Category: Traveling

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!