October 10, 2019 - Cairo to Rome to Atlanta

-

Yep, the flight really leaves at 4:55 so we’re camping.  As boarding time approaches, people begin standing up and queueing.  There hasn’t been an announcement or anything, and there are actually two lines and we don’t know which is ours, so we just pick one.  Turns out we got lucky! And there’s room in the overheads for everyone’s backpacks.  Too bad there isn’t room for Marilyn’s and Ginger’s knees!!  Alitalia is a frustrating airline.

Lovely sculpture in Cairo's International Airport


Good morning!

Sunrise!  And, eventually, food which pretends to be breakfast.  Three different little sliders, of which I only eat the fillings, some sort of rice dish which is pretty strange, a little drinkable strawberry yogurt, and a chocolate covered mousse for dessert.  I ask for hot tea and get tea, all right, but it sure isn’t hot, or warm!   But that’s nothing compared to Marilyn’s dishes which are all frozen!  And the flight attendant doesn’t do anything about it!  He doesn’t even make eye contact!

Alitalia's food doesn't match Delta's!

The flight lands and we all climb onto a bus to be driven to the terminal.  Then we go through security again;  but it only takes nine minutes.  (There’s a sign to tell you the wait time, like Disney!). Then we go looking for the gate.  This is the airport that doesn’t post gates until half an hour before boarding!!  This time Juan asks the information lady and she actually gives him an answer, unlike the first trip.

We settle in a comfy space with power. Marilyn FaceTimes with her granddaughter, Ginger is embroidering and I’m typing.  Oh dear!  Juan isn’t sure where his passport is.  He had it going through security and thinks maybe, with all the scurrying around and repacking, that he didn’t pick it from the bin.  We’re waiting to see if he finds it!!

Ginger found an Ole Wanna Be!


WOWOWOW!  Guess where Juan found his passport!!. It was in his shoe, where he had put it for safe keeping during the x-ray!  And everyone who works at the airport knows Signori Passport!  

Finally it’s time to board our Delta flight to Atlanta!  Delta is such a delight to fly.  There is legroom and continuous food!!  And the wine is free!  There are ear buds, and sleep masks, and warm towels for hands and face, almost before we’re off the ground.  There are a ton of movies to choose from and right away there is a bottle of water.  

Then comes the beverage cart and a snack of Cheez-its and biscotti (good with red wine).  Another movie and the meal arrives, with honey-glazed chicken breast with cheddar and onion mashed potatoes and yellow and orange carrots, accompanied by salad, roll and butter, cheddar and crackers, and dessert.  Between the wine and the ton of food, most people are passing out quite easily!  When I tell the flight attendant that I can only have two glasses, she says that it’s okay, it will just relax me! 

Move movies and then oh my!  Here comes a hot-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookie!  And the beverage cart comes all the time with water or juice to keep us all hydrated.

Yummy!!

More movies and there’s a snack but I guess I sleep through it, because when I wake up, one of the flight attendants brings me an ice cream and another brings me the pizza-twist snack and yet another ice cream!!  Did I mention how much I like Delta???

The best movie was “Bohemian Rhapsody”!!  Nothing else was worth mentioning except “At Eternity’s Gate”, about Vincent Van Gogh and his brother Theo, which is heart-breaking, and “Catwalk” all about cat shows!  Great if you are a cat person!

We are home!!  GOES machine makes entry easier and after all is said and done we are waiting for both Randy and Amy, and Andy, to come pick us up with two cars and lots of opportunities for catching up.  Everyone goes to dinner at Tasty China and Nick joins us to complete the family.  And there’s news!!  Andy has had a second interview and seems about to be hired for a wonderful full-time job!!  AND Ben and Elizabeth are ENGAGED!!!  What a terrific night!!

Lots of celebrating and then it’s back to Ginger’s, just before the travelers pass out!!  This is the official end of the journey and what a superb way to end!  Juan leaves for Mexico City early in the morning;  and Marilyn and I will be driving home around noon.

(The next morning Ginger fixes breakfast with BACON!  That’s an even bigger treat than the beer at the Osiris!)

Ginger's lovely teacup to go with breakfast!


Glad to be heading home.  Really, really glad we had this experience!!

Comments

  1. GingerOctober 11, 2019 at 1:12 PM

    Yep! Really great trip!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Betsy KingOctober 11, 2019 at 3:21 PM

    Welcome back. Thanks for sharing so many of your experiences. I'm looking forward to the commentary that goes with the pictures.

    ReplyDelete
  3. NatOctober 12, 2019 at 11:36 AM

    OMG I can't button my pants !!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. mama dragonOctober 13, 2019 at 6:24 AM

      Yea! Delta knows the way to the passenger's heart!

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

October 4, 2019 - Amman, Jordan

-
Image
Our day begins with a varied and tasty breakfast buffet with several different kinds of new cheeses and halvah with cinnamon strips, and the usual breakfast choices.   We finish, go upstairs for last minute stuff, and come down to meet Ammar.   We had discussed today’s activities on the way from the airport, and are ready to set off. Before we leave the city, Juan asks if we can see the Blue Mosque.   Sure!   No problem! Ammar finds us a handy vantage point from which to take our photos and tells us that inside is nothing special.   That saves some time!   The White City! So clean and modern, even though they don't have oil, like their neighbors! The Blue Mosque And the Christian church across the street.  Eighty percent of Jordanians are Sunni Muslims and fifteen percent are Greek Orthodox Christians. Now we’re off to Jarash.   I didn’t know anything about Jarash, so I was completely blown away by the ancient site that has seen
Read more

October 3, 2019 - Luxor to Cairo to Amman

-
Image
Oh my goodness!   To be downstairs in time, I get up at four.   Gulp!   But when we get downstairs to pay our bill and turn in our keys, the table is set with coffee cups and carafes and our special breakfast “boxes” (they’re really bags) are waiting for us.   Our luggage comes downstairs and our newest member of the Memphis team is ready for us.   We eat most of our breakfast and head out to the car for the ride to the airport.   The balloons go up every morning before sunrise. There is a pre-screening when we first go inside and Ginger is told to put her little scissors in her big bag, which is a lot nicer than losing them! We find our ticket agent, ditch our big bags, and head for the gate. There really aren’t any announcements;   you just have to watch everyone else at the gate and follow them when they jump up!   We have to take a bus to the airplane and climb the movable stairs to board.   I get lucky and no one sits next to me!   Marilyn, Juan, and Ginger are
Read more

September 30, 2019 - Aswan

-
Image
The trip to Abu Simbel takes three hours.   We’ve left at yuck o’clock so as to arrive before the crowds and also before the heat of the day.   We were told yesterday that there are two kinds of days in Egypt, “hot days” in which it is just hot all the time regardless of whether you can find shade or not, and “hot sun" in which it is hot in the sun, but better in the shade and with a breeze.   We are in the latter, happily!! At one point there is a traffic back-up because the road doesn’t open until four.   It is also the road to Sudan, so there is more security than usual. After a couple of hours of driving through unrelieved desert, we pull into the only roadside civilization we’ve seen.   It a little cantina kind of place and seems to be known by all the tour guides.   If you time your arrival correctly, you can see the sunrise over the desert!   There is a small busload of Japanese tourists who think it’s cool to pose sitting in the middle of the roa
Read more