On Friday we had another very early departure, though not quite as early as the day before. We let for cruise ship at 4:30 AM and took a short flight from Aswan to Cairo. Thankfully I got a little more sleep on the plane.
Our first stop was at a Citadel that was built during the Crusades. Later Mohammed Ali built a Mosque here, which we also visited. At the Mosque, Hamada talked to us about the history of Islam and how the Muslims come to pray at the mosques. Since today was Friday we needed to visit it before they came for noon prayers which are at the mosques on Fridays.
Our highlight today was our next stop-the Egyptian Museum. We saw a variety of antiquities here. Cameras are not allowed in the museum (surprise surprise) so I did not get any pictures. We saw almost the entire collection of treasures that were found in King Tut’s tomb, including his famous gold mask and all 3 of his sarcophagi. In the Royal Mummies room we saw the mummies of Ramses II, Queen Hatshepsut and one of the sons of Ramses II among others. The really are very well preserved. I won’t go into details for the faint at heart, but it was interesting and gross at the same time.
We had a surprise for lunch which was at the Hard Rock Café. Emily had never been to a Hard Rock so she thought it was pretty cool. We checked out all the paraphernalia and got some pictures too.
Finally we took the 3 ½ hour drive to Alexandria arriving about 6:oo PM. Our hotel here is gorgeous. It is in the Monatzah Gardens which were built by the Turks and right next to a palace, also built by the Turks. Our balcony overlooks a garden and the Mediterranean Sea. I plan to enjoy coffee on the terrace and watch the sun rise in the morning!
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