Lili - Lili on the Loose

13 02, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 4, Part 2 – Bent Pyramid

By Lili|February 13th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Africa, Bent Pyramid, Black Pyramid, Dahshur, Dashur, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, Egyptian Sidekick, Giza, Hetepheres I, Middle East, Mohsen, Pharaoh, Photo Essay, Pyramid, Queen Hetepheres I, Red Pyramid, Sidekick, Sneferu|2 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Sunday October 25, 2015 Egypt: Day 4, Part 2 - the Bent Pyramid It was only a few minutes drive from the Red Pyramid to the Bent Pyramid. Mohsen and I bumped into another Egyptian Sidekick and his charges (Hugo and Cristina) and we were joined by a bored guard on his cell phone. The 5 of us (and the guard) were the only people in sight. In the distance you can see the ruins of the Black

12 02, 2016

Takashima Castle

By Lili|February 12th, 2016|Categories: Attractions & Sights, Photography, Travel|Tags: 2004, castle, Japan, lake, Nagano, Photo Friday, Sister Cities, Sister Cities Japan 2004, Suwa, Suwa no Ukijiro, Takasaki-jo, Takashima Castle|0 Comments

Japanese castles are fascinating architecturally (although this one was empty on the inside). This one is in Suwa and overlooks the large lake. Every Friday Lili shares her favorite photography & the stories behind the photos.

11 02, 2016

Night Train to Aswan

By Lili|February 11th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travel Tips|Tags: 2015, Africa, Aswan, Asyut, Cairo, Dream of Egypt, Edfu, Egypt, Esna, Giza, Kom Ombo, Luxor, Middle East, night train, Qena, train, train travel, Travel Thursday|0 Comments

Farmland out the window. On my trip to Egypt, I spent one night on the sleeper train from Cairo to Aswan. The train from Cairo to Aswan for tourists only runs at night, so you must take the night train. It took about 13 hours. Here are my thoughts on the experience. The Station I boarded at the Giza Station. I was a bit sad as I was hoping to see the famed Ramses Station and its beautiful architecture, but we were on the Giza side of Cairo and it didn't sense to fight traffic back into town. The station is

10 02, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 4, Part 1 – Road to Dahshur

By Lili|February 10th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Africa, Bent Pyramid, Dahshur, Dashur, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, Egyptian Sidekick, Giza, Indiana Jones, Middle East, Mohsen, Pharaoh, Pyramid, Red Pyramid, Sidekick, Sneferu, Tomb|0 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Sunday October 25, 2015 Egypt: Day 4, Part 1 - Road to Dahshur I woke up early and took a shower to help wake up. Although the day before the hotel told me I could stay in the room...I figured there would be problems. Which is why I packed up before going off in search of breakfast. To my non-surprise the only option was the buffet (the same one from the night before). I didn't have high hopes. As

9 02, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 3 – Jet Lag in Giza

By Lili|February 9th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Africa, airport, bomb, buffet, Cairo, customs, Dream of Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, Egyptian Sidekick, Emeralds, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Giza, Grand Egyptian Museum, Great Pyramids, hibiscus, Hibiscus Tea, Holland, immigration, Jade, jewelry, Middle East, necklace, Poland, Pyramids, Saqqara, Scarab, Windmills|1 Comment

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Saturday October 24, 2015 Egypt: Day 3 - Jet Lag in Giza It was hard to sleep on the plane, especially knowing that it would arrive to Cairo at nearly 2AM. The girl and I spoke some more. She was from Holland, but I was so tired I kept asking her about "Poland". She told me how its so flat and there are windmills everywhere. It actually sounded pretty idilic. As we entered the terminal, my G Adventures airport transfer

8 02, 2016

Museum Monday: Laocoön and His Sons

By Lili|February 8th, 2016|Categories: Museums, Travel|Tags: 2005, All in the family 2005/2006, All in the family Italy 2005/2006, Europe, Greek, Hadrian, Hellenistic, Italy, Laocoön, Laocoön and His Sons, Laocoön Group, Pliny the Elder, roman, Rome, statue, The Vatican, Trojan, Troy, UNESCO, UNESCO World Heritage Site, Vatican City, Vatican Museum|0 Comments

I was lucky to have taken an entire class on Ancient Italian Art & Architecture the semester before I went to Italy. So when I turned a corner in the Vatican Museum and saw this statue I was very excited. This statue was re-discovered in 1506 but is thousands of years older. It is unknown if this was an original Hellenistic Greek Statue, or if it still dates from that period but is a copy based on a lost bronze version of the statue. It is so old that the famous ancient historian, Pliny the Elder, even referenced the statue on the

6 02, 2016

Shopping via Boat in Esna, Egypt

By Lili|February 6th, 2016|Categories: Souvenirs, Travel|Tags: 2015, Africa, bargaining, boat, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Explorer, Esna, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Middle East, Nile Cruise, shopping, table cloth|0 Comments

As the first small boat made its way towards our cruise ship, bumping up against the bow, people gasped. "Oh no! They crashed into us! Are they okay!" People asked while craning over the railing to get a better look. And then a second boat crashed up against us, and a third, and a forth. They just kept coming. As more and more small boats tied up against us, it became clear what they were doing. They unfurled towels, scarves, large table clothes, shouting at us to look. And then, they rolled it up, and chucked it clear up to

5 02, 2016

Winter Berries at Rothenburg ob der Tauber

By Lili|February 5th, 2016|Categories: Nature & Outdoors, Photography, Travel, Travel Memories|Tags: 2011, Berries, Christmas in Germany 2011, Europe, Germany, Photo Friday, rothenburg ob der tauber, winter|0 Comments

Walking the old Medieval Walls of Rothenburg right after Christmas was cold, but beautiful. Looking down I saw this beautiful tree with winter berries. Every Friday Lili shares her favorite photography & the stories behind the photos.

4 02, 2016

How to fix Google Analytics SEO Queries Showing No Results

By Lili|February 4th, 2016|Categories: Blogging|Tags: blank, Blog, Canonical, domain, error, Google, Google Analytics, Google Search Console, preferred domain, Queries, Search Engine Optimization, search traffic, SEO, traffic|0 Comments

Travel Blogging is a tough. There are thousands of already established travel bloggers out there, and daily hundreds more join the fold. That is why Search Engine Optimization is key for any blogger. So imagine my surprise when last November the "Queries" section of Google Analytics suddenly went blank. I figured it had to do with me blocking Russian spam bots from showing up in my results so I'd have truer analytics. But I didn't want to delete all of those filters, so I just lived with having no SEO Queries and no Landing Page results. But every time I checked I

3 02, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 2 – Sick in Frankfurt

By Lili|February 3rd, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, airport, Apfelwein, Apple Wine, Dream of Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, Europe, fall, Fall Colors, fall leaves, Frankfurt, Frankfurt in a Day, Germany, Hamburger, hotel, Langen, sick|0 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Friday October 23, 2015 Egypt: Day 2 - Sick in Frankfurt I arrived in Frankfurt a little after 11 AM. Feeling very sick, my dream of wandering the city was slowly dying. I exited, and found myself in Z Terminal. I knew that the bag holding station was outside Terminal A. But more importantly I knew there was supposed to be an attached hotel at Terminal A. I figured instead of paying to leave my bags at the bag check,

About Lili