A trip to Cairo, Egypt

A taxi cab ride from the airport to our hotel. The car had trouble starting and we prayed and crossed our fingers during the 30 minute ride, but at least the price was good.
Egypt is 80-90% Muslim and there are hundreds of mosques in Cairo. Daily prayers are done everywhere, even in the middle of a busy street in Cairo.

On our 35th wedding anniversary, we're riding a camel around prymids that were built over 5000 years ago. The pyramids are truly amazing.

"Mr. Paul, I'll give you 100 camels for the wife. She's good, yes?" Not kidding, he made this offer. Paul counter-offered for 150, but he thought that was a bit high.

"I'm a poor man, only 1 wife right now. We'll have fun, yes?" These are his words, not mine.

The Sphinx, a combination of the wisdom of man and the power of the lion,

protects the 3 pyramids of Giza.

The Khan el-Khalili Bazaar is one of the world's oldest markets. It was called the Turkish Bazaar during the Ottoman Empire. Now it is comprised of many crowed streets in old Cairo.

Bringing their goods to the market on carts.

Spice, herbs and essential oils are still sold at many locations. We tried lotus, frankincense, myrrh, Egyptian oregano and many other spices. The bargaining continued over a cup of tea.

Overloaded carts are pushed through the busy streets of Cairo on their way to the Bazaar.

"Yes, we can fit it into my Taxi."

The view of the Nile from the balcony of our hotel room.

A trip to Baalbeck

Baalbeck is 53 kilometers Northeast of Beirut. The journey through the mountains and into the Bekaa Valley takes about 1-1/2 hours.

After traveling over Mount Lebanon, we reach the Bekaa Valley. The northern part of the valley is used for grazing sheep, while the more fertile land is used to grow vegetables, fruits, grapes for the many wineries and of course, hashish.
A Bedouin camp in the Bekaa. They are a nomadic Arabic group who work in the fields. We saw satellite dishes on several of the tents.

A stop at Chateau Kefraya for a light lunch and a wine tasting. We felt like we were in Sonoma or Walla Walla.

The road leading into Baalbeck. You see a little bit of everything. Notice the middle lane is left open for passing, in both directions and often at the same time. The two lane road then becomes a four lane highway.

The streets of Baalbeck.

We have arrived in Baalbeck. Mari gets her first close glimpse at a camel under the watchful eye of his master.

Baalbeck (formerly Heliopolis, meaning City of the Sun)

The temples located in Baalbeck are not only the largest roman temples, but also the best preserved in the world. The Baalbeck International Music and Dance Festival is held in these ruins.

The Temple of Jupiter was built around 54-68AD. These are the 6 remaining columns of the original 54.
We are standing at the base of one of these massive columns, which is 7 feet in diameter and 70 feet high.
The columns supported an entablature lying horizontally on these columns. This is a piece of the frieze from that structure.
The Temple of Bacchus (Roman god of wine) was built during the 1st half of the 2nd Century. It was a temple of celebration, even including a wine cellar.

Intricate carvings of grapes and poppies on the main entrance of the temple. The inner chamber of the temple is richly carved with scenes from the life of Bacchus.

The Cedars of Lebanon

The cedar tree is mentioned in many religious and mythological writings. It is also the national symbol of Lebanon.

The village of Bsharri, home of the great poet, philosopher and artist, Gibran Kahil Gibran.
Qadisha, the holy valley, located at the foot of Bsharri. The deep canyon filled with caves, waterfalls and several monasteries has been the refuge of various religious communities fleeing persecution over the centuries.

The Cedars, a national park near Bsharri. Once cedars covered 1.2 million acres of the mountains of Lebanon, now only 4,900 acres remain. During various occupations of the land, the trees were cut and exported. The lebanese cedar is part of the pine tree family and looks very different from our cedar trees in the PNW.

We feel very young standing next to this 2000 year old cedar.

Lamartine Cedar Sculpture

While walking thru The Cedars you come upon the "Lamartine Cedar Sculpture" by Lebanese artist, Rudy Rahmeh. Carved out of 3 dead cedars, it stands nearly 105 feet tall. It is the largest vegetal sculpture in the world. The sculpture contains 70 human figures representing the relationship between time and place. Among the figures are the birth, life and death of Jesus.

Cyprus

We spent 5 days on the island of Cyprus celebrating Paul's birthday. The weather was perfect and the Greek people were warm and friendly. It was a nice break from the city.

A quiet beach near the birthplace of Aphrodite (the Greek goddess of love).

Sunset from our lanai


A small fishing village on the northwest side of the island. Our favorite kind of place.


Our favorite Greek restaurant. The owner greets you, takes your order, gives you advice and hugs you.

A plant store in the village of Omodos. We stopped here on our way into the mountains.

A typical scene in Cyprus as well as Beirut. There's always time for a game of backgammon.

A birthday picnic at our final destination in the mountains, the small village of Foini, where they still make the authentic pottery. All we found were handwritten signs along a narrow stairway leading to a broken firing pot and locked doors. Like many places in Cyprus, if they have something else going on they lock up.


The only sign of inhabitants in the village of Foini. This must be the local watering hole.

Hiking and snorkeling in Cyprus

Wanting to do some snorkeling, we headed for the Blue Lagoon on the Northwest side of Cyprus. We were told not to drive, so we thought we'd hike there. It was only a couple of kilometers. As we started from the baths of Aphrodite, a kind goat herder in a very old pickup offered to take us in. The narrow dirt road was steep and full of boulders and huge holes. Our "new friend" spoke only Greek and as all Greeks he spoke with his hands, both of them. As he pointed to the beautiful Mediterranean far below, we eagerly acknowledged the beauty hoping he'd get the hands back on the steering wheel. We were grateful and a bit releaved when we reached our destination. Paul looked at me, knowing darn well what I was thinking and said, "just another adventure".

Final destination, was it worth it? Absolutely!

Starting our trek back to the car. This sign was not at the other end of the road where we had started.

View from the trail.

Two happy hikers

Where's our sheep herder when we needed him?

An extended visit at one of the "fountain's of youth". We're still waiting for the results.

Mosaics in Paphos, Cyprus

Near the harbor in Paphos are the remains of four large villas built between the 3rd to 5th Century. It is believed that members of the Roman ruling class and the wealthiest of Paphos lived in these villas, each consisting of over 100 rooms. The floor in each room is a unique and ornate mosaic depicting Greek Mythology or geometric design. Each one is a piece of art. Our pictures do not do them justice.

Beginning to explore Lebanon - Jeita Grotto

The Jeita Grotto is located about 18 kilometers from Beirut. These caverns, among the largest in the world, are a result of time and the perfect elements of limestone and moisture. It is difficult to describe the magnitude of these caves. You walk into the upper cavern and you are stunned by the beauty of the stalactites and stalagmites as every sense is stimulated. You feel the moisture and coolness of the cave, smell dampness and sweetness, hear dripping and crackling, and visually you are in a cathedral created by nature, on another planet or a scene that could not possibly be replicated at Universal Studios. You have to leave touch to your imagination because you would never want to interrupt this work of art by human interference. The oldest part of these caverns started forming 12,000 years ago.

The countryside as we approach the caverns

We couldn't take pictures inside, so we thought we'd need some kind of proof that we were there.

These pictures are borrowed from the web.

Upper cavern, which you explore by walking down a small pathway.
We could have stayed all day and let our imaginations take us away.

Lower cavern, which you see on a small boat.