Middle East - Lili on the Loose

19 04, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 7, Part 1 – Coptic Monastery at Wadi Natrun

By Lili|April 19th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Africa, Alexandria, Coptic, Coptic Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox monastery, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, flood, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Middle East, Monastery of Saint Pishoy, Natrun, Saint Pishoy, saints, Wadi El Natrun|0 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Wednesday October 28, 2015 Egypt: Day 7, Part 1 – Coptic Monastery at Wadi Natrun I woke up early, at 4:30 and had breakfast. As we exited Alexandria, the roads were flooded by a night rainstorm. Apparently it was unusual, and people called for the governor to resign for failing to maintain the storm sewers properly. Mikel had stressed that we each get food the day before as we had a long drive and a lot to fit in.

13 04, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 6, Part 4 – Sick at the Library of Alexandria

By Lili|April 13th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Africa, Alexandria, Antikythera Mechanism, books, dog, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, G Adventures, Greece, Greek, Library, Library of Alexandria, manuscript, manuscript museum, Middle East, mosaic, museum, re-hydration powder, 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. Tuesday October 27, 2015 Egypt: Day 6, Part 4 – Sick at the Library of Alexandria As the dark clouds swirled overhead, but offered no more rain, we made our way to the Library of Alexandria. It was slow going through the streets and we were quite hungry. Every fruit stall we passed many of my fellow travelers lamented that they wanted "real fruit" not the faux sugary substances we were finding in the morning buffets. Mikel promised us

12 04, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 6, Part 3 – Alexandria’s Antiquities

By Lili|April 12th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Africa, Alexandria, Anubis, Apis Bull, catacombs, catacombs of kom el shoqafa, Daughter Library, Diocletian, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Explorer, Egypt Travelogue, Egyptian, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Great Library of Alexandria, Greek, Isis, kom el shoqfa, Library of Alexandria, Middle East, Pompey's Pillar, roman, Roman Emperor, Sarapeion, Sarapis|1 Comment

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Tuesday October 27, 2015 Egypt: Day 6, Part 3 – Alexandria's Antiquities We arrived to the Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa. Knowing that cameras were not allowed we left most of our things on the bus, and after a quick bathroom break we had our bags checked and went through security. This place is known as the "Mound of Shards" for its many broken party shards and for most of the recent history was viewed as a dumping grounds

4 04, 2016

Museum Monday: Evening at the Nubian Museum

By Lili|April 4th, 2016|Categories: Museums, Photography, Travel|Tags: 2015, Africa, Aswan, Christian, Cross, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Lion, Middle East, Mummies, Mummy, Nubian Museum, Photo Essay, Ramses II, Shawabti, Temple, Temple of Gerf Hussein, UNESCO, Ushabti|0 Comments

Ramses II statue from the Temple of Gerf Hussein surveys the main exhibition hall. Traveling in Egypt, you become accustom to expect everything to be rather old and dusty. From the markets to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, things are not well labeled and lighting is almost non existent. So when visiting the Nubian Museum it was a pleasant surprise to find a modern museum! Finished in 1997 with UNESCO's help, it covers the history of Nubia, the area from Aswan and into Sudan, from pre-history all the way up to its more recent Islamic past to the

25 03, 2016

In the Footsteps of Saint Pishoy

By Lili|March 25th, 2016|Categories: Attractions & Sights, Photography, Travel|Tags: 2015, Africa, Coptic, Coptic Orthodox, Coptic Orthodox monastery, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Middle East, Monastery of Saint Pishoy, Natrun, Photo Friday, Saint Pishoy, saints, Wadi El Natrun|0 Comments

The kindly priests at the Monastery of Saint Pishoy in Wadi El Natrun, Egypt gave us a tour and told us the stories of their local saints. Every Friday Lili shares her favorite photography & the stories behind the photos.

12 03, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 6, Part 2 – Streets of Alexandria

By Lili|March 12th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Africa, Alexandria, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Middle East, streets, traffic, traffic jam, tram|0 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Tuesday October 27, 2015 Egypt: Day 6, Part 2 – Streets of Alexandria We turned off the corniche road that rings the edge of the sea, and into the heart of Alexandria. As we drove we saw little slices of everyday life, from the various fruit and veggie stands, local markets, people trying to catch local microbuses. It was fascinating. But it didn't seem as impersonal or quick paced as Cairo did. Probably because the buildings were closer together

9 03, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 6, Part 1 – Alexandria Pearl of the Mediterranean

By Lili|March 9th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, 7 Wonders of the World, Africa, Alexandria, Citadel, Citadel of Qaitbay, corniche, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, fishing, G Adventures, Gadventures, GAP, Mediterranean, Mediterranean Sea, Middle East, Montaza Palace, Pharos Lighthouse, Photo Friday, Qaitbay, Sea|0 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Tuesday October 27, 2015 Egypt: Day 6, Part 1 – Alexandria Pearl of the Mediterranean Elizabeth's photo of our view. I forgot to take photos of this. I woke up and headed down to breakfast before Elizabeth. The breakfast area looks out over the pool, which was half full with muddy water. Its a good thing we were so busy and wouldn't have time to swim...because it wouldn't have been an option. Due to the flooding I'd read

8 03, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 5, Part 4 – Papyrus Trap & Alexandria

By Lili|March 8th, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Africa, Alexandria, bargaining, bbq, bread, cat, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, falafel, G Adventures, GAP, Giza, grill, group, group tour, hustle, Ice Cream, Middle East, papyrus, papyrus museum, road trip, shawarma, shopping, souvenir, tour, van|0 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Monday October 26, 2015 Egypt: Day 5, Part 4 – Papyrus Trap & Road to Alexandria We then headed to a "Papyrus Museum", or a store that has been licensed in making real authentic papyrus (fake/cheaper ones are made with banana leaves). The store showed us how the papyrus is cut, left to age in the water, and then how to make it by alternating layers in different directions and pounding out all the water. She showed how it

3 03, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 5, Part 3 – Mystery of the Sphinx

By Lili|March 3rd, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Africa, bathroom, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, G Adventures, GAP, Giza, Great Pyramids, Great Pyramids of Giza, group, group tour, Khafre, Middle East, mortuary temple, Pharaoh, sphinx, Temple, tour, van|0 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Monday October 26, 2015 Egypt: Day 5, Part 3 – Mystery of the Sphinx I don't recall why we had to wait, but as we did I snapped a photo of a pyramid through the first trees I had seen since arriving. We then started the walk through the souvenir sellers towards the mortuary temple in front of the Sphinx. Mikel acted as translator for any sellers that came up to us. He later said its easier for him

2 03, 2016

Egypt Travelogue: Day 5, Part 2 – Khufu, Khafre, & Menkaure

By Lili|March 2nd, 2016|Categories: Travel, Travel Memories, Travelogue|Tags: 2015, Africa, Camel, Dream of Egypt, Egypt, Egypt Travelogue, G Adventures, GAP, Giza, Great Pyramids, Great Pyramids of Giza, group, Harry Potter, Khafre, Khufu, Menkaure, Middle East, Pyramid, Pyramid of Khafre, Pyramid of Khufu, Pyramid of Menkaure, Scabbers, tour group, van, Weasley, Weasley Vacation|0 Comments

This is my travel diary of my trip to Egypt. It contains in detail my memories of what I did and saw. Monday October 26, 2015 Egypt: Day 5, Part 2 – Khufu, Khafre, & Menkaure One thing people always warn you is that the size of the pyramids make them seem like they are close enough to walk to...but they really aren't. Which is why we had hopped back into the van near Khufu's pyramid, and drove past Khafre. I strained to see it as we drove by. A short time later we were in front of Menkaure's Pyramid,