Egypt: Climbing Mount Sinai

One of the best things about Egypt was getting to see St. Catherine's Monastery and Mount Sinai. It was about a 2 1/2 hour drive from Sharm and we were glad we didn't take our kids. We were probably stopped by internal border patrol guards about 6 times. If they asked us where we were from, we tried to avoid saying we were American -- that just brings trouble in this part of the world (our driver warned us of this). We usually just told people we were from Switzerland. I mean, that's where we live, right?

St. Catherine's Monastery is one of the oldest Christian monasteries in the world, dating back to the 4th century. The reason why it has been preserved, even through Islam is that the prophet Muhammed himself protected it by personal edict. It has an amazing collection of ancient Biblical texts -- one of the gospels dates back to the 5th century!

Here we are standing outside the monastery, at the foot of Mt. Sinai.

This is supposedly the place of the "Burning Bush". Hmmm. That bush has lasted quite awhile.

We hired a guide to take us up Mt. Sinai. Rob said that we were really fast hikers, so the guide started out really fast, taking us up the steep, staired route.

As you can see, I got winded pretty quickly. My body just doesn't work quite the same when I'm pregnant!

Really? That much further to go?

A picturesque "door to the heavens."

Yeah, here I am. On top of Mt. Sinai. It really makes me understand Moses better. It makes sense that, after a vigorous climb and a long talk with God, he was, of course, upset to come down from the mountain and find the children of Israel worshipping a golden calf! The other interesting part of the scenery is how barren it is. I mean, the burning bush was probably the only bush around. There was virtually no vegetation at all on the mountain.

Rob and I with our camera-timer photo. We were the only people at the top, which was nice because it gave us some time to meditate upon it's grandeur and religious significance.

A look at the barren valley below. Is this really where the children of Israel wandered for 40 years? No wonder the Promised Land was such a reward!

Back down the easy trail to the monastery.

Egypt: A Daytrip to Luxor

Another highlight of Egypt was the daytrip to Luxor. I've been to Cairo, but never to Luxor and Rob wasn't really interested in braving the crowds and dirt of Cairo -- so we headed to Luxor. We left our kids back at the hotel and spent a LONG but fascinating day in this ancient Egyptian capital. It was incredible. I learned so much and was absolutely mesmerized by the grandeur and sophistication of the pharoahs of ancient Egypt.

Rob and I overlooking the Nile.

The modern and the ancient. This bridge carried lots of modern toursit buses, but horse-drawn carts are also still in use.

The Colossi of Memnon. These two whole pieces of stone (at least they used to be one piece until they were destroyed by an earthquake) were dragged hundreds of kilometers to finally rest here. They still don't know exactly how the Egyptians did it.

My husband. Isn't he sexy?

One of the many temples built into the stone mountain above.

Workers at the "Alabaster Institute". Basically, this was a stop on the tour to try to get you to buy alabaster. Fortunately, they weren't as pushy as I thought they would be. It was fun to watch the artisans work. We ended up buying little cats of green glow-in-the-dark alabaster as night lights for the kids.

An example of some of the beautiful images carved into the walls of the temples we saw. The Valley of the Kings was even more impressive than this, but we were not allowed to photograph it. The Valley is full of tombs of most of the ancient kings -- it's where King Tut's tomb was found. The pictoral stories on the walls of the tombs is beautiful and incredibly well-preserved. In the Valley, the authorities didn't allow street sellers. However, a few somehow slipped past them. As we were leaving, suddenly we saw a street seller in front of us sprint past an Egyptian policeman (to avoid being caught). The policeman had his AK47 but didn't shoot. Instead he half-heartedly ran after the guy, then gave up quickly and radioed a policeman further down. The streetseller managed to run past him too and out the door before he was caught, fined or jailed. It was hilarious to watch the chase. Especially because the streetseller had a smirk on his face as he slipped past.

I had to take a picture of this because it is a picture of Queen Hatshepsut's mother pregnant. I identify.

Gigantic female images at the Temple of Hatshepsut. Wow, she was quite the powerful queen -- but not loved by her son, who tried to destroy this temple after she died. I hope my children don't try to destroy my creations after I die!

In front of the Temple of Hatshepsut.

So lots of people offered to take photos with us, but really wanted money for it. This policeman offered to take a photo with us and we thought he wouldn't expect anything because he is a policeman. But, we were wrong, he wanted money too!

Back across the Nile for lunch. It was nice to be in the shade. I can't imagine this place in the summer!

A view across the Nile.

Luxor Temple. It doesn't look so grand here -- but once you enter you get lost in the gigantic columns. This was my favorite temple by far. The sheer grandeur of the place is overwhelming.

Just a few of the columns.

See the people in the background. This gives a sense of the size.

Rob decided to take a snooze on one of the columns, after a long day of touring. He can ride a bike forever, but he tires out when it comes to sightseeing.

The giant row of lions outside the temple.

Egypt: Fun in the Sun

The best part of our Egypt vacation was relaxing and playing with the kids. The beach was fantastic. It was right across the street from our hotel and the sand was nice. The only bad part was that we think there were lots of sandflies. Rob is highly allergic to them and I think Anna Claire and Mariah are too because they got bites that swelled up enormously all over their faces. I must not be allergic because my bites didn't swell much.

Aside from the beach and pool, we spent our nights pigging out on American chain restaurant food. Not very cultural, but a huge treat for us because Switzerland doesn't have many American chain restaurants. I never thought I would crave food from Hard Rock Cafe! And we were shocked when they actually gave us free refills for drinks. Aaaah! I miss American service.

Anna Claire and Mariah hangin' out at the beach. There are so many fish, that many of them swam right up to the shore, so the kids could almost touch them!

Building a sand castle with Daddy. But this is no ordinary sand castle -- it's an Egyptian pyramid. (We studied ancient Egypt with the girls before our trip. Anna Claire was surprised when she arrived to see the Egyptians wearing clothes, rather than the little white skirts she saw in the books!)

Mariah added some royal seashells to the pyramid.

The finished product!

Tyler just loved digging. Like all my kids, he kept removing his hat!

No, Mommy, I want to put this on MY WAY. Tyler is starting early with his stubborn streak.

We took the girls on a glass-bottomed boat trip. It's amazing how many different kinds of fish we saw. Apparently, the Red Sea has some of the best diving around. It's too bad I'm pregnant and can't dive.

Back at the Pool. The girls were happy to hang out here all day long!

Tyler is chillin' in Daddy's glasses.

Anna Claire thought she'd pretend to be Mommy -- sitting in the shade with a big floppy hat and huge glasses. And I still got sunburned!

Look at our little cutie. This is Tyler's personality most of the time!

Anna Claire demonstrating her new floating trick.

Tyler in his little floater ring. My sister-in-law gave us this and it's been the BEST thing ever for babies. (They're hard to find in Switzerland.)

Playing with Monica. It was wonderful to have her on this trip -- that's how we were able to do some side trips without the kids. She took a daytrip to Cairo and had a great time!

Wheeeeee!

Hanging out with Daddy!

"Mom, I love it here. Can we stay forever?"

Ah, what fun memories!

Fasnacht Again!

So this morning we went to the local Fasnacht Children's Parade. Much of the entertainment was the same. But they gave out lots of candy and our girls came prepared. They dressed up as princesses and brought bags for their candy (and for confetti).

"Oooooh, this candy is a bit yucky!"

Enjoying this sunny February day with the kids.

Anna Claire cheek-to-cheek with Monica.

Ooooh, confetti fight!

The parade is over and look at all the confetti -- the only time the Swiss litter!