daily slice-of-life photo blog of a Gen-X dad
Bay’s two favorite frozen foods are these chimichangas and taquitos, and it is great that they are now right next to each other at our local Costco. I have not had a taquito in a while, but these are made with flour tortillas, and since I am cutting down on gluten, I think I will avoid them for now. Still, I thought taquitos were usually made with corn tortillas and flautas were the ones made with flour. Hmmmm.
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.
We spent the morning in the city of Esna with a short walk through the streets, followed by some time for shopping. Bartering with the shopkeepers can feel intimidating at first, but compared to vendors in Morocco, Egypt is pretty tame. It actually became kind of fun, and I like to think we got pretty good at it. Of course, my mom is the real master of haggling. We came away with some clothes, a stamp, and a few dishes and bowls.
After that, we cruised the Nile for the rest of the day on our way to Aswan. Back on the ship, we enjoyed high tea and some time browsing the library, where I found a book about Hatshepsut, whose temple we had visited the day before. We were then treated to a delicious local meal. To cap it all off, we watched an incredible Egyptian sunset.
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.
