Last Christmas I was in Florida, now I'm in Hamburg with Someone Special

Fortunately one of my favorite Christmas songs is also beloved by German radio.
Click here to listen (and watch a cheesy video as an added bonus!).

Happy Holidays!

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

There are more than a dozen Weihnachtsmaerkte in Hamburg. Instead of blogging I've been visiting them, sampling the Gluehwein (hot, mulled red wine), Schmalzgebäck (fried dough with powdered sugar), Mandeln (almonds), and Maronen (chestnuts), while freezing my ass off. Good times. Hope you are all getting into the holiday spirit.

More Sites

And we're back to our Egypt programming....with the Temple of Hatshepsut, named after Egypt's only woman pharaoh. The limestone cliffs surrounding the three-terraced structure creates a dramatic view.

We also went to the Valley of the Kings, where King Tut (in addition to other royalty) lies. Tut's tomb was discovered in 1922 and it was only recently (within that last two months or so) that they revealed Tut's mummified body, allowing visitors to see his face and feet. And, yes, we paid the extra few bucks to sneak a peek.

Next up was Medinat Habu, where the engravings were carved noticeably deeper into the stone, compared to what we had seen up to that point.

We were growing tired, but there was more to see....we went to the Colossi of Memnon -- the only things left of an ancient temple. (Note the person between the figures, to get a sense of scale).

After going to these ancient sites, we stopped by a tourist trap, er, i mean, alabaster factory to see how vases and figurines are made.

There was also a "soper" market.

And then there was much welcomed peace and relaxation.

B is for Bettina

Last week I got to see Bettina in her hometown of Vechelde, about 2.5 hours south of Hamburg by trian. It was wonderful spending time with her, meeting her parents, and seeing where she grew up.

We made a quick trip to Braunschweig, where we visited the Weihnachtsmarkt and enjoyed coffee and cake at a new cafe in the recently rebuilt Schloss.

I unfortunately didn't take any photos of the two of us, but here is a nice portrait of the beautiful Bettina herself.

Egypt will be back after these messages...

I can't let too many days pass without mentioning St. Nikolaus Tag, a holiday celebrated on December 6. On the 5th, as tradition requires, I obediently put my shoe by the front door to await a visit from old St. Nick.

I was not disappointed -- my shoe was filled with chocolates, a calling card, and a sweater. (Okay, so the sweater was next to the footwear, not in it.) Sweet. Thanks, Mom....I mean, St. Nick.

Dress Like an Egyptian

After a few hours cruising up the Nile and enjoying drinks on the upper deck, we reached the first of several temples we'd visit during our stay in Egypt.

Named Kom Ombo, this was the only temple we visited at night. A stunning introduction to Egyptian culture, the temple included mummified crocodiles (fitting, since half the temple is dedicated to Sobek, the crocodile-headed god) and what is considered the first engravings of medical instruments (perfect for the many doctors on the trip).


After the one-hour tour, we headed back to the cruise ship....but not before purchasing some sweet galabayas for the evening's party. Here are Chris and Jad decked out in their finest selections.

And here are the newly-weds surrounded by friends and family. The night's festivities included a belly dancing competition (which, thankfully, I did not have to participate in) and general fun and merriment.

And then it was up early the next morning to visit temple #2 -- the Temple of Horus at Edfu.

Built between 237 and 57 BCE, it stands today as one of the best preserved temples in Egypt. The many engravings tell a rich story of early Egyptian culture, despite the fact many of the figures and inscriptions were defaced by Christians who inhabited the temple hundreds of years later and considered the work pagan.

No more galabayas, but I promise more temples to come...

Highlight Reel Day 3

The next day we were up bright and early to catch a charter flight to Abu Simbel, flying south across the landscape.

You can see here how the Nile's surrounding land benefits from the river's resources before giving way to desert sands.

Then we got to Lake Nassar, which at 500 miles long is the world's largest man-made lake.

The temples at Abu Simbel, originally carved out of the rock in the 13 century BC, overlook this lake, impressing and intimidating visitors who arrive to Egypt from the south.

The archeological site is comprised of two temples -- one as a monument to Pharaoh Ramesses II and the other to his queen Nefertari (though, frankly, Nefertari is completely overshadowed and outnumbered in representation at "her" monument by her husband).

After a few hours and lunch at this site, we hopped back on the plane for a 20-minute trip to Aswan to catch our cruise.

The newly-married couple, along with our group of just under 100, received a warm greeting at the dock -- more dancing, singing, clapping, and music.


And then it was time to set sail!

Highlight Reel, Day 1/2

When in Rome.... Of course I had to smoke some apple-flavored sheesha while meeting up with the beautiful bride the evening before the big day.

And then it was Saturday. Let the festivities begin. The wedding was at the Manyal Palace, which boasted a lavish garden that made for an enchanted setting. My pictures cannot do it justice.

The pre-ceremony reception was in this opulent building.


The remainder of the wedding took place outside. Here is the OHS crew awaiting the arrival of the couple, who would walk down the red carpet to drums, tambourines, belly dancing, clapping, and singing.

And here they are. They were gorgeous and all smiles.


After excitedly following the couple along the red carpet we turned the corner to this:


An amazing setting amongst lit rubber trees and a starry sky. My camera sucks at night shots, so this picture is really bad and can't capture the atmosphere of the evening.

There was dancing (lots of it!) on the humongous dance floor; an awesome DJ rocked the music while a saxophonist sweetened the tunes.

So many people came to Egypt to partake in this wonderful celebration of marriage and it was great to experience such joy and happiness in this magical place.

And so the adventures began.

Happy Thanksgiving

I hope you all had a delicious Thanksgiving, complete with turkey, stuffing, friends, and football. I was packing on that Thursday for a week of activities in Egypt....little did I know what adventures awaited me in this enchanted land.

I'm back now, after an amazing 8 days filled with wedding festivities, galabayas, temples, hieroglyphics, crazy Cairo traffic, sheesha/shisha, the leisurely Nile, and so much more than I can mention right now. I'll share more about the trip (including photos) soon.

Hope you are well.