Category: Egypt-Greece

Egypt Gas Prices and Tipping in Egypt Just a quick word about gas prices.  Gas here in Greece is about 1.59 Euros per liter.  Let’s calculate that in dollars per gallon: 1.59 Euros per liter x 1.3 = $2.07 per liter x 3.785 liters/gal = $7.83 per gallon. So Americans should stop complaining about $3.00… Continue reading Observations – Gas Prices and Tipping

History of Egypt The history of Egypt spans thousands of years.  It is not reasonable to describe Egyptian history in one page, however I include this summary here to put into perspective how long sophisticated civilization has existed prior to the meager 200 years of the United States. The period of history that is of interest… Continue reading History of Egypt, a Brief Summary by JB

Thursday, December 30, 2010 Thursday starts at 8:30 with a trip to Cape Sounion, the southernmost point of the mainland part of Greece named Attica, and about a 70 minute drive from our hotel.  It probably usually takes longer but 75-year-old Nicholas thinks nothing of driving 120 kph (75 mph) on windy coastal roads, weaving… Continue reading Cape Sounion, Acropolis Museum

Visiting the Ancient Archeological Sites Pidaurus and Mycenae Wednesday, December 29 Carol here: Today we head west to the Peloponnese on our way to Mycenae, another ancient capital of Greece. We pass over the Corinth Canal – a VERY thin gorge dug so boats don’t have to go around the land mass. Then it’s on… Continue reading Epidaurus, Mycenae

We still have a couple more entries to make, but getting back in the groove here at home has taken up our time. We want to write a word about our travel agent, Vivienne Seymore: We have worked with Vivienne for about 10 years, as far as I can remember.  She gets all our flights… Continue reading Epilogue about the Blog, and a word about our Travel Agent

Just a quick word about gas prices.  Gas here in Greece is about 1.59 Euros per liter.  Let’s calculate that in dollars per gallon: 1.59 Euros per liter x 1.3 = $2.07 per liter x 3.785 liters/gal = $7.83 per gallon. So Americans should stop complaining about $4.00 per gallon (around October 2012)!! —– And… Continue reading Observations – Gas Prices and Tipping

Athens’ Major Sites on the Acropolis Monday, December 27 Whereas we were touring Egypt in a 10-seat van, in Athens, Greece, it’s a Mercedes sedan.  Oh bummer.  Out at 10:00 am, which is a lot nicer than 6:00 or 7:30.  We were greeted by our Greek guide, Matthew. We all know what “Athens” is, and most… Continue reading Athens, Acropolis & the Parthenon

Cruise Greek Islands Sunday, December 26, 2010 Remember that this is Boxing Day, a national holiday (the day Father Christmas comes and brings the presents in the Greek Orthodox world) and most everything is closed. It was supposed to be a “day at leisure” but we had an opportunity to take a one day cruise… Continue reading Day Off? No – Cruise 3 Islands!

Saturday, December 25, 2010 We’re up early for a quick trip to the airport and our flight to Athens. Pretty uneventful. At the Athens airport, we’re met by our driver, Nicholas, who grabs our luggage and ushers us out to our chariot for the week – a Mercedes-Benz taxi. Not as roomy as the van… Continue reading Christmas Day, Fly to Athens

The Drive to Alexandria Goes Awry Friday, December 24, 2010 Early blast off today, to beat the traffic and make it all the way to Alexandria.  Marwa and Malak met us at 6:30 and we were off to the north, back through Giza.  This time there was absolutely no traffic at all.  We could cruise… Continue reading Alexandria – Oops! Lunch & shopping

Luxor Area and the Tombs of the Egyptian Kings and Queens Thursday, December 23, 2010 In the morning we take the “included” Luxor Hilton buffet breakfast.  No kidding around in this hotel.  Definitely 5-star. On the road at 7:30, we are headed to the Valley of the Kings.  If you remember that the Luxor area was… Continue reading Valleys of Kings and Queens

Karnak, Luxor, and a quick day at the Temples Wednesday, December 22, 2010 We are sort of tired of Cairo (just kidding), so it is time to fly somewhere else.  How about Luxor?  At 6 in the morning, the trip to the airport is about 20 minutes – basically following the yellow line down the… Continue reading Luxor Flight and East Bank Temples

Al Azhar Park in Cairo – A Dinner Surprise Sunday, December 19, 2010 We had planned that after a travel day on Saturday, we would have a day off on Sunday. So we started the day by sleeping in.  The key focus of this day was to be surprising Jane and Sally. Their plane from Luxor… Continue reading Day off – Surprise for Jane’s Birthday

Saturday, December 18, 2010 You already know we left San Diego at 6:30 am on Friday, barely making the flight.  For Carol, the idea is to watch as many movies as possible on flights, and we managed to put away Inception at $6 each, which is a definite “Two Thumbs Up.”  I opted out of… Continue reading Tour Egypt, Cairo Arrival, First Dinner

Egypt and Greece Travel Blog First, a few notes about this Tour Egypt and Greece blog.  Our blogs tell our story from our point of view, so you can see what it is like for us to travel the places we go.  We give our impressions of places we visit, and tell you fun stuff… Continue reading Egypt and Greece – Let’s Get Started

A Very Brief History of Egypt by JB The history of Egypt spans thousands of years.  It is not reasonable to describe Egyptian history in one page, however I include this summary here to put into perspective how long sophisticated civilization has existed prior to the meager 200 years of the United States. The period of… Continue reading History of Egypt

Friday, December 17, 2010 December, 2010, Carol and JB are visiting Egypt and Greece!  The company we work more or less shut down during the second half of December, and so a few months ago we started looking for a trip to take during this period.  We had two weeks of Marriott hotel certificates left… Continue reading About US