When Carnarvon asked him if he saw anything, Howard Carter replied: "Yes, wonderful things".

King Tut lyrics  By Steve Martin

Now, when I die,
now don't think I'm a nut,
don't want no fancy funeral,
just one like ole king Tut. (King Tut)


This morning's adventure was a private tour w/ our Egyptologist Hala, at the Cairo Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, before it opened to the general public. Among the many relics we saw, probably the most famous and recognizable one was the funerary mask of King Tut. No cameras were allowed. So, these pictures are from the internet, because I follow camera rules.


The King Tut Mask weighs ten kilos or 24lbs of solid gold.  'nuff said

The museum was built on the plans of French architect Marcel Dourgnon and inaugurated in 1902, the museum is located on Tahrir Square in Cairo today. Honestly, I was like a kid in a candy store, trying to absorb everything. I felt like Charlie in Wonka's factory. I kept waiting for Slugworth to offer me an everlasting amulet or canopic jar but no luck on that. No one even asked me to mummify a chicken either.


 The artifacts were wonderful and in abundance. Now, don't let the neoclassical outside of the museum trick you, like Bathsheba bathing on the rooftop. It seemed to me like no one had really changed anything since it opened in 1902. Even the description cards seemed to have been there and not updated since 1902. Anything new added to the collection felt like they said,...uhhh, put it over there for now. And if you can't find a spot, put it somewhere outside." Not much rhyme or reason but still glorious. Kinda like getting the old, frumpy teacher for second grade when all of your friends got the new, young glamorous teacher. But Mrs. Frumpydrawers ended up being a fantastic teacher and one of your favorites. You still hang the candy-cane ornament she gave you 35 years ago on your Christmas tree. Well, that's how the museum seemed to me, like Mrs. Frumpydrawers, wonderful and I'll love her forever!

The next stop was the carpet school. I'll spare you all of my creative writing other than to say it's where they teach young Egyptians how to hand weave carpets on looms with silk & wool. Look for the Youtube. This is how fast her hands were really flying. It was amazing to watch this delicate art of knot tying of threads of silk, and have it end up a gorgeous rug.

 Next stop, Memphis, the ancient capital of Egypt, which had the beautifully carved statue of Ramses II.

Then on to the Step Pyramid at the ancient capital at Sakkara, built by Imhotep for King Zoser (Djoser) in 2686 B.C.

Melissa Jan.9, 6:35 pm

Timing is everything!

Could Mrs. McCabe, I like to refer to myself in third person, timed it any better? I/she visited the Egyptian pyramids on Jan. 8th...Elvis' birthday. End of blog...just kidding! Honestly, how do I do it? Not on Jan. 7th or 9h but Jan. 8th. Eerie, huh...the mystical powers of the pyramids must be true! Just like birthing my second son, Josh, on Jan. 8th. Happy Birthday son! How better to celebrate Elvis & Josh's birthday than with a visit to the pyramids! To all of my past students...now that's how you celebrate Elvis Day!


Since I wrote so much the past two days, I will let the photos do the talking...
"A picture is worth a thousand words." Can you really describe the pyramids justly? Well, I could but I won't.


Quick Facts on the Great Pyramid

• The Great Pyramid contains a staggering 2.3 million blocks of stone.
• It was built as a tomb for Khufu (Cheops in Greek).
• It was the tallest man-made structure in the world, 480.6 ft (146.5 meters), for over 3,800 years.

Quick Sphinx Fact

• It is the largest monolith statue in the world, standing 241 ft (73.5 meters).

*Quote of the Day* It is from a very sophisticated tourist...my hubby.
"The Sphinx is smaller than I thought it would be; the one in Vegas is bigger."


Happy Birthday to my blonde Elvis!
                                                                                                         Elvis

                                                                                                         Josh

Melissa-Jan 8th, 2011  5:42 pm

Oh no you didn't!

Okay this my story & I'm sticking to it. We arrived in Cairo two days early because that's the dates when Continental said we could use our points to upgrade. It's been great to have two extra days to relax, adjust to a new time zone, & get over jet-lag.  Today we scheduled massages. Since oil was rubbed into my scalp, I decided to get a wash & blow dry for my hair. 


This is rich...you're gonna love this...two strange events happened to me. First, the person who washed my hair was a twelve year-old-boy. Hmmm...a twelve year-old boy washing my hair... creepy, different, interesting...maybe all three. I vote creepy. I'm thinking why aren't you in school; he's probably thinking why do I always get the old American ladies heads to wash?!


Now the entire place is full of women clicking away in their native tongues. They're giving minute details about their hair, how to wash, how to style, and waving their hands dramatically but EVERY hair stylists is a man! Now, at home, the beauty salon is a woman's haven with only a few men. I'm in a country where our driver told me there are separate subway tunnels for men & women; because in their country it's not so common to have men and women so close together. But every woman in this place is having a man run his fingers through her hair, and I have a pre-pubescent boy washing my hair!


The second bizarre thing...the lady next to me, getting massive hair weaves installed on her head, pulls out a cigarette and starts smoking two feet from me! REALLY?...REALLY! I just got a boy-washing & you're going to stink it up w/stale cig smoke...REALLY?!?! I look at my 19 year-old man/child stylist & pointed at cig lady and said," REALLY!" Aerosols hairsprays, chemical straighteners, clean hair, not to mention 'her, I'm sure several hundreds of dollar's, hair weave', and she's smoking?! My stylist started to look very nervous, probably because he had no clue what I was saying. Hmmm, how do say, "Do I need to open a can West Texas whoop ass?!" Sorry, did I just say whoop ass?  That's as bad as smoking in a hair salon!

Oh no you didn't!
That's my adventure for the day! Tomorrow the PYRAMIDS!! 
Melissa   Jan. 7, 2011 7:34 pm

Travel enlightens the soul & expands your imagination...

Quote of the day...  “If you reject the food, ignore the customs, fear the religion and avoid the people, you might better stay at home.” – James Michener
On that note, the octopus salad was delicious last night!


As many of you know in our family every year we have a time honored New Year's tradition of resolutions/goals. But in this family the goals are scrutinized, examined, dissected, judged, ranked, and then given points from a grand pre-determined point scheme. The idea being to cover 8 essential areas in your life, like spokes in a wheel. If all spokes are present in your life then it will revolve like a well greased wheel. The 8 essential areas: family, health, spiritual, work, education, hobby, civic, & personal development. The goal is to work up a list of "goals" to accomplish during the year. One of my favorite areas is education. Every year I pick a topic to immerse myself into, completely losing myself in exploration of a topic/subject that's completely foreign to me. One year I picked the study of tea. I read several books on tea, started drinking hot tea, and our travels now included afternoon tea. 


"If you are cold, tea will warm you. If you are too heated it will cool you. If you are depressed, it will cheer you. If you are excited, it will calm you." Gladstone 1865


"Each cup of tea represents an imaginary voyage." Catherine Douzel


One of my goals this year was to show more gratitude/thanks.


I'm thankful for tea and travel, as well as the friends & family I share those experiences with.
Yanni-thanks for tea w/me....look afternoon tea in Cairo!

I'm thankful for Paige G.-I never look at art w/out thinking about you. You would love the art in this hotel; it's very eclectic.

 Statue, funky shapes.

The one of the horse was scribble lines. Looks like they used a spirograph box of tools to help them. Luv this one.

 Luv this one too, because it's oil that looks like chalk on a blackboard.

Not my cup of tea. That's funny in so many ways. Cause of my whole tea post thing...ha!


Travel enlightens the soul & expands your imagination...

Here at last...

Here at last...we had a 9hr flight from Houston to Frankfort, then 4 hr flight from Frankfort to Cairo. We were excited, had sore backs, anxious of the unknown, and ready to go to the hotel. We were met & escorted to the hotel by Abercrombie & Kent representative & driver.
Dose of reality...the driver had to stop the car before entering the hotel drive to have the car inspected by bomb-sniffing dog.  I'm just fine with extra security. The hotel is the Four Seasons Cairo at the Nile Plaza. http://www.fourseasons.com/caironp/

We were hungry so we chose the restaurant that served an Egyptian food buffet. What is Egyptian food? Very Mediterranean...hummus, beets, creamed carrots salad, lentil soup, beef, lamb, grape leaves stuffed w/rice, and fish. Desserts are almond paste, walnuts & dates based cookies, wheat puddings w/raisins, honey coated dough-nut balls, and of course a few chocolate choices. Most delicious...
Fast Facts on Cairo!

• City of 7.8 million with an additional 10 million people just outside the city.
•  It's the largest city in Africa & the 11th largest urban area in the world.
• Capital of Egypt
• Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" because of the Islamic architecture

Okay, bell-man tells us in the morning you will be able to see the pyramids from your balcony...just look to the left...here's the picture I took from our balcony. Can you see them through the smog? Look harder, you can do it! In the center of picture behind the buildings...ha, thought they would be bigger! They are about 45 minutes away in Giza.

Beautiful, bustling city...yes, our hotel sits right on the Nile River!

Biggest surprise so far...hmmm...all of the modern, beautiful, glamourous people. The local women are gorgeous, fashion forward...high heels, boots, jewelry, and make-up. Most local women have head coverings but they are gorgeous silk scarves that are color coordinated w/ their outfits. I saw only one woman in a burka from the drive to the hotel. In the hotel very few women have head coverings & are dressed very stylish.

Here at last...Melissa 

Jan. 6, 2011  2:31 pm

Airport madness

As we all know, every one loves the airport.  Waiting for flight to Frankfort, Germany.  We had to drop Amanda off for her international flight to Istanbul, so we decided to just check in too for our flight. Here 4 hrs early...security took 10 minutes max.  Amanda was 2 hrs early for her flight & it took her over 2 hrs in her security line. If her flight had not been delayed by 1 1/2 hrs, she would have missed her flight. Airports!

New Year's Eve Party @ Absolve Wine Lounge!

We spent New Year's Eve in Houston @ our lounge and had a great time. Amanda got to see her best childhood friend, Paige, for the 1st time in 2 years. Paige is about to graduate with an engineering degree, has studied in Germany, and is applying to graduate school. Amanda's studies have taken her to France, Spain, Chicago, Italy, Turkey, New York, & Germany. She leaves Tuesday back to Turkey, then back to Berlin. It was great seeing Paige & her family. 

Amanda & her dad dancing to their traditional Travis Tritt song!

My best childhood friend Rhonda made the trip with her husband Jim. I appreciate them making the trip from Dallas. We had a great time visiting & catching up!

 Amanda & her friend Megan from D.C.

 Jenny & her friend Ines.

 The Boyd Family with Paige's friend Flo. We missed Trent!

http://www.absolvewinelounge.com/about.asp