for a 4 hour drive and several hours at the site and then a return drive. Bruce and I decided to stay behind which was really nice. We slept until ten, spent some time on the upperContinue reading “A Restful Day”

Last night we sailed through the night to Edfu going through several locks. They were not as impressive as the Panama Canal but fun to see anyhow. Our wake up time was 6:45 for us to leave by 8am. It was a short ride to Edfu Temple. It was a large complex built around 300Continue reading “Edfu and Kom Ombo”

Yesterday we had another early start. It gets too hot in the afternoon to tour these ancient places so the earlier the better. We visited the Valley of the Kings where kings were entombed to avoid issues with tomb robberies. This began in approximately 1550 BC. Our first stop was the tomb of King Tutankhamun,Continue reading “The Valley of the Kings and Queens Too!”

It was a crazy morning. We had to wake at 2 am to catch a flight at 5:30 to Luxor. I had a little bit of a stomach issue and didn’t sleep at all. Our flight was on time and Bruce took some photos flying over the desert. Once we arrived in Luxor we wereContinue reading “To Luxor here we go!”

We began our day with a light breakfast at the hotel. It was quite a spread but we didn’t really have time to eat since we were meeting at 8 am. All the Avalon people met our guide in the lobby and headed out in a big bus. We passed Tahrir Square on our wayContinue reading “The Egyptian Museum”