Yes – it’s been a long time since I picked up pen and pencil (well, computer and keyboard) to write a blog post. Ignore the last one of course – I was finishing up Santa Fe, but a Turtle doesn’t get ahead unless they stick their Necks out – so I’m fulfilling my promise to my daughter Adrienne – I’m blogging my trip with Victor (husband of 55+ years) to Egypt and Jordan.

The idea for the trip has always been on our bucket list – but wars kept interferring. Our timing was pretty horrid to be honest. And we didn’t want to commit to this kind of a trip without some positive feelings – so we kept delaying and dodging and avoiding.

But then Tufts sent us a brochure for their trip to Egypt and Jordan for February 2026 – and the fire got re-ignited. It turned out that the Tufts trip was fully booked, but the same travel company – Odysseys Unlimited – had exactly the same trip planned – but without the ‘Tufts’ ID. and the dates worked. So we took the jump – and booked the trip with Odyssey.

Odyssey specializes in small group travel (max of 24), and focuses on specific destinations. The trips are ‘all inclusive’ – or what passes for ‘all inclusive’ these days – most meals, all hotels, most travel. And their offering for Egypt and Jordan covered everything on our bucket list. And we wouldn’t have to do any planning – they had everything planned for us (almost).

So we booked the trip – and figured out the missing pieces, primariy the Air Fare arrangements and how to spend extra time at the GEM (Great Egypt Museum) which just opened 2 months ago (November 2025).

The tour starts Feb 4th – a travel day – so there’s nothing planned.

But we had to get to Egypt. And while Odessey which do the airplane booking for you – they won’t give you your flight points, and there’s a surcharge for Premium Economy which Victor prefers. So I went flight hunting – and found that if we flew out of Canada – there were heavily discounted Business Class tickets available – and when crossing ‘The Pond’ – there were lie-flat beds.

Challenge #1 – Victor was going to be in STX on Jan 31, and I was going to be in Utah. Hmm. Best bet seemed to fly to Miami, spend the night there – and then start our trip to Cairo from Miami. Crazy thing – to get the discounted Business Class seats – we had to fly Miami and spend the night. Then the next morning, we’d board an AC flight to Toronto, change to the long haul to Vienna, then change to a short haul on Austian Airlines to Cairo.

I’m not generally a fan of having to change planes twice, let alone thiree times – but the appeal of a lie-flat bad on the long (8 hr) haul for barely more than economy was insanely appealing.

Next – dates. I didn’t want to have to hit the ground running – so we decided to arrive in Cairo the day before everyone else. Odessey agreed to arrange for someone to meet us at the airport in Cairo on Feb 3, and we opted to spend an extra night in the Kempinski Nile Hotel. That allowed us to go to the GEM museum the next day (Feb 4) which I hoped would mean I’d have more time to actually see the museum than the tour was allowing.

Planning done – the hard part was simply waiting for Feb 1 to arrive.

As I mentioned in my last blog – I was very sick (Flu-A, then Pneumonia) for the month of January – so instead of flying from Salt Lake city to Miami – I went back to my sisters home in Columbia to be nursed back to health (thank you Cathy) – and from there went with my sister and her husband Bob to a week long Tai-Chi retreat in Dunedin. On Feb 1 – instead of flying from SLC to Miami as originally planned – I flew from Tampa to Miami and then sat at the airport waiting for Victor to arrive.

For the record – this is during that insane cold snap in the Southern US – and it was cold. Tampa was expecting Snow – and the hotel we selected in Miami had no HEAT! I forgive them that – who thinks you’ll ever need to heat a room in Miami – but I have to tell you – it was just above freezing – and it was COLD in Miami and COLDER in our room. I needed 2 extra blankets – and my winter coat from Montreal.

Not a great start I must tell you. We decided that the hotel we’d chosen near the Miami Airport was the pits – even though it was hardly their fault that for once in 10 years they needed heating in the rooms. But a cold room is a COLD room.

Next morning we are up, I take a hot shower to warm up (the room is still COLD – and we get out of Dodge. Since we’re flying Business Class – we have access to the Lounges at the airport – and we figure that will be the better Breakfast.

And it was great. I had oatmeal, some delicious Turkish Cookies, and 2 cups of Latte! I’m a lot happier – and Victor too is feeling better about this ‘traveling’ thing. At least we are both finally feeling warmer.

When we check in – I have – to the staff’s amusement – a serious talk with our luggage. I want to be sure they know that they are going to Cairo. I always fine that making sure your luggage is aware of the correct destination helps cut down on the possibility of lost bags. And it does seem to help. Of course I also use that time to check the luggage tags!

Flight from Miami to Toronto – Great. I eat a lovely lite lunch – Victor sleeps. In Toronto – we go to the Air Canada Signature Lounge and have the best meal I’ve had in an airport in forever! Seriously. It was table service, and the Tuna Sushimi and the Alberta Beef (severed medium Rare) were both excellent. We were greeted with Champagne, and Victor opted for wine with his dinner.

Then we boarded the flight from Toronto to Vienna. Air Canada Business Class – even with lie flight beds – is not the Emerites. It’s worth what we paid for it – but just barely. Not the most comfortable of beds, and the service was hit and miss. Sometimes quite lovely – sometimes as if we’d tried to make their lives tougher than necessary. But still – a bargain is a bargain and I did have a bed, and I did get at least 3 hours of sleep. Totally worth it!

Transfer from Air Canada to Austrian Airlines went swiftly – with no border to deal with. In fact – we only saw border folks once, and that was in Miami. After that – it was free sailing all the way.

We arrive in Cairo thinking – Whew – good job. Even get both our suitcases (see – talking to them worked) – and it is only as we’re leaving baggage claim that we realize that we didn’t see anyone with a sign with our names.

Oh dear. Did I manage to NOT arrange for a pickup from the airport? I just can’t remember. So we call the Kempinski Nile. They tell us that they have no record of us arranging to be picked up – but we can just take one of the taxi’s on offer. And then we get the best advice ever – the fellow from the hotel tells us – it should be 15 to 20 dollars US – 25 at most.

The challenge for us as Canadians arriving in Cairo is simple. We don’t normally bargain for taxis. In Canadian airports – random folks coming up to you to ask if you want a taxi is not only frowned upon – it’s forbidden. So to be suddenly flooded with at least a dozen different men and women asking us if we need a taxi, and they will help us – give them our phone, we’ll call a taxi for you… ya da ya da – it’s scary.

But once we knew the correct price range – it was a lot easier. One guy was sticking with us like glue – so we finally asked how much. He said $40. Victor says no – $15 to $20 – finally they agree on $25. He uses his cell phone to call a driver (very nice chap) – and tells him – $25 and the name of our hotel.

Being nervous nellies – we track our driver’s path thru the city – but he is going to our hotel. Much comforted I start looking around and notice that many buildings just don’t look occupied. In some cases – there are no windows at all – in some there is a floor or two or three with no windows – and the rest looks normal. A building that’s occupied and a building that’s not looks very different. Tomorrow I’m going to ask that this is about.

Most of the buildings I see are clearly appartment buildings – maxing out at maybe 12 floors which makes me wonder about the popularity of elevators. And most are a rather uniform drap light brown or beige. Often folks have put up a curtain to protect their balcony space from too much sun, and there are lots of laundry hanging out to dry.

Like areas of India that I was driven thru – there are market areas with folks selling what ever they can sell – sometimes from tables, often with just a piece of cardboard under the goods.

The traffic is insane. The city scape a dreary beige, folks seemingly everywhere – jay walking across 8 lines of traffic the norm, police cars every where, and in the more popular areas – police standing behind bullet proof shields on major corners.

I’m reminded of when I first saw Bangcock – dirty and noisy and loud and scary. Too many cars, too many people.

But I also know I’m tired – and I need to get to the hotel and stop.

And our driver does exactly the right thing – he gets us to the Kempinski Nile – and we over tip him we are so relieved to be where we know there’s a restaurant and a bed with our names on it.

The hotel is stunning – our room is lovely, the food was quite good – and maybe I had a bit too much wine. But tomorrow is another day!

Signing off – The Soup Lady