The Widow and the Spinster: The Search for Adventure, Enlightenment, and the Quest for Forbidden food - Bacon, Bacon, Bacon, and New TR Link! 5/23

[Captain_Oblivious]

Or should I say the day that I begin my 30+ hours of grueling travel?

They didn't care about the tiny bottles of Vodka that were gone before I got on the plane, but they looked at every plug, adapter, and even a metal Winnie the Pooh Barret that I should have put in my checked luggage.

That'll do it. Unauthorized smuggling of intellectual property.

The plane made a very rough landing in Charlotte right at 6AM. Boy was that a jolt awake!

Would not be a fan of that.

And soon we were on our way to the Turkish Airlines Business Class Lounge. We were so happy to be flying Business Class. On such a long flight it was going to be nice to have sleeper seats and great food.

We found a nice little corner in the back of the lounge and started to enjoy the amenities. They had Turkish meatballs, some sort of chicken stew, as well as rice, hummus, pita bread, soups, and assorted salads.

Well, la dee da! Pretty fancy little spread there.

Probably better than the peanuts served to the peons in coach.

By this time I had been about 24 hours in transit and some sleep was definitely in order.

I'll say. I can never sleep on planes.

 

[pkondz]

Well, I have a spreadsheet for everything, just about.....

Well, that would do it...

I dunno, she's kind of one of the most productive female rulers in Egypt. Maybe she wasn't as pretty as Cleopatra or Nephertiti.....

Then again... I haven't heard of many of them, so...

 

[franandaj]

You can tell by the look on my face how freaking hot and done I was.

I'm glad you pointed that out. I thought about it, cause the expression on your face is classic.

It was stifling in there....and I was annoyed at Ahmed.

Yeah. Both.

The Egyptian Museum is very cool but many of the exhibits are just artifacts placed in glass cases with very little explanation. There are some more "modern" exhibits that are more similar to the ones we are used to in US museums. I'm glad we had a guide to steer us towards the "greatest" hits. The new Great Egyptian Museum will be amazing if it ever opens.

Yeah we will see if it does. That's a lot of money they've already put into it!

 

[franandaj]

Maybe he had a phone call to make.

Did he?

Yes, he did catch up with Jill for all the money she spent on her credit card.

But then again, you're planning on going back, so...

Because that museum wasn't open!

You (or at least I) can't even tell that the beard was broken... and then poorly repaired for a time.

I didn't know that was a thing.....

I can help! It's for a dead person.



You're welcome.

Thanks for explaining what canopic meant. Had no idea what that was!

I did steal that description, but I was aware from the time in 2018 when I saw the King Tut Exhibition in LA.

Huh. Did not know that.

That was actually new to me too.

Very impressive. Actually the whole museum is.

The new one will be even better, if it ever opens.

Did you ever find out for certain? Presume you couldn't really ask.

No, we couldn't really ask. But we're sticking with our conjecture.

Perhaps a cultural thing?

I doubt it.

How did you feel about that? "Good! I have questions" or "We already saw it when you weren't here"?

I was like, "Really???" But we just used it as a starting point. We didn't linger there.

I wonder if the nesting dolls maybe have a distant root from that?

Good question.

My goodness! His hand is huge!

Wasn't she considered one of the most beautiful women in the world? Or am I getting her mixed up with someone else?

No that's her.

 

[franandaj]

While I would have been super annoyed with the issues of your guide - I am kinda enjoying the tea and speculation at this later date. Poor guy has some personal issues that seems he may have caused himself.

He was actually a lot of fun and very nice. It was only that last day when we realized that he had completely revamped our plans to suit his own interests, whatever they were. But we're sticking with the court thing.

He was super knowledgeable and got some great pictures and videos with us. In the next section you'll see that we don't get much of that sort of fun.

Interesting items in the museums even if they are terrible at having explanations for you.

Yeah, it was nice having him to tell us about all that, but we forgot a bunch of it just because our brains could only hold so much and we're still not done by a long shot. In fact I might argue we saw even more in the second part. At least we took A LOT more pictures!

 

[pkondz]

Yes, he did catch up with Jill for all the money she spent on her credit card.

Because that museum wasn't open!

I'll know exactly when it's open again...


Alison will be announcing on a TR/PTR that she's going back to Egypt!

I didn't know that was a thing.....

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35392531

I did steal that description, but I was aware from the time in 2018 when I saw the King Tut Exhibition in LA.

I remember your post about that... which is why I thought you might have known about the broken beard.

The new one will be even better, if it ever opens.

Oh, yes. On the date you're travelling back to Egypt.

I was like, "Really???" But we just used it as a starting point. We didn't linger there.

Ah.

 

[franandaj]

Hey Alison! Remember me?

Hey Stranger! You're excused. Youve been through heck and back!

I found a little time so I'm starting to work on catching up! At this point I don't know if you have any other TR's going at the moment but I at least wanted to read about Egypt!

i do have another TR, but its just a bunch of day trips out to DL. Nothing nearly as interesting as this TR.

And you did a really good job of it, too. A life well lived.

well thank you.

This all does sound pretty amazing! Suspiciously like a bucket-list type trip. Just sayin'.

I know what you mean, bit with my current situation my bucket list would have been more Tiana's Palace or Be Our Guest than Indiana Jones. Not to say I didn't have a blast on this trip, but something this adventurous was not on my list AT ALL. That being said, Jill and I are looking at going to Turkey, doing an African Safari and some other adventurous trips now that we have Egypt under our belts.

I'm sure I would have found a way to worry about this. My parents took a trip to Israel about 6 months before everything went crazy there.

We decided that we could die just as easily here in a mass shooting. Why not chance it going out somewhere exotic?

Yeesh. Sounds like a tough final exam.

Haha! Good one!

I was always partial to Wonder Woman, myself.

I suppose she was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world.....

This is basically my entire philosophy on travel.

i can understand that.

Mmmm...bacon.

You will be severely disappointed.

 

[franandaj]

That'll do it. Unauthorized smuggling of intellectual property.

Would not be a fan of that.

Yeah, I didn't have many other choices to get me there to be on the same flight as Jill.

Well, la dee da! Pretty fancy little spread there.

Probably better than the peanuts served to the peons in coach.

Well yes, we paid lots of miles for that privilege.

I'll say. I can never sleep on planes.

I really can't either.

 

[franandaj]

I'll know exactly when it's open again...


Alison will be announcing on a TR/PTR that she's going back to Egypt!

You're creating a chicken and the egg scenario here.....

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-35392531

That's why the museum hasn't opened!

I remember your post about that... which is why I thought you might have known about the broken beard.

I don't think that they brought that on that tour.

Oh, yes. On the date you're travelling back to Egypt.

Again, chicken and the egg.

 

[franandaj]

After we exited the museum we talked with Ahmed about plans for dinner. Since we didn’t have the lunch that was included, we got dinner instead. He had planned to take us to McDonald's for dinner, so we kind of took the wind out of his sails when we said that we ate it for lunch. His next suggestion was Shawarma and we ended up back at the same place we had visited the first day.

But first we had to get there. Did I mention to you that there was a heavy police presence? Vans like this were set up all over the city. We must have seen at least 20 different “camps” like this when driving throughout the city. This is just one that we passed near the museum.

Not sure if you can see it, but they have tactical assault rifles. It was amazing how quickly we got used to that sight.

The sun was setting as we headed to the restaurant.

He let us take a look at the menu and we were able to secure an English version. The last time we were here, our host basically ordered for us. He got the deluxe platter with fries and the works. This time we just got the sandwich wrapped in a paper wrapper, not cut into pieces and arranged on a plate. Honestly it was better than the sandwich the first day that was cut into slices. It tasted juicier.

I got the chicken this time.

Jill got the beef.

Ahmed hadn't eaten all day (another sign to us that he had been in court) and he ordered two sandwiches. I think he had been counting on Mickey D's, because he ordered a burger and a chicken Schwarma both on a Kaiser roll. Here he is showing off the Chicken.

There were several options for sandwiches on the menu. They called it French style if it was served on a baguette, Kaiser on a bun, and not exactly sure when it came in the lavash. Maybe that was just plain Schwarma.

His sandwiches came with gloves. They were so messy. He ate the whole burger and only half of the chicken sandwich, so he took the rest Togo. He also ordered a plate of food for the driver. Here he is struggling with the gloves after his first bite and he realized just how messy the sandwich would be. He was a mess when he finally finished it.

Then we headed to the "night market". I don't know what part of me let this guy convince us to do this. As we drove past the various crowds on the overpass, he pointed out that this market extended for three square miles.

Insanity.

Total Insanity.

We told him that we didn’t want to spend too much time there. He asked, 30 minutes? 45 minutes? We didn’t answer. 20 minutes? He asked. We agreed on 15-20 minutes.

As we were looking for a place to stop, I said to Ahmed. “You know that neither of us actually like people….” All week it seemed like the driver didn’t speak English, but he understood more than he let on. He actually made a small burst of laughter at that comment.

As soon as we stopped I was totally regretting this decision. This was against everything that the State Department was advising. They said avoid large crowds, and we were going into a market full of mayhem! Well maybe not mayhem, but I didn’t like it one bit.

We went to an underground tunnel where it took us underneath a busy street where the driver had let us off. It wasn’t as nasty as I thought it would be. Perhaps Egyptians have a little more class when it comes to public spaces like this. If you’ve ever been in a subway in a major US city, I think you know the smell I’m talking about, but I don’t think it was present in this tunnel.

When we emerged from the tunnel, we saw this spire. See those same dresses with the fake coins on the bodice like we were going get for Jenny? Same junk that all the other seller’s had been selling.

He took us down a few passages and there was just booth after booth with Chinese mass produced crap. The same stuff we had seen all week. Guys with necklaces hanging from their arms saying, “Hey lady!” Other guys beckoning us to come into their shops. I just tried to keep looking forward and keep a blank expression on my face.

He pointed out this (Mosque?) in the middle of the Market. It was something special. Both Jill and I took pictures, and I was taking very few pictures cause I was so freaked by the amount of people, and just how large this market was.

I believe that the call to prayers was also echoing through the street as we walked on.

Ahmed snapped these shots of us walking through the market. You can tell by our expressions that neither of us are thrilled to be there.

We tried to smile for these posed shots…..

Notice the way I am desperately clutching my bag.

Then Ahmed wanted to take us to his favorite part of the market, the spices. I think this picture was taken as soon as we entered the spice section because I don’t look nearly as “affected” as I do in the video at the end.

This was a big mistake! I think one of the first places that we went past was grinding some kind of spice and it was all in the air. The smell was overpowering. Jill began to sneeze repeatedly. It wasn’t a bad smell, but imagine strong Middle Eastern spices, fresh in their natural form in wide open barrels.

I had to plug my nose. I have a heck of time at Christmas when all those stores have cinnamon scented pine cones up near the registers. It gives me a bad headache, I was afraid the same would happen here. The stalls just went on and on. We held our breath, plugged our noses and just tried to get through it as quick as possible. It’s not like we could buy any to bring home.

I realized that if I lived here and I had to do my shopping in a market like this I would do it all first thing in the morning when it opened. Jill said she would just order it online. Boy did I miss Costco and Target at this point.

Jill doesn’t appear to be as bothered as me….watch the video

[Continued in Next Post]

 

[franandaj]

[Continued from Previous Post]

Finally we got out of there, and he called the driver to tell him where we were. It was an eternity to me waiting there for him to arrive. I almost got run over by several vehicles trying to pick up or drop off stuff at the stores on the fringe of the market.

Jill snapped these pictures as we made our getaway. I was just too shellshocked to deal with it.

They dropped us off at our hotel and we gave them each their tips and said goodbye. This was our Google Timeline for the day.

I was so glad that we had stocked back up on wine in the room! We sat in the room and drank a few glasses of wine before we each took a shower. We were both sweaty and gross from the time at the Egyptian Museum and didn’t want to go to bed like that or go to our massages the next day.

Up next: A truly chill day.

 

[pkondz]

You're creating a chicken and the egg scenario here.....

Scrambled up, isn't it.

That's why the museum hasn't opened!

They're all in jail!

 

[pkondz]

After we exited the museum we talked with Ahmed about plans for dinner.

Once he was off the phone, you mean...

He had planned to take us to McDonald's for dinner

Fine dining with Ahmed!

His next suggestion was Shawarma and we ended up back at the same place we had visited the first day.

Same place?
Surely there are more than two restaurants there? I guess if I have a guide, I wouldn't expect to be taken to the same place twice unless I specifically asked for it.

Did I mention to you that there was a heavy police presence?

No you had not. At least not that I recall.

We must have seen at least 20 different “camps” like this when driving throughout the city. This is just one that we passed near the museum.

I am guessing that maybe there was an increased presence due to the conflict in Israel.

The sun was setting as we headed to the restaurant.

Pretty

This time we just got the sandwich wrapped in a paper wrapper

I was going to ask what else it was wrapped in, but you mentioned lavash later. I would've guessed a pita.

Ahmed hadn't eaten all day (another sign to us that he had been in court)

Not an unreasonable assumption.

he ordered a burger and a chicken Schwarma

Two? That's a lot of food! Not surprised he couldn't finish it all.

His sandwiches came with gloves. They were so messy.

Gloves??? I've had some really messy burgers in my day, and never got gloves with them.

He was a mess when he finally finished it.

I'm picturing him completely covered in sauce.

he pointed out that this market extended for three square miles.

Whoa! Huge!

We told him that we didn’t want to spend too much time there. He asked, 30 minutes? 45 minutes? We didn’t answer. 20 minutes? He asked. We agreed on 15-20 minutes.

It sounds like you're trying to negotiate a lower sentence... speaking of court

I said to Ahmed. “You know that neither of us actually like people….”

All week it seemed like the driver didn’t speak English, but he understood more than he let on. He actually made a small burst of laughter at that comment.

This was against everything that the State Department was advising. They said avoid large crowds, and we were going into a market full of mayhem! Well maybe not mayhem, but I didn’t like it one bit.

When we emerged from the tunnel, we saw this spire.

That's pretty, all lit up.

He took us down a few passages and there was just booth after booth with Chinese mass produced crap.

Yuck.
Then again, the only night market I've been to was the one in Vancouver. Lots of crap for sale too, but the real draw is the food. At least for me.

The same stuff we had seen all week. Guys with necklaces hanging from their arms saying, “Hey lady!” Other guys beckoning us to come into their shops. I just tried to keep looking forward and keep a blank expression on my face.

"Don't engage... don't engage..."

I believe that the call to prayers was also echoing through the street as we walked on.

Pray to your God but make a profit too

Ahmed snapped these shots of us walking through the market. You can tell by our expressions that neither of us are thrilled to be there.

You do not look thrilled

Notice the way I am desperately clutching my bag.

Did you have any issues? I know I've had my camera bag attempted to be stolen at least once in a crowded, touristy area.

Then Ahmed wanted to take us to his favorite part of the market, the spices.

I know this wasn't good for you, but I'd have been very interested in seeing that. I suspect Ahmed assumed you would be, also.

This was a big mistake! I think one of the first places that we went past was grinding some kind of spice and it was all in the air. The smell was overpowering. Jill began to sneeze repeatedly.

Oh dear...

I had to plug my nose. I have a heck of time at Christmas when all those stores have cinnamon scented pine cones up near the registers. It gives me a bad headache, I was afraid the same would happen here. The stalls just went on and on. We held our breath, plugged our noses and just tried to get through it as quick as possible. It’s not like we could buy any to bring home.

This just sounds so unpleasant.

I realized that if I lived here and I had to do my shopping in a market like this I would do it all first thing in the morning when it opened. Jill said she would just order it online. Boy did I miss Costco and Target at this point.

I guess I shouldn't laugh, but that struck me as kinda funny.

Jill doesn’t appear to be as bothered as me….watch the video

You look so miserable. I'm surprised Ahmed didn't see that and ask if you wanted to leave.

I almost got run over by several vehicles trying to pick up or drop off stuff at the stores on the fringe of the market.

Jill snapped these pictures as we made our getaway. I was just too shellshocked to deal with it.

Awww... poor Alison. Feel so badly for you.

I was so glad that we had stocked back up on wine in the room! We sat in the room and drank a few glasses of wine before we each took a shower. We were both sweaty and gross from the time at the Egyptian Museum and didn’t want to go to bed like that or go to our massages the next day.

You must have been so relieved to be back in the hotel room. What a day!

 

[rentayenta]

Whew all caught up!

Love the McDonald's day! I bet it was perfect after so many days of the same sort of food.

What a fascinating experience/journey!

 

[franandaj]

Fine dining with Ahmed!

Something tells me that he knew nothing of fine dining of what Jill and I enjoy experiencing.

Same place?
Surely there are more than two restaurants there? I guess if I have a guide, I wouldn't expect to be taken to the same place twice unless I specifically asked for it.

Well they have a network of "company approved" restaurants where they can take clients. This was probably one of the only ones in our general area, and I'm guessing he didn't want to go too far from the locations we were touring.

No you had not. At least not that I recall.
I am guessing that maybe there was an increased presence due to the conflict in Israel.

It was definitely due to the conflict in Israel. Ahmed told us that only the week or two before, he took some of his clients to a peaceful protest. He said that the police showed up shortly after that protest to quell any future protests.

I was going to ask what else it was wrapped in, but you mentioned lavash later. I would've guessed a pita.

Definitely more like lavash than pita. It was much thinner, like a tortilla.

Two? That's a lot of food! Not surprised he couldn't finish it all.

But the company was paying!

Gloves??? I've had some really messy burgers in my day, and never got gloves with them.

I noticed a kid across the room using the gloves before we got our food. I thought it was weird, but then I understood when the sandwiches were served with gloves.

I'm picturing him completely covered in sauce.

No, but his gloves were!

It sounds like you're trying to negotiate a lower sentence... speaking of court

Yuck.
Then again, the only night market I've been to was the one in Vancouver. Lots of crap for sale too, but the real draw is the food. At least for me.

Yeah, I have a friend who goes to the Alhambra Night Market which is mostly Asian food. That sounds like fun. I don't think I would have even enjoyed the Egyptian market during the day. It wasn't food based, definitely "stuff".

"Don't engage... don't engage..."

We didn't!

You do not look thrilled

Until I saw these pictures he took, I had no idea how displeased I looked.

Did you have any issues? I know I've had my camera bag attempted to be stolen at least once in a crowded, touristy area.

Not one. I never felt truly unsafe. No one tried to do anything bad, the only thing was they would try to do things that would make us obligated to give them money. We see a lot more of that in Upper Egypt, and at times, we use it to our advantage.

I know this wasn't good for you, but I'd have been very interested in seeing that. I suspect Ahmed assumed you would be, also.

If the smell wasn't so overpowering, I might have been a little more interested, but then again, I doubt any of the shopkeepers spoke English. Also I didn't know the customs. I'm sure they didn't want you touching the spices, at least I would think......

This just sounds so unpleasant.

It was, for us. So many sounds, smells, we didn't want to buy anything, and people were just pushing anything they thought you might want.

I guess I shouldn't laugh, but that struck me as kinda funny.

Well, it was supposed to be funny. Thank goodness I don't have to live and shop there.

You look so miserable. I'm surprised Ahmed didn't see that and ask if you wanted to leave.

We had less than an hour left with him, so it really didn't matter.

Awww... poor Alison. Feel so badly for you.

You must have been so relieved to be back in the hotel room. What a day!

Yes! I was! To just chill and have a glass of wine in an environment that I was in control of was priceless at that moment.

 

[franandaj]

Whew all caught up!

Good for you!

Love the McDonald's day! I bet it was perfect after so many days of the same sort of food.

It was definitely a change!

What a fascinating experience/journey!

It certainly was a journey!

 

[pkondz]

Something tells me that he knew nothing of fine dining of what Jill and I enjoy experiencing.

There’s a pretty good chance that you’re right I’d think.

Well they have a network of "company approved" restaurants where they can take clients. This was probably one of the only ones in our general area, and I'm guessing he didn't want to go too far from the locations we were touring.

But… only two in the area? And one a sandwich shop and the other McDonald’s??

It was definitely due to the conflict in Israel. Ahmed told us that only the week or two before, he took some of his clients to a peaceful protest. He said that the police showed up shortly after that protest to quell any future protests.

Interesting… and so this thread doesn’t run the risk of the mods’ wrath, I’ll say no more.

Definitely more like lavash than pita. It was much thinner, like a tortilla.

I did think tortilla, but automatically assumed not.

But the company was paying!

Oh!

Surprised he didn’t get three.

No, but his gloves were!

I bet!

Until I saw these pictures he took, I had no idea how displeased I looked.

You really look… annoyed at the very least.

Not one. I never felt truly unsafe. No one tried to do anything bad, the only thing was they would try to do things that would make us obligated to give them money. We see a lot more of that in Upper Egypt, and at times, we use it to our advantage.

We had less than an hour left with him, so it really didn't matter.

Even so…. Tour guides must be concerned about reviews? And unhappy clients do not leave stellar reviews.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

Pretty soon they brought me a glass of orange juice which tasted fresh squeezed. So yummy! Epic fail. I got no picture.

That's ok, I think I can picture it in my mind.

And I realized I didn't get a lot of pictures of the little pod. Here are some from my perspective.

This seems like it would be such a foreign experience when you're used to being crammed in coach.

If I hadn't been on a plane when I ate all this food, I never would have known it was airplane food

That might be the highest compliment they can get!

It was about an hour and a half until we landed. The trip took a little longer because the pilot took us farther south than normal, presumably to fly past Israel and not pass through their airspace, which was fine by us. We flew over the Sinai peninsula and then back north to Amman through Jordanian airspace. We were about 15 minutes late landing, but safer is always better.

Interesting.

His name was Moafa. I remembered it as "like Moana with an f". Jill heard a version that I can't really repeat here on a family board.

Jill spotted her first camels, I only briefly saw them.

Watch out! They spit.

He did not care for camel milk, saying that it causes water in the stomach. We decided that was his polite way of saying it causes diarrhea.

I'll have to remember that one.

The room was very nice and we were pleased with it.

It looks like a very nice hotel!

If I had been traveling for over 24 hours, this would look like the most wonderful meal in the world to me.

 

[jedijill]

The Night market was just overwhelming...Think Times Square on NYE. It was cool but it was overwhelming being in the middle of it with everyone hassling us to buy things. I wouldn't have been as bothered if the sellers weren't always in your face. The spices were amazing but they did trigger my sinuses! I was quite happy to get back to the room.

Jill in CO

 

[pkondz]

The Night market was just overwhelming...Think Times Square on NYE.

Ugh... Nope!

The spices were amazing but they did trigger my sinuses!

multi-coloured sneezes for days!