Egypt

Everyone that knows us, knows that Brad and I love an adventure. So, for our vacation this year we decided to head off to Egypt and Turkey for 2 weeks. It was a blast! We saw so many amazing things, were blown away by the history, the sights and sounds and smells, and, of course, the adventure of it all.

But let's be honest, it was not a relaxing vacation by any stretch of the imagination. I mean who goes on a vacation that within the first week involves a 4:00 am and a 2:30 am wake-up call? Yup, crazy Brad and Erin. So, we had an amazing trip and returned completely and totally exhausted but with memories to last a lifetime. Some of our favorite sites ...

The Great Pyramids in Giza. The Pyramids and the Sphinx are pretty amazing to see in person .... and from a vantage point sitting a top a camel. I mostly felt bad for the camel but am glad we did it, since that pic was later the centerpiece of our holiday card. I mean nothing says "Merry Christmas" like a good ol' camel pic, right?


Cairo - lotssss of people in a small space. And some beautiful and intricate architecture throughout Islamic Cairo.

High above Cairo, sits the Citadel and the Mosque of Mohammed Ali.

My favorite part of traveling to exotic places is finding the Bazaars. I love the buzz of the markets, the colors, and the hope of finding that special souvenir to bring home.


We also went on a 4 day cruise of the Nile, seeing fisherman and life along the shores as we driften by.


And of course, stopping at some amazing sites along the way:

Abu Simbel

Temple of Philae

Temple of Edfu (and our horse and carriage ride to get there from the boat!)

Temple of Hatshepsut (the Queen Pharoah)

Colossi of Memnon


We even took a dawn hot air balloon - very cool to see the sites from high up in the air and watch the sunrise over the Nile. Also, a pic of Brad and I with our "captain" - we were big fans of his once he safely navigated us back to the ground.

Karnak Temple and a pic of our fabulous tour guide, Sayed, pointing out the "hieroglyph of Obama" ;)

Luxor Temple - by night and by day

And a relief at Luxor Temple - when the Christians came to Luxor, they plastered over the reliefs and painted frescas. It was very cool to see the justaposition of the fresca with the reliefs/hieroglyphs starting to come through the plaster.

There were tons of other pics and lots of other sites. It was a once in a lifetime trip! Then we were off to Turkey to finish off our trip ...