don't forget the sunscreen!

Where to begin?

The adventure to Greece and Egypt was, essentially, amazing. Though I'm going to need to do a cliffnotes version for my own sanity...I haven't even finished journalling it all, and it's already at a dozen pages!

Grecian highlights (we were only there for a couple days, so there arent quite as many as Egypt. that's not at all to say I didn't absolutely love it, though!!):
-hanging out at the Acropolis for a good four hours. Bri and I were sitting in the remnants of the for a couple of hours, just chilling and talking and basking in the sun before we even made it up to the acropolis...and then when we did, we lingered for a couple more hours! It really was amazing to see the things I studied in 6th grade social studies classes literally in front of me...its a shame transatlantic field trips are too expensive!
-swimming in the Mediterranean Sea! We went to Aegea (...or something like that...) which is an island near Athens and sorta just...chilled on the beach! and despite the fact that the water was QUITE chilly, we decided we couldn't NOT go swimming =D then we spent an hour or so talking in broken english -since we're french, of course - with a couple of Grecian boys who came over =D it was utterly random but highly entertaining!
-the yogurt. I'm already a fan of yogurt, but I had the most incredibly yogurt there...it's the consistency of frozen yogurt and when you drench it in honey, it's amazing!

Egyptian highlights:
-the Khan al-Kahlili: Brianna is a MASTER at haggling, so we got a ton of cool stuff for very little money =D including some lotus flower perfume and some gorgeous papyrus paintings
-the Citadel...the mosques are beautiful...and ornate. and very peaceful, actually, once the tourist crowds disperse a little. There was something about one of the smaller ones that reminded me very much of the ashram described in Eat, Pray, Love.
-the various politically-incorrect catcalls Bri and I got: Chocolate and Milk, Chocolate and Cream, Chocolate and Mayonnaise (thanks, Reda...), Brown and White Sugar, and (my favorite) Nefertiti and Cleopatra
-going to Alexandria with a group of students from Algeria and Iraq. Interesting experience for me as an American, but it just reinforced the fact that the conflict between our countries is NOT the people's conflict - we all just want to live our lives in peace. plus the dance party on the beach was uber fun as well =D
-tea. everywhere you go, you get offered tea as part of the Egyptian hospitality. We drank a lot of very sweet tea
-the various misspellings of english words...things like narkin, looby and caffee
-of course I saved the best for last...and this will be more than a bulleted item, since it deserves a proper telling of a story!

One of the other quotes that Kim sent me reads "I rather like my stumblings. Sometimes they lead me to some pretty great places." This quote essentially epitomized our first day in Egypt. We left our youth hostel with the intent of finding (eventually) a tourism office so that we could get a map. Our stumblings led us instead to the Four Seasons hotel where we asked if they had a map. Not only did they give us a map, but they also gave us free water (quite the blessing in Egypt!) and asked where we were headed. When we said Giza, they offered to call a cab for us! Said cabdriver was so nice...when he saw us oohing and ahhing over the view of the Nile, he actually stopped and pulled over to take a picture of us! We got to Giza and he took us to the tour guide that I have to assume the Four Seasons sends all of their clientèle! The man in charge described the tour to us, told us how long it would be, that sort of thing. We agreed (after getting the price, he didn't want to volunteer THAT information up front! it wasnt bad, though) and next thing I know there are two horses standing in front of us!! We toured the Pyramids on horseback!! What pleased me was that when the tour guide saw that I was actually riding and holding the reins and everything, he told the handler to take the lead rope off =D The Pyramids are absolutely breathtaking to see...I can't imagine how something like that was accomplished...and how they're still standing today! As we were wandering around, drinking in the sights and baking in the desert sun, we saw a couple of people literally race by on their horses. I looked over at Bri and said "you have NO idea how much I want to do that!!" Our tour guide heard me and told me with a sly grin "We can. Once we get to softer sand...we'll race." and race we did! The tour guide latched onto Bri's arm (who isn't a rider in the same way I am), spurred our horses into action...and we literally galloped across the Sahara Desert on horses next to the Great Pyramids! It was unbelievably exhilarating...I've never in my life been given the chance to just...run like that. It's always been in a ring, an arena...and this was nothing but empty desert. and we ran.

and it was amazing.

à+!