Greetings blog followers.......
Let me begin by extending a big thank you to all of you for following this blog the past several weeks. For me, it's been an incredible journey and I hope that you have enjoyed the trip too.
Our journey to Domyet came to a joyful end yesterday. We had a wonderful time with Heba, Helmy, Dennis & I. We spent some time at the Mediterranean Sea. I was able to get my feet wet. We took some great photos and picked up a few seashells. For the first time I picked up sea shells at a sea shore. While we were there it even rained! We then headed to a furniture store - the beautifully hand crafted pieces remind me of the Victorian style back home. The owner was a very kind gentleman, a friend of Helmy's. Following our visit we went to a very famous pastry shop.....called Albadry. This place makes fresh pastries every day and has a reputation for selling the best. After a few samples I'm convinced the reputation is well deserved. We also had lunch at a seafood restaurant. Imagine the seafood menu with the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile River near by.....impressive! We had seafood soup which was tasty and calamari. I liked the calamari in Egypt. For those who may recall, I didn't care for it in Greece a few years ago but this was good....maybe because it was deep-fat fried??!! We took the train back to Cairo. I was sad to have the wonderful trip come to an end. Helmy was a wonderful host and Dennis & I are truly grateful he shared this special place with us.
Upon arriving in Cairo we checked into another hotel.......La Meridien Pyramid. The Pyramids are right outside of our hotel. AMAZING!!!! Today Heba took me to her office. She works for a software company, ISIS. Wow....she has a BIG office and her boss and previous boss both took some time out of their busy schedules to meet with me. Her direct boss is Engineer Alaa Alagamawi, CEO of ISIS. Her previous boss is Mr. Motaz Alagamawi, Vice-President of Business Development at ISIS. For everyone back home, these gentlemen are kind and supportive of Heba and she's doing a great job for ISIS. It was an honor to meet them and I know that she's in a good place....with supportive supervisors and colleagues and I'm truly grateful for that.
The traffic was unbelievable today. It took us 1 1/2 hours to return to the hotel this afternoon. Dennis, Heba and I opted to stay at the hotel and order pizza in....it was tasty. Tonight is the first night we've spent a quiet evening in our hotel room since we left. I must admit - it feels good to take a break from the hustle and bustle of everything. Tomorrow will be an extremely long day. Heba and I hope to swim at the pool here - in the morning. Dennis & I will l then check out of the hotel and head to Heba's sister's place. Michael will meet up with us then. We'll drop off our luggage and do some shopping at the Khan El Khalily - it's part of ancient Egypt where they sell souvenirs and Egyptian things. It's a very famous shopping place and we don't want to miss out on this experience. :) We'll then head to dinner - don't know where that'll be yet.
We'll head back to Heba's sister's later in the evening. The shuttle van will pick us up there at midnight. Our flight departs Cairo at 4:00 a.m. (Cairo time) Thursday morning and we'll arrive in Cedar Rapids at 6:05 p.m. Thursday evening. I'm hoping I'll be able to get some sleep on the 9 hour flight from Rome to Chicago.
I'll post again on Friday - when I get back at the office.
Once again, thanks for sharing in this journey. I hope you've enjoyed the experience as much as I have. It's been a memorable 2 weeks and the best is yet to be.
Let me begin by extending a big thank you to all of you for following this blog the past several weeks. For me, it's been an incredible journey and I hope that you have enjoyed the trip too.
Our journey to Domyet came to a joyful end yesterday. We had a wonderful time with Heba, Helmy, Dennis & I. We spent some time at the Mediterranean Sea. I was able to get my feet wet. We took some great photos and picked up a few seashells. For the first time I picked up sea shells at a sea shore. While we were there it even rained! We then headed to a furniture store - the beautifully hand crafted pieces remind me of the Victorian style back home. The owner was a very kind gentleman, a friend of Helmy's. Following our visit we went to a very famous pastry shop.....called Albadry. This place makes fresh pastries every day and has a reputation for selling the best. After a few samples I'm convinced the reputation is well deserved. We also had lunch at a seafood restaurant. Imagine the seafood menu with the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile River near by.....impressive! We had seafood soup which was tasty and calamari. I liked the calamari in Egypt. For those who may recall, I didn't care for it in Greece a few years ago but this was good....maybe because it was deep-fat fried??!! We took the train back to Cairo. I was sad to have the wonderful trip come to an end. Helmy was a wonderful host and Dennis & I are truly grateful he shared this special place with us.
Upon arriving in Cairo we checked into another hotel.......La Meridien Pyramid. The Pyramids are right outside of our hotel. AMAZING!!!! Today Heba took me to her office. She works for a software company, ISIS. Wow....she has a BIG office and her boss and previous boss both took some time out of their busy schedules to meet with me. Her direct boss is Engineer Alaa Alagamawi, CEO of ISIS. Her previous boss is Mr. Motaz Alagamawi, Vice-President of Business Development at ISIS. For everyone back home, these gentlemen are kind and supportive of Heba and she's doing a great job for ISIS. It was an honor to meet them and I know that she's in a good place....with supportive supervisors and colleagues and I'm truly grateful for that.
The traffic was unbelievable today. It took us 1 1/2 hours to return to the hotel this afternoon. Dennis, Heba and I opted to stay at the hotel and order pizza in....it was tasty. Tonight is the first night we've spent a quiet evening in our hotel room since we left. I must admit - it feels good to take a break from the hustle and bustle of everything. Tomorrow will be an extremely long day. Heba and I hope to swim at the pool here - in the morning. Dennis & I will l then check out of the hotel and head to Heba's sister's place. Michael will meet up with us then. We'll drop off our luggage and do some shopping at the Khan El Khalily - it's part of ancient Egypt where they sell souvenirs and Egyptian things. It's a very famous shopping place and we don't want to miss out on this experience. :) We'll then head to dinner - don't know where that'll be yet.
We'll head back to Heba's sister's later in the evening. The shuttle van will pick us up there at midnight. Our flight departs Cairo at 4:00 a.m. (Cairo time) Thursday morning and we'll arrive in Cedar Rapids at 6:05 p.m. Thursday evening. I'm hoping I'll be able to get some sleep on the 9 hour flight from Rome to Chicago.
I'll post again on Friday - when I get back at the office.
Once again, thanks for sharing in this journey. I hope you've enjoyed the experience as much as I have. It's been a memorable 2 weeks and the best is yet to be.
I had the opportunity to meet Ahmed's wife today - she's very kind.
Salam Alaikom (Peace be upon you)
Lauri
PS My Arabic has improved over the past 2 weeks too! :)
Salam Alaikom (Peace be upon you)
Lauri
PS My Arabic has improved over the past 2 weeks too! :)
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