daily slice-of-life photo blog of a Gen-X dad
Today I made a simple salsa that consisted of roasted jalapeño peppers, lime, and salt. It is a straightforward recipe, but the result is tangy and delicious! It was also fun to use the comal we bought in Mexico City to roast the peppers.
I brought back this tiny packet of honey from our trip to Egypt and tried it in my yogurt today. The flavor was really mild, which surprised me. It was a fun little souvenir to taste, but I still prefer good old American honey. To be fair, this packet probably is not top tier Egyptian honey!
It was the perfect day for a pot of tea. So tasty and comforting. I loved every sip.
Today was a long day filled with unforgettable sights. After an early breakfast, we boarded a plane and flew south to the city of Luxor. Our first stop was Karnak Temple, another incredible highlight of the trip. The massive pillars and towering obelisks are absolutely overwhelming in scale, and the carvings are breathtaking. It is hard to even imagine the effort, planning, and motivation it took to build something so enormous and detailed.
After wandering the grounds and enjoying a strong Turkish coffee, we boarded the tour bus and headed to our home for the next several days, the Viking Thoth. The Thoth is a brand new ship in the Viking fleet, and we were the very first group of guests to sail with her. It felt so special knowing we were the first to stay in the cabins, dine at the tables, and dip our feet in the pool. For lunch, I went with the burger, yes I know, but I was craving it and it was actually really good. We always share our dishes anyway!
We rested for a few hours, enjoyed another wonderful meal, and then headed out for an evening excursion to Luxor Temple. The grounds were beautifully lit and offered a completely different experience at night. Seeing such an incredible site in the cooler evening air was truly magical. It is something I will never forget.
Our travel day actually stretched across two full days because we were heading east. We left home in Austin around seven on Thursday morning and finally reached our destination at six thirty on Friday evening. What a journey!
After our eight and a half hour flight, we landed at Heathrow Airport outside London, switched terminals, and made our way to our third lounge of the trip, the British Airways Galleries Club. I cannot remember which one it was exactly, but it reminded me a lot of the American Airlines Flagship Lounge. I grabbed a light snack and a double espresso to fight off the jet lag, then we headed to our final flight on British Airways.
I was pleasantly surprised to discover that our seats were in front of the curtain, and we enjoyed a coffee or tea service followed by a Full English breakfast. I was not very hungry, but I had to try it. It was actually pretty good.
Our four hour flight took us southeast over France, Italy, and the Mediterranean Sea, and eventually delivered us to our final destination, Cairo, Egypt! We arrived at the perfect moment, when no other flights were landing, so we breezed through customs and hopped into our micro bus to the hotel. The ride through Cairo was the scariest drive I have ever been on. I did not think we were going to die, but I was sure we would hit another car or possibly a pedestrian. I avoided looking straight ahead and kept my eyes on the scenery outside the side window instead.
After checking into the hotel and getting a quick orientation from our tour coordinator, we grabbed some sashimi at the Japanese restaurant. It was not bad at all. Then we headed up to our room on the twentieth floor and admired the amazing view.
It was a long couple of days of travel, but everything went smoothly, and I am grateful for that!
