Travel Tuesday

Mohammed was a character. Offering us ice cold cokes, he told us about all these trips he could take us on. It would be better than anything the Hilton had to offer. Heading out to the desert, going to the fields of wild flowers where essential oils are created, and going to Alexandria. Alexandria had catacombs, fresh seafood, and Fort Qaitbey, which was built in 1480. The enticing offer was a reasonable price and it would be personal to our tastes. 

Mohammed picked us up a the Hilton and we made our way to Alexandria. After driving for an hour, we stopped for a snack. Here, we saw women making bread. I was reminded of pizza dough since it was so huge.

Continuing the rest of the way, we had no idea how to get to the catacombs. Mohammed asked some random person on the street and may have gotten some idea of where to go. We made our way to the Pillar of Pompeii.  It was so cool and tall. We may have slipped the guard a few Egyptian dollars to take us below the Pillar for a photo op. 

We made it to a coliseum and finally found the catacombs. I am not a fan of anything related to death including burial. Obviously, there's no bodies in there but it was not my cup of tea. After that, we explored all over Fort Qaitbey and the was a lot of fun! I enjoyed exploring around and being right next to the ocean. This fort was originally built in 1480 with a lighthouse. 

The day was capped off with a seafood meal that was heavenly. We picked our fish from the case and it was immediately cooked to perfection. The table was covered in newspaper, which was helpful for all the fish bones and shrimp tails. Such amazing food!

We enjoyed our time with Mohammed and when he invited us to hang out with him at his Uncle's home, we couldn't refuse. This is where we got off the beaten track and ended up at a Bedouin's home. Sitting around a campfire outside, everyone was chatting, drinking, and smoking. Unfortunately for me, I was the only female sitting around the fire. All the men were smoking hashish and giving it to my husband. I had a good time but I kept the same beer in hand all night long. Looking back, it could have been a bad idea to join Mohammed but nothing happened. Now that's an Egyptian adventure.

Have you had any crazy adventures while traveling? I'd love to read about! 

Top Pic Tuesday: Egyptian Style

Cruising through Cairo is no small feat. There's no stop lights. Chaos rules the roads. Trying to get a simple bottle of water was a never ending adventure. Staying at the Hilton meant over priced water. We always chose to buy it elsewhere. Crossing the street required the assistance of at least one Egyptian. Thankfully, we were never hit by any cars. One day, we decided our adventure should be going to McDonald's. We love checking out the ethnic foods that makes McDonald's special in each country. Not more than twenty steps from the Hilton, an Egyptian stops us and begins a conversation. He explains that he works at the Hilton and is studying English at the American University. He continues to explain that we should not go to McDonald's because the president is over there and the crowds would be overwhelming. He offers to take us to a different place. We never knew how to say no the entire time we were in Egypt. So we follow this fellow across the Nile to another fellow's shop (complete opposite direction of McDonald's). Mohammed. The Hilton employee introduces us and leaves to go to work. Mohammed offers tea and has a little boy run to get us some food. Oh my that food was spicy and not good for my system! While we are sipping Coke from glass bottles, Mohammed describes all these wonderful trips he can take us on. R, my hubby, was quite interested in the Catacombs of Alexandria. Mohammed said, "no problem, I will take you," and we agreed on a fair price. Alexandria was gorgeous and I have already shared this photo but its worth another share. The seafood was the freshest of the fresh from the ocean and heavenly. Upon dropping us off at the hotel, Mohammed said, "I like you guys. Come with me to my uncle's house for a nice little party." His uncle is a bedoin and we sat around a bonfire. There were no girls around this bonfire but me. There were no English speakers around this bonfire but me, R, and Mohammed. Everyone was feeding R beer and hashish. I was concerned and held the same beer the entire night. Around 2am, Mohammed wanted to party some more and flagged us the cheapest cab back to the Hilton. No harm. No foul. Everyone was friendly, hospitable, and generous. I still don't want to be the only girl sitting around a bonfire with hardly any English speakers. That was a true adventure. Thanks to Sara at Life in a Break Down for letting me preview this story on her blog right here. Please stay tuned for Weight Loss Wednesday.

Top Pick Tuesday

I love this photo. The bright colors, the ancient boats. It calls to me. Perhaps, I'd like to be out in the ocean. Perhaps on a bigger boat. This was taken in Alexandria, Egypt while we were on vacation. I had a canon dslr but currently use a canon elph.END