Thursday, March 24, 2022
We awoke at 5 AM to a rainy morning. I finished packing a few things. we said goodby to the boyz and left for Charlotte at about 9:15. We stopped for gas and a bite to eat and arrived at Phyllis's house at 1 PM. We spent a few nice hours visiting before she took us to the airport. Our flight left at 7:30 so we had already had a long day. We had drinks and a nice dinner and then settled in for the night. Even with lie flat seats, Oliver had a very bad night and I didn't sleep much...watched 3 movies! We arrived at London Heathrow at 6:45 AM.
Cheers
Instead of sleeping, I was watching our flight!
Friday, March 25, 2022
It took a long time to at LHR!! We came into Terminal 3 and had to take a bus to Terminal 5. Gong through security, we got busted for not having all our liquids in a plastic bag, and by liquids, they meant toothpaste and stick deoderant! Once we were finally cleared, we found the business class lounge and settled in for the next 7 hours! We were exhausted but ate and drank to pass the time until boarding. Business class on our BA flight was interesting...they just leave the center seat empty and serve alcohol and hot food while the economy class passengers get a cold snack and soft drinks! No inflight entertainment system so we were glad we had downloaded to our Kindle tablets.
We arrived in Cairo at about 10:30PM and were met by our AMA representative and whisked through immigration, baggage claim and customs in absolutely no time at all! After jumping through hoops for weeks to get a QR code for our vax cards-including a trip to Charleston where I saw a doctor I didn't need, just because the MUSC system does have QR codes-nobody even looked at it!! Our representative was geat on the 45 minute drive to the Four Seasons, pointing out all the sites, including the soccer stadium where Egypt was playing Senegal. Cairo is a HUGE city-22 million people with more who come to work every day. We arrived at the Four Seasons, went through an xray exam and our guide checked us in and took us up to our room. Finally dropped into bed sometime after midnight.
Our first view of the Nile in the morning from our room
Saturday, March 26, 2022
Fortunately we didn't have an excursion until 10AM so we slept until 7 and then had breakfast- a really nice buffet with some foods we recognized and some we didn't. AMA uses a color coded system and we were assigned to the green group. We will be with the same people for the next week and with our same Egyptologist, Amal.
Driving through Cairo was very interesting. The traffic is just incredible, there are few stop lights and the lines in the road are merely suggestions-mostly ignored. There are tens of thousands of apartment buildings and you can't tell which are being built and which are being torn down-they all look the same! They build the shell of the building and then they don't finish the apartments until they are sold. Some buildings have the fronts torn off and you can see what color the rooms were painted, as the interior walls are still in place. There are cars, buses, carts being pulled by donkeys or horses, motorcycles and pedestrians all sharing the same road and it is total chaos!! When we would go through villages-suburbs-there were speed bumps that they call "Sleeping Policemen".
Our first stop was at the Alabaster Mosque of Mohamed Ali-not the boxer. Amal gave us a very in-depth explanation of the Muslim faith. While we did wear shoe covers, women didn't have to cover their hair-Amal says that nothing in the faith requires that! She drew a distinction between what is required by the faith and what is required by tradition or politics.
The beautiful Alabaster Mosque.
Where the word is read.
We had a wonderful lunch at the Studio Misr Restaurant, in a very beautiful park called Al Azhar Park. Lunch was served Egyptian style with a grill placed on each table containing chicken, beef, lamb and vegetables and we all just stuck our forks into what we wanted. We also had delicious Aish Baladi.an Egyptian flat bread-with different dips like hummus and tzatziki, and rice pudding for dessert,
After this nice rest break, it was back on the bus to the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities. They have built a new museum that will open this fall-the biggest museum in the world with about 5,381,955 square feet of space and 20,000 acres of parking. The current museum is downtown Cairo-the new one is in Giza. We saw the King Tut collection-lots of gold!!! Also mummies and many things over 4000 years old! Tut was only King for 10 years-from age 9 until he died at 19. Amal says he was a very minor Pharaoh because he really didn't live long enough to do anything. But he is probably the most famous pharaoh just because his tomb was the only one found intact. The rest were all robbed. Oliver was very impressed by the woodwork that they were able to accomplish with no equipment. We saw a painting of some geese that was over 4000 years old and the colors look like it was painted this week!
Here is what it looks like when they are tearing down? Building?
Everywhere we go there are little children waving at us. Amal said they love to get their pictures taken with tourists..especially blond tourists so they can prove to their friends they met someone from another country!
This is the City of the Dead, a series of necropolises and cemeteries, extending 4 miles long. The pressure of Cairo's housing shortage led to a large increase in the number of people living in the necropolis zones, and some people resorted to squatting within the mausoleums and tombs and turning them into improvised housing. Recently, living conditions have improved with greater access to running water, electricity, medical centers, schools and a post office. The current population is about 500,000.
We got back to the hotel at about 5PM and had a couple hours to settle in before our 7:30 briefing with our Cruise Manager Sameh. A few glasses of wine and some snacks were enough to tide us over and we had an early night.
I got some Egyptian pounds from the ATM. Seemed like $100 would be about right. Turns out these bills are about $2.76 US
Sunday, March 27, 2022
This was one of the highlights of the entire trip. We visited the city of Ancient Memphis, Sakkara, the pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx. Ancient Memphis was the capital of ancient Egypt during the Old Kingdom and remained an important city throughout ancient Egyptian history. The remains of the former capital are a UNESCO World Heritage site and are an open air museum.
Rameses II
Of course we found some dogs!
Goats being herded down the street!
Then we were off to Saqqara (or Sakkara), an Egyptian village that contains ancient burial grounds of of Egyptian royalty. There are numerous pyramids, including the Step pyramid of Djoser, the Step Tomb. This is the oldest complete stone building complex known in history.
Our Green Group
On to the Pyramids of Giza! The Great Pyramid of Giza, also known as the Pyramid of Khufu or the Pyramid of Cheops, is the oldest and largest of the pyramids in the Giza complex. It is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and is the only one to remain largely intact. The Greta Pyramid was the tallest man made structure in the world for over 3,800 years. It was built by quarrying an estimated 2.3 million large blocks weighing 6 million tons in total. The 2 smaller pyramids are the Pyramid of Khafre and the smallest is the pyramid of Menkaure.
We had lunch at the Mena House, a very old property that at one time was a hunting lodge for the Royal family. It was also the site of peace talks between Egypt and Israel, attended by Anwar Sadat, Menachim Begin and Jimmy Carter. It's now a Marriott and is a beautiful property overlooking the pyramids of Giza. Lunch was a sumptuous buffet of Indian and Egyptian food. Then it was off to our camel ride! First of all...camels are tall! Mine did NOT want to kneel down to let me get on ..it was actually a bit scary. And when they stand up, you think you're going right over their head! My camel was attached behind Oliver's and we walked out into the desert and had pictures taken. I did hear one lady screaming that she wanted down RIGHT NOW!!
After the camel ride we visited the Sphinx. Amal is so interesting and told us so much about all the sites. We were really tired after this busy day. Went to the bar for drinks and fell into bed early!!
This is the new museum..the largest in the world!
Monday, March 28, 2022
We were up early to have our bags packed and ready for pickup at 8AM. We went to breakfast and were on the bus by 9, headed for the airport. Traffic was just incredible. Once at the airport though, things were very well organized. You go through security twice-once when you first enter the airport and again at the gate. They just open the door for boarding-no group numbers or row numbers-and we boarded in about half the time it takes in the US! Our flight to Luxor was less than an hour and after collecting our luggage-which was whisked away by porters-we transferred to our buses for the 30 minute trip to the AmaDahlia. We were so happy to be on board and finally unpack and find all our "stuff". We enjoyed lunch and then a little nap. There was a safety briefing and then a talk about the rest of the cruise, then a small break and then the welcome reception. Dinner wasn't served until almost 9!! We skipped dinner and went straight to bed!
Flying to Luxor. You can see how green it is near the Nile and then turns to desert.
Tuesday, March 29, 2022
This was a big day!! We started with a visit to the Valley of the Queens. The Kings and Queens were, for the most part, not buried together. The Queens had their own tombs and we visited the tomb of Queen Nefertari. Although over 3300 ears old, the paintings and carvings look like they were finished recently. The colors are so bright!! This is very much an active archeological site and we saw workers rather slowly doing some digging. Amal says they are paid by the hour so they don't work very fast!
Queen Nefertari's Tomb
The active dig.
We then went to the temple of Hatshepsut. She was the stepmother of a future pharaoh who inherited the throne at age 4. When he came of age she refused to give him the throne. She wanted to rule as a King, not a Queen, so she dressed like a man. Her stepson planned to murder her but she died before he had the chance. He defaced many of her likenesses in the temple after she died.
Our next stop was the Valley of the Kings. There are 65 tombs that have been found. The most important is the Tomb of King Tut, only because it was found intact and had not been robbed. It is very small, only 2 rooms, because he died when he was just 19 years old, so they had just 70 days to prepare his tomb. When the tomb was discovered, it was packed with gold and other things he would need in the afterlife..a boat, a chariot, cooking utensils.
The Valley of the Kings
King Tut's Tomb
And the Man Himself!
And the "stuff" they found when they opened his tomb!
A quick stop at the Colossi of Memnon
We returned to the ship for lunch and then cruised in the afternoon before having cocktails and then dinner with our travel agent Susan and her guests (20 of us) in the Al Fresco restaurant. The food was absolutely delicious and our Egyptologist Amal joined us at our table and we learned so much more. She is coming to NC in August for a swimming event..she was a national champion synchronized swimmer when she was young! We hope to see her.
The AmaDahlia
Cocktails on the sundeck
The Al Fresco restaurant
The menu
As we were cruising this afternoon we heard someone calling Halloooooooo-guys in a small boat were alongside us-one even tied off to our ship, and they were trying to sell things! Everything is 1 dollah or 3 for 1 dollah or only 5 dollahs. Sometimes the price starts at $50 but you get it for $6. There are venders EVERYWHERE! They are at every site and we called it "running the gauntlet".They are very aggressive.
Wednesday, March 30, 2022
We had a much needed break today, with breakfast not until 8 and our tour at 10:30. We docked in Edfu, and boarded horse drawn buggies for the 20 minute trip to the Temple of Horus. Horus - the Falcon - was the son of Isis and Osiris. The temple is one of Egypt's most remarkably preserved temples. Built in 230 BC, it is the second largest temple in Egypt and a UNESCO world heritage site. We learned a bit about reading hieroglyphics.
The God Osiris was a very good man who married the also very good Isis. Her very good sister married Osiris"s very evil brother. The brother tricked Osiris into "trying on" a casket for size. The top was closed, it was put in the river and it floated all the way to Mesopotamia. Isis was pregnant with Horus and after he was born, she left him with her sister, turned herself into a bird, and flew all over the earth until she found Osiris. They came back to Egypt but settled in the north..away from the evil brother. Sadly, he found them and this time when he murdered Osiris, he chopped him into 14 pieces and spread the pieces in different places. But the very good sister and Isis both turned themselves into birds and flew all over, collecting pieces of Osiris until they had them all back. But Osiris had had enough and was ready to go to the afterlife. So his son Horus avenged his death by killing his evil uncle.
The Green Bus Gang in front of Horus's temple
Horus the Falcon
Wifius, the ancient God of the internet
The city of Edfu was totally chaotic! Cars, buses, horse drawn carts and buggies, bicycles, motorcycles, pedestrians
We had forgotten our hats and sunglasses and it was really hot so we were glad to return to the ship for lunch and cold beer! In the afternoon we had some interesting lectures from our three Egyptologists. Here are a few interesting facts from the lectures...feel free to skip!!
The Nile River is estimated to be 45,000,000 years old. It passes through 10 countries, but most people associate it with Egypt. The current runs from south to north. There are a lot of fish in the river, mostly perch, tilapia and catfish. There are no hippos in the Nile River-they killed each other off- but there are crocodiles south of the Aswan Dam. Lake Nasser, which was formed when the new High Dam of Aswan was constructed, is the biggest man made lake in the world. The High Dam took 10 years, 24 hours a day to build, mostly by the Russians. Now Egypt can harvest 3 crops per year, and the cheap electricity resulted in an industrial revolution. Ethiopia is building a new dam which will take 3 years to fill. Egypt will lose a lot of water so they are asking the Ethiopians to slow the filling to 5-7 years. While the High Dam provides fresh water and electricity, it took a terrible toll on the Nubian people and the temples and monuments in that area. The Nubians were a people who ruled Egypt in Black Pharaoh's time. The Nubians started moving when the British built the first dam and then the High Dam totally flooded their land. The Nubians used to be Christians but now are mostly Muslim. They have a language of their own but it is spoken only, not written, The two temples of Abu Simbel were saved from the flooded water by the Americans, and in return, a temple was sent to the US and can be seen at the National Museum. The first female university graduate was a lawyer, who graduated in 1953. In the current Parliament , 25% of the members are women and 9 Ministries are headed by women. In Egypt, wearing a veil is optional for women, unlike other Arabic countries. The tax rate in Egypt is from 5-35% plus a Value Added Tax of 10-14%. It is expected that Muslims donate a 2.5% alms to the poor every year and if receipted, they can deduct this from their taxes. The alms requirement is very interesting-it is supposed to be done anonymously, the "poor" can be family members, the Mosque one belongs to, total strangers or- very popular- a children's hospital.
Thursday, March 31, 2022
We got up at 4AM this morning for a 4:30 breakfast and then a 7:20 flight to Abu Simbel. There are 2 temples at Abu Simbel and they are among the most famous of Egyptian monuments. The Great Temple of Ramses II (c. 1279-123 BC) dominates the site with 4 20 meter tall statues. The temple was built with such precision that on only 2 days of the year..February 22 and October 22...the sun's rays travel the entire length of the temple and illuminate the faces of Amen-Ra, Ramses II and Ra-Horakhty. The small temple is dedicated to Ramses's wife, Queen Nefertari. Ramses was apparently a bit self-absorbed, as 4 of the 6 statues in fornt of his wife's temple are of him and many of the paintings inside are also of him!
In 1960, with the rising waters of Lake Nasser, the 2 temples were in danger of being submerged. An effort led by UNESCO relocated the 2 temples to higher ground in 1968. Work began in 1964 with the 2 temples cut into 1042 massive blocks and reassembled 200 meters to the northwest, 65 meters higher.
After our tour of the temples, it was back to the airport for our flight back to Luxor. This afternoon there was a felucca ride around Elephantine Island. A felucca is a large sail boat-when there is no wind, it is towed by another boat. We skipped this excursion and sat on the sun deck and enjoyed cocktails before going to dinner.
Friday, April 1, 2022
This morning we took a bus tour of Aswan, a city of about 600,000 people. We went to a dock and boarded boats for the island where the Philae Temple is. This temple was dedicated to the Goddess Isis, and it was moved from it's original island location because it was half under water. We toured the temple, did a little shopping and then boarded our boat for a visit to the Nubian village of Hessa. The Nubians are indigenous to the region which is now northern Sudan and southern Egypt. They speak their own language. They were sometimes part of ancient Egypt and sometime rivals of the Egyptians, and were famous for their skill with bows and arrows. In the Middle Ages, the Nubians converted to Christianity, and later to Islam. The Nubians were resettled in large numbers when the Aswan High Dam was built and flooded their ancestral lands. We visited a Nubian home. The architecture is distinctive, with a large courtyard surrounded by a high wall and a large, ornate gate that preferably faces the Nile. Lots of brightly colored stucco. The house we visited was actually quite large, with a main room, a kitchen, a big bathroom and 2 bedrooms. The woman who lives here is a widow with 3 daughters and a son. She was very proud of her new washing machine. The Nubians are very musical and we were treated to singing, dancing and drums, along with a cold hibiscus drink, dates and peanuts that are roasted in hot sand.
The feluccas setting out.
On our way to the Philae Temple
Philae Temple
The circle with the 4 leaves was the first addition of the "cross" in Egypt.
The Nubian village of Hessa
Oliver just loved the drums
The Aswan High Dam in the background
After lunch, we set sail and docked right in front of the double temple of Kom Ombo. Unique in Egypt, the temple is dedicated to 2 Gods-the crocodile God, Sobek, and the falcon headed Haroeris, "the Good Doctor". Since we could see the temple from our balcony, we chose to stay on board and get ready for the Galabya party!
Kom Ombo temple
Galabyas are the traditional dress of Egypt. We bought ours in the gift shop and the owner gave us our headdresses. My dress was covered in gold coins and sounded like sleigh bells when I moved! Oliver's galabya was a two piece number. He thought he had no pockets so he put his room key in his underwear. A bit awkward in the hallway when he had to get it out to open the door! Later we discovered there was a pocket in the under garment! The party was great fun! Non-stop music, games, a mummy making contest--Oliver was the hit of the party--as always!!
Saturday, April 2, 2022
We sailed from Kom Ombo to Edfu during the night. After a good breakfast we had a disembarkation meeting with our Cruise Manager and crossed through the lock at Esna. After lunch there was an excursion to the Temple of Karnak and a visit to the Papyrus Institute. It was 102 and we just couldn't even think about walking all afternoon so we just put on our bathing suits and went to the pool. We sat in the cabana until we got hot, then went in the pool, then back to the cabana. Our favorite bartender brought us cold drinks every 30 minutes and we really enjoyed our afternoon. After taking showers, we went to the Sip and Sail in the lounge and were treated to a Whirling Dervish show. It was incredible and made me dizzy just to watch. We had another excellent dinner, accompanied by a strolling violinist.
Sunday, April 3, 2022
Our ship sailed to Qena early this morning. Often the water level is too high for ships to go that far north of Luxor and you have to take a 2 1/2 hour bus ride! We were lucky that we could sail there. We had breakfast and then visited the Great Temple of Hathor, known as the most beautiful and best preserved temple in Egypt. Hathor was the Goddess of Love, to whom the powers of joy, feminine love, and motherhood were attributed. When we came back, the ship sailed for Luxor and we packed, settled our bill, had cocktails and dinner, and took our PCR test for our trip to Israel.
This is a map of the Nile River in Egypt. We flew from Cairo to Luxor, sailed to Aswan, flew to Abu Simbel, almost at the Sudan border, sailed back up to Qena and then back to Luxor.
The Temple of Hathor
The amazing colors at the Temple of Hathor.
Before the ceiling is cleaned!!
The only carving of Cleopatra in Egypt! With her son, Caesarius....the first ever baby born by caesarian section!!
Bes, the God of Fertility
Life on the Nile on a Sunday afternoon
Monday, April 4, 2022
This morning we were up early to go to the airport for our flight back to Cairo. The original plan was for us to stay overnight in Cairo and fly to Tel Aviv tomorrow but plans changed and we will fly to Israel tonight. When we arrived in Cairo, we were taken to the Abdeen Palace for a private tour and lunch. The Palace was built as one of the official residences of the former royal family of Egypt. It is now one of the official residences and principal workplace of the President of Egypt. Construction started in 1863 and took 10 years. It is considered one of the most sumptuous palaces in the world in terms of adornments, paintings and large number of clocks scattered in the parlors and wigs, most of which are decorated with pure gold. There are 500 rooms!! We had lunch in a beautiful room and then headed to the airport. There were 10 of us going to Israel--Oliver and I, Kellie and Lee, Alex and Jenn, Olga, Robert and Kristin, and Francesca. We were met at the airport and guided through immigration, customs and baggage claim and had another PCR test. We were met by Ami Giz, our guide for the next few days and after a rather long wait for our van, we were taken to the beautiful Waldorf Astoria Jerusalem.
The throne room
The theater
Our "lunch room"
Tuesday, April 5, 2022
Ami explained to us that Jerusalem is very tense these days, more so this week as it is Ramadan and next week will be Passover and Easter. He told us he would be changing our itinerary to assure that we could visit all the locations at the safest times. He was born and raised in Jerusalem so he knows all there is to know about the politics here. We started at Temple Mount, the holiest site in Jerusalem. It is known as the Al-Aqsa Compound, or the Haram esh-Sharif (the Noble Sanctuary) by the Muslims. It has been venerated as a holy site in Judaism, Christianity and Islam for thousands of years. This is where the Western Wall ( the Wailing Wall) is located which was built during the reign of Herod the Great. There are 3 huge structures-the al-Aqsa Mosque, the Dome of the Rock and the Dome of the Chain- and 4 minarets.
The Temple Mount is the holiest site in Judaism and is the place Jews turn towards during prayer. Among Muslims, it is one of the 3 holiest sites. It is one of the most contested religious sites in the world. Since the Crusades, the Muslim community of Jerusalem has managed the site, although it is within the Old City, which has been controlled by Israel since 1967. After the Six Day War, Israel handed administration of the site back to the Muslim community under Jordanian custodianship, while maintaining Israeli security control. Is that clear? The Israeli government enforces a controversial ban on prayer by non-Muslims. e saw one young couple chased and screamed at and "accused" of praying. We saw more than one confrontation while we were there. Non Muslims are only allowed on the site for a few hours a day. We had to leave by 10:30. We visited and prayed at the Western Wall. Men and women are separated by a fence.
The Dome of the Rock
Temple Mount
The Dome of the Chain
The Western Wall, men's side with Oliver, Robert and Lee
The Western Wall, women's side
We then walked through the Jewish Quarter and visited King David's Tomb. We walked through the crazy busy market and had a delicious lunch with Kellie and Lee. Large beers were extremely welcome!
After lunch we went to Visitation Church, in the village of Ein Karem, where John the Baptist was born. It honors the visit paid by Mary, mother of Jesus, to Elizabeth, the mother of John. This is the site where tradition says that Mary recited her song of praise, the Magnificat. The construction is attributed to the Empress Helena of Constantinople, the mother of Constantine I, who identified the site as the home of John's father, Zachary.
The Church of the Visitation
The Magnificat in many languages
Mary and Elizabeth
We finished our busy day with a visit to the Israel Museum to see the Dead Sea Scrolls and a scale model of ancient Jerusalem.
This is made to look like the top of the containers the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in
The scale model of ancient Jerusalem
Wednesday, April 6, 2022
This morning we visited Bethlehem to see where Jesus was born. We toured the Church of the Nativity and saw the Grotto where Christ was born and a Basilica with a nave and 4 aisles was built. We visited the location of the birth and the manger. We had a wonderful guide, Johnny, who is a Palestinian Christian. He is not allowed into Jerusalem as a guide and, when we left, we had to show our passports to prove we weren't Palestinians. But first, a stop at the Bethlehem gift shop where Oliver bought me a beautiful diamond and sapphire cross of Jerusalem and a beautiful hand carved figure of The Good Shepherd of olive wood. Prior to Covid, 250 buses a day visited Bethlehem-now it is 10 of or less. The people in Bethlehem make very small salaries compared to Jerusalem--about 1/10th-and we were happy to help them.
The Church of the Nativity
The Grotto, where an Armenian service was in progress
The site of the birth of Christ
The Manger
The beautiful hand carved figurine
Leaving Bethlehem..this reminded me of the Berlin Wall
We had lunch at the Notre Dame Restaurant and then returned to the Old City to walk the Via Dolorosa-the Way of Sorrow. It winds along narrow streets leading from the Ecce Homo Convent to the Basilica of the Holy Sepulcher. This is the route Jesus followed bearing his cross from Pilate's Judgement Hall in the Antonia, to Calvary Hill or Golgotha, the site of the crucifixion.
These are the 14 stations of the cross
I Jesus is condemned to death
II Jesus takes up the cross
III Jesus falls for the first time
IV Jesus meets his mother
V Simon the Cyrenian is forced to carry the cross
VI Veronica wipes the sweat from Jesus's face
VII jesus falls for the second time
VIII Jesus consoles the women of Jerusalem
IX Jesus falls for the third time
X Jesus is stripped of his garments
XI Jesus is nailed to the cross
XII Jesus dies on the cross
XIII Jesus is taken down from the cross
XIV Jesus is laid in the tomb.
This was a very moving and somber day.
All of the stations are marked this way. This is Jesus meeting his mother.
Jesus dies
Jesus is taken down from the cross.
The Tomb
Or is this the tomb? This may be the family plot of Joseph of Aramethea
Thursday, April 7, 2022
We visited the Mount of Olives this morning. Several key events in the life of Jesus, as related in the Gospels, took place here and in the Acts of the Apostles it is described as the place from which Jesus ascended into heaven. Jesus is said to have spent time on the mount teaching and prophesying to His disciples and also coming there on the night of His betrayal. At the foot of the mount lies the Garden of Gethsemane. Prime Minister Menachim Begin is buried here.
Jesus is betrayed with a kiss
The Rock of Agony where Jesus prayed
After this visit, we headed to Tel Aviv. We stopped in Jaffa, the oldest part of Tel Aviv. It is famous for it's association with the stories of Jonah, Solomon and Peter, as well as the mythological story of Andromeda and Perseus. It's a very beautiful city. Then it was off to Shuk Ha' Carmel, the largest outdoor market in the historic Yemenite Quarter. A guide took us on a culinary tour, stopping for delicious samples. We were tired and full when we returned to the Waldorf.
Ami bought us a bottle of local wine
This was called the Wishing Bridge. You find your zodiac sign and make a wish. We asked Ami what the significance of the bridge is and he said.....tourism!!
Friday, April 8, 2022
Today was the day the wheels fell off! We had an antigen test first thing this morning, in preparation for our flight home tomorrow. We were all in the van headed for Jericho when we were informed that Oliver and Kellie had tested positive and would have to be quarantined! And not at the Waldorf but at a Covid hotel operated by the Israeli Army. I spent a few hours packing his suitcases and later in the afternoon an ambulance (!!!!!) came for he and Kellie! Lee and I walked over to the Dan Boutique a little later to see where they were but of course we were not allowed to see them.
Lee and I were strongly encouraged to return to the states while we were negative. If we stayed, we could not stay with them and we would be tested every day. If we turned positive, then WE would begin a new quarantine period! To add insult to injury, my flight was canceled but I was able to secure a Business class seat on the same flight as Lee. Since neither Kellie nor Oliver was sick, we tearfully boarded our flight at 12:50 AM Saturday.
I won't go into detail of Oliver's week at the Dan Boutique. He and Kellie both tested positive again on Monday night so they were isolated until Friday. morning. A doctor came to the hotel that morning and gave them their recovery letters and they both returned home on Saturday.
My last sight of this guy!
And my next sight of him!
Oliver says even knowing about the quarantine, he would still repeat that trip! It was such a wonderful educational experience. We learned so much about history, politics and religion, saw amazing sights, met wonderful people and as he says---it was life changing!