Egypt

Back in Africa.  A few hours in an airplane and one goes from the modern world and all of its conveniences to the chaos that is Africa.  Given the unrest in Egypt since January’s revolution, we decided to take a sheltered view of Cairo. This was not to be the place where we would go native.  Official reports say that tourism has decreased by 40%.   In reality it is probably closer to 80 or 90%.  Tourists are likely outnumbered by the vendors and those dependent on tourism.  Mustafa, our wonderful tour guide met us before we even went through passport control, with visas in hand and guiding us through the maze and getting us to our minivan and to our hotel.  I’ve never stayed in a five star hotel in my life, but we decided on the 4 seasons Nile plaza as it was secured like Fort Knox.  Upon arrival, we immediately headed to the swimming pools (note plural) and enjoyed a poolside dinner.  Nothing not to like about this place, except that our basic dinner cost more than a Cairo police officer makes in a month ($80).

Day two we had a blast.  There is nothing quite like seeing something for the first time in person that you’ve seen thousands of times in books and movies.   Be it the Acropolis, Parthenon, Colosseum, Pantheon, Eiffel Tower, the canals of Venice, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, etc. The Pyramids of Giza are simply stunning.  We visited the Pyramids early in the morning, with the blinding light from the desert sun and sands shocking our pale faces and my robust scalp.  Normally there are 25,000 visitors each day at the pyramids and on this morning there were only a couple hundred.  We were easily outnumbered by vendors selling postcards, camel rides, tee shirts, cheap souvenirs and jewelry, along with multiple flavors of the Yassar Arafat type Bedouin head-dress.  The pyramids are simply an amazing site to see.  They are absolutely enormous, and are in remarkably good shape given their age of 4,500 odd years.  Interesting tidbit is that they used to be covered with a very clear, hard, smooth polished limestone so that they would shine like a mirror to their sun god Amen-Ra. Over the years this finish broke off (except for at the top of the second pyramid) and they are now the familiar stepping stones.  One used to be able to climb them but that was banned in the 60’s after several accidents where one falling from the top tended to bounce all the way to the bottom.  Bummer as climbing would have been a Janssen family trip highlight.  We then had a few tourist adventures.  A brief camel ride was really fun until the halfway point when the “drivers/walkers” out of sight of their boss, asked to take our picture on the camels and afterwards accosted me for tips.  On a walk around the pyramid we came upon a very nice police officer who expressed his thanks for our being in his country and posed for a picture.  Unbelievably he then asked for a tip and he wouldn’t give up despite my protests and those of my guide.  After two blocks, since he was so persistent and more importantly since he was carrying a gun, I relented and gave him 1 euro (about $1.40).   It was interesting and shed a lot of light on the police in Egypt.   So much corruption, so much disorganization, so little respect for those they so feebly attempt to protect and to serve.  Our guide told us that there were many great police officers but many bad ones.  I can see that earning $80/month that if this guy found one sucker per day like me he could double his monthly income.   We also saw the “Cheops boat” which was a boat that accompanied the Pharoah Cheops (his Pyramid is the largest).  This 140’ boat was built from Lebanese cedar, painstakingly put together with ropes, equipped with oars, and never saw the water.  It was scrunched into a pit and buried beside the pyramid in brand new condition, to be used by Cheops in his afterlife for sailing through the sky.  It would be an incredible feat of engineering for an advanced woodworker today, let alone 2500 BC.  We also visited the inside of Cheops’ pyramid, climbing 1/3 of the way up to the top, inside through some incredibly tight tunnels.  I’ve never been in such a stuffy, claustrophobic place in my life.  I was expecting a cavernous cathedral inside the pyramid but it was just a tiny room in the middle about 15x30.  Of course the attendant of the room (probably a policeman), was trying to explain everything when we couldn’t understand and didn’t want him in our faces.  We departed and of course he wanted a tip for his obnoxiousness but I stood firm and we escaped.   So other than the policeman you won’t see any more blog photos with street vendors or cops.  After lunch at a local restaurant, we spent about 3 hours in the National Museum.  Reading and watching the revolution and how the museum almost fell but with only a few things being looted, I was expecting a modern building with high tech security.  Here are countless invaluable treasures and to my surprise the building was a complete dump, crammed with treasures so old it made your head spin.  The old saying that it is what’s on the inside that counts, and that was true for the museum.  The kids were engaged for at least 3 hours with the treasures of King Tut, innumerous statues and coffins, weapons and tools, and of course the royal mummies.  Shocking how the mummification of a 3500 year old Pharoah is so well done that you can see hair, complete fingernails, and on the most important kings, very distinct Morgan’s toes.  The Egyptians were incredibly wealthy, incredibly sophisticated in their use of tools, and in general incredibly civilized thousands of years before the Greeks. 

In earlier times we would have chosen to see more of Cairo but we intentionally cut short our time there and headed about 400 miles southwest to the White Desert.  This is an ancient limestone sea bed and over the past 50,000 years sandstorms have cut through the seabed, with the hardest sections of limestone left standing as pillars and mounds of every shape and size imaginable.  We camped two nights in accommodations that would generously be described as 1 star.  We ate local food (bread and vegetables) at each meal, and those who were physically able (everyone but me) sitting Bedouin (cross-legged) style at a 14” table.  The kids ate more vegetables in two days than they have in their lives, and I like to think gastronomic experience was cleansing.  The desert is spectacular.  We enjoyed warm but not hot days and cool nights.  The scenery is unlike anything I’ve ever seen except for photos of the surface of the moon.  We ventured about for most of the day in a Toyota Landcruiser and climbed small mountains and monuments, threw rocks off of cliffs, jumped off sand dunes, and of course played a lot of pass and catch with Hayden’s football.  We’ve now taught two Africans to throw a tight spiral with the football.  No small feat as our ambassadorship of goodwill tour continues.

After the White Desert it was back to Cairo for a quick flight to Luxor and a trip up the Nile.  We boarded our mini-cruise ship “Alexander the Great” and enjoyed 4 days of brief tour stops to see various temples and monuments as we traveled south “up” the Nile.  The Nile is the longest river in the world and also the only major river that travels south to north.  The Egyptian Pharaohs had enormous temples built in their honor from Alexandria all the way south to Abu Simbel on what is now Lake Nassar a couple hundred miles south of the Aswan High dam.  We stopped at 4 major temples and it was fascinating to see how exorbitant these were (and many still are).  We had a fantastic guide named Ahmed and the kids really displayed a great knowledge of many of the ancient gods and deciphering many hieroglyphs.  Sydney and Halle enjoyed mummifying Hayden, and we all enjoyed a boat taxi ride to a local “Nubian” village where we all were able to hold a small crocodile and get temporary (or so I was led to believe) hieroglyph tattoos.  All in all the boat tour was relaxing and a great way to see the sights as the country drifted by.  We could have enjoyed a week on the boat rather than 4 days.

After 4 days of great living on the boat, we ventured off to Lake Nassar for one day and two nights of fishing for nile perch.  Do an internet search on “Nile Perch” and you will see pictures of these beasts which can weigh over 300lb.  Unfortunately our luck wasn’t with us and the only fish we caught was Halle’s 2 lb. tiger fish. These are nasty little beasts.  I'd like to believe they are incredibly rare and difficult to catch and easily worth the $500 per pound we spent to catch the nasty little bugger before releasing it.  The fishing was an adventure, fishing from a small boat with a guide with very limited English and no conversation skills.  Meals and nights were spent in the hold of a supply boat, along with several hundred flies and mosquitoes and the lingering smell of cigarettes from the crew who used this room during the day.  Being out on the lake was great but after many consecutive days relatively “on the go” we were anxious to board our plane to London and get back to the small things that we overlook in the civilized world:  functioning toilets, showers, no bugs, soft pillows, etc..   I don’t want to give the impression that we are road weary; but perhaps we are a small bit.  Egypt was great to visit.  I would recommend it to anyone at this time but it takes a lot of patience. We felt safe throughout.  The people were very kind and their ancient history is so ancient yet so advanced that it is mind boggling.  It's not a stretch to say that it is not much more advanced today.  By the end of our visit, however, Egypt was becoming a grind.  I was sick of everyone expecting a tip for the smallest service that I didn’t ask for or necessarily want (I can carry my bag 100 yards to a shuttle…it doesn’t take 4 people).  I was tired of paying high prices for food and drinks in the confines of our hotel or boat when a block away the same would be offered at 1/10^th of the price we paid for “safety”.  I was sick of the aggressive street vendors that wouldn’t take no for an answer.  I was tired of poor communication and the cultural differences that are everywhere in a Muslim country.   Women are treated very differently.  Many people just wouldn’t engage at the same level with Traci and the girls.  I was tired of seeing the dirt and garbage and grime in such spectacular lands. 

The next few months will be very interesting in Egypt.  The country has such amazing assets and just about every person we spoke with was optimistic about the country’s future.  They thought the media’s portrayal of discord between Muslims and Coptic Christians was blown way out of proportion and was being instigated by the ruling military council.  It will be fascinating to observe and I am thankful that we had the opportunity to visit.



Across the endless desert lands there rode a mighty carvan



The Cheops "solar boat"



Looking up the great pyramid



Base of the great pyramid

Thank goodness the Police!  A sucker born every minute



Normally there are hundreds of people at this nearest location to the Sphinx



Traci and Halle from the balcony of our Hotel in Cairo.  From the penthouse to the..



s...house.  Rest stop on the way to the white desert...about 50 miles SW of Cairo....the best and only stop

Limestone columns in the white desert



Keeping my wife and children safe at all times...yes that other formation looks like a chicken and it was ridden hard by all the kids



Sydney has always had such amazing balance



Lucky man

Moustafa and our crazy driver in the white desert



Why walk when you can jump?



Water taxi on the Nile



At a set of locks on the Nile.  Kids cleaned up nicely for dinner!



Temple at Edfu.  Again no crowds.



Inside the world's oldest known dedicated room used as a library



Our guide Ahmed in the "pharmacy" room of the Temple at Edfu

He deserved it



dhow



Morning coffee on the Nile

Our new pet



If you give a kid a camera



Aswan High Dam.   Kids loved saying dam.  Homeschooling is going so well!



Airport shuttle buses are a big hit



Our cruise ship



Abu Simbel



Inside Ramses II temple at Abu Simbel....Pictures are forbidden but I couldn't resist this one of Traci attempting to teach the girls about the god of fertility.



Hayden in his element



..but not to be outdone by the girls

Italy II

Our first train adventure was from Naples to Venice with a changeover in Rome. I thought trains had an impeccable record of running on time but ours departed Naples 90 minutes behind schedule.  When we arrived in Rome we made a mad dash for any train headed to Venice and literally were the last ones on the last one out.  Kids were great under pressure.  Trains were a big hit with the family and we were all able to get caught up on a bit of work.  Arriving in Venice we stepped off the train, walked about 100 meters and stepped into a water taxi to take us to our hotel. I had a surprise in store so we diverted to the other side of our hotel (on a small island called San Clemente) where old friend and seaplane pilot James Finson is now working.  James used to work for Kenmore Air and taught me how to fly floatplanes.  James took us up for a 30 minute scenic sunset flight on a beautiful, calm evening which was an incredible introduction to Venice. Ah Venice. I visited for a few days before studying in Spain while in college, but I was able to learn much more this time. Either that or I forgot most of what I once learned (that is a good thing sorry mom) but I prefer to think that I keep getting wiser and more knowledgeable and that this will continue for my remaining years. A few things that I found particularly interesting: ü  Venice was established on an island in the lagoon to protect the inhabitants from the Germanic raiders from the north. The Venetians and all Italians prefer to use the term “barbarians” when describing those who lived north of the Alps. This is blatantly offensive to me as these were my ancestors, so I prefer to call them brave Germanic explorers. Apparently though my brave forbears didn’t like to swim so having the town on an island kept it safe.  ü  Venice was not only its own city state, but was one of the greatest powers in the world. From a very simplistic view, the middle or dark ages were the period between the fall of Rome in the 5th century to the discovery of the new world in 1492 and the “Renaissance.”  Venice was arguably the most powerful nation during much of this time, with an incredibly powerful navy and mercenary armies funded by a near monopoly on trade with Asia via their naval control of the Mediterranean.   ü  Venice is still sinking. The buildings sit on mostly ancient pilings that are driven into the base of the silt island. The city is also subject to pretty severe flooding, mostly in the fall and spring when the tides are greatest. There is a massive project underway to minimize these incoming tides by putting building dams at the inlets to the Venetian lagoon.  ü  There are exactly 430 gondoliers in Venice. No more, no less. At least this is what our gondolier told us but I couldn’t back it up through on-line research.  ü  There were no visible phallic symbols and so I think the Venetians were much more civilized than their Pompeian brethren. Our adventures here were pretty typical.…Exploring the Basilica of St. Mark and the Doges Palace, and just walking and walking around.  We had a great gondola ride with a gondolier who had 47 years of experience.  It was a great tour and with 3 kids and their sodas and sugar buzz it was incredibly romantic!  The ride was far less cheesy and much cooler than I thought it would be, although for the price for 45 minutes you could take a family skiing for a day in Aspen, and have a nice lunch and dinner, and catch a movie afterwards.   After exploring in the mornings we returned to our hotel in the afternoon and then were back in the evening search of a good restaurant (i.e. one that has pizza, spaghetti and meatballs, and a decent atmosphere) and gelato. 3 days was perfect. The Janssen family pack mules loaded their treasures and set off from the water taxi to the rental car area bound for Tuscany.  I use the word area because I had no specific idea where it was, it was incredibly crowded, and we were each heavily loaded.  We finally found the office and were overjoyed to receive our station wagon.  It is a Fiat (I love that name) and looks like a US postal delivery jeep. I have no idea why I have 18” of extra headroom but for some reason it must be en vogue. I’m still miffed at the Europeans for setting the tops of their bathroom mirrors at 5’6” but then the Italians build cars for the Harlem Globetrotters.  So off we head to our next destination, the lovely medieval town of Siena in Tuscany.  We rented a small house and it has been perfect with the exception that it is too late in the season and the pool is closed.  The weather has been beautiful most days with the leaves on the trees and vineyards at their peak colors. After 3 days cooped up in the house, we headed on our first major adventure which was Pisa. OK the town was pretty run down and we were accosted by a wide variety of street vendors but the leaning tower was very cool. Started in 1173, halted several times, then finally finished in 1373, there is a reason it is the world’s most famous tower and a wondrous engineering debacle. We purchased tickets for a climb to the top and after a quick lunch it was our turn. In the summer you need a few weeks advance booking but on a miserable, rainy day in late October we practically had the place to ourselves, along with maybe 10,000 tourist friends and merchants. The tower is solid marble and we ventured up the 300 or so steps to the top and the bell tower. Each of the steps has been worn down about 1”over the centuries from the foot traffic. Also the tower really, really leans. You climb in a circle inside the walls and you are seriously tilted. At the top the marble was wet and it was so off kilter that you needed to be careful not to slip. Worst case you would have slid into a railing but it was definitely a strange sensation. The kids thought it was cool, as did their parents. Every decent parent in the modern era has watched the Shrek series with their children. In fact if you’re like us you’ve probably purchased the entire series and watched them dozens of times, perhaps repurchasing when one of the kids scratched a disk, lost one, and maybe even repurchased so it would work on your blu-ray or 3D tv? What good parents wouldn’t? With that in mind you know the scene in Shrek 2 where Donkey is making popping noises with his mouth and Shrek , incredibly annoyed keeps yelling “Are we there yet?” For some unknown reason I learned duck talk when I was a little kid. I don’t know how long it took or when I started but it’s a serious, yet largely hidden talent that I possess.  The Donald has nothing on me and I digress but for some idiotic reason I took the kids to the grocery store (that shows a serious lack of judgment by itself with these mini pull carts and flat escalators that the kids liked to run on the wrong way) and on the way I tried to teach them how to duck talk.  You pressurize air between the side of your tongue and between your molars and kind of hum.  It was super cute for about 3 minutes.  I’m not sure that the other people in the grocery store enjoyed it but on our 2 hour drive to Pisa the next day the duck talk lessons continued.  I didn’t plan on that as part of their worldly education. Suffice it to say that Traci thought I have been more cool and suave for just about every one of the billion or so minutes we’ve been married.  I mentioned to Traci that since we were in the area that this talent was really just another fine example of my being a true Renaissance Man.  She didn’t agree. She put on a good face as the incoherent mumbling monsters mumbled, laughed and spit away. Are we there yet?  You tried talking like a duck didn’t you? Florence.  As mentioned earlier, since the fall of the Roman Empire you had a bunch of city/states struggling through the middle or dark ages.  After the fall of Rome, it was pretty much survival without celebration, writing, art, music, etc. that had made so much progress under the Greeks and Romans. Florence was a shining light out of the dark ages and in many ways led the way out and into the Renaissance.  One example is the Duomo.  At 30 stories tall, there hadn’t been anything built like that since the Pantheon in Rome in 200 BC!  So 1500 years later they said “I think I can” and went to Rome to study and they got it done!  The bankers of Florence, frowned upon for charging interest on loans, purged their guilty consciences (God forbid they make a profit and stay in business!) by devoting much of their wealth to the architecture, arts and sciences.  So Florence was pretty much the epicenter of the Renaissance, permanent home to many of the most famous artists and temporary home to others as the commissions received were so important.  Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rafael, Botticelli, etc.  We spent 2 days in Florence which is about an hour north of Siena.  Day one was spent touring as a family and climbing whichever tall buildings we could find including the Duomo and the Tower of the Opera Museum.  Our kids are climbing machines. Halle and Hayden are fearless around heights, while Sydney and her father tend to stay far from the edges.  I just can’t help but think about earthquakes or what I would do if I somehow “had” to be hanging from the edge of the tower.  Our second day in we had a fabulous guide who led us through the Uffizi and the Academic Gallery.  We did a decent job preparing the kids for what they would see through books and a great Ipad app and we had a great 4 hours in museums.  A museum experience that was “super fun” seems to be a trip highlight for us as it defies all odds from what we’ve heard.  So we saw masterpieces from Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Rafael, Botticelli and as important gained a bit of insight into the Florentines who where their teachers and inspiration (I’d list them but I’ve forgotten but suffice it to say they were amazing).  We saw the world’s first piano and just amazing works of art.  Our last stop was to see Michelangelo’s “David”and despite numerous replicas, the real thing is well, unreal.  The smallest details, the enormous size, the sheer beauty, the story.   Super cool.  And the most amazing thing is that David has a Morgan’s toe.  The Morgan toe is the evolutionary blessing whereby the second toe is longer than the big toe. This is a very well-known sign of extraordinary intelligence (and thus bravery) and to see that Michelangelo had this (why else would he give it to David) made me really happy.  I think I might be on to some type of super-secret of the Renaissance geniuses ala the da vinci code but need to do more research.  Stay tuned. Italy’s rich history is thousands of years old.  I think about the US and fashion myself fairly well versed in our youthful history.  I then honestly assess that I know more than most but almost nothing compared to many.  Now multiply our documented history by 13 or 14, throw in countless invasions, different languages, competing religions, different cultures, many written records but countless tales, etc. Each European country and each area has a web of complex history that takes years to understand and perhaps even that is not possible.  I thought that I’d come away from Italy (and this trip) with a deep understanding of European history.  For sure I’ve learned a lot, but I kind of think my level of understanding is about the depth of the impact my soles had on the marble steps up the leaning tower of Pisa.  Tiny indeed.  Thank goodness our children will never forget the gelato, the pizza, climbing everything climbable, duck talk, learning to run the wrong way on an escalator and lessons in (particularly male) anatomy of a 16’ statue.

Train school Naples to Venice



I love this picture




Cap'n James Finson and our welcoming surprise tour



Venice from 1,500 feet



Narrow alleyway of Venice

"Dad, what does 'Acqua Non Potable Mean?'" "It means drink up as bottled water costs $5"



Such great parenting...in the revolving doors at our hotel. perhaps it was the Venitian equivalent of mad cow disease from drinking from the fountains?

Such great parenting...in the revolving doors at our hotel. perhaps it was the Venitian equivalent of mad cow disease from drinking from the fountains?

Thankfully we weren't the worst parents at the hotel.  We tried finding the parents of these wrestling hooligans, to no avail, and had to alert hotel security. 



Note the cold weather gear which hides the clothing that we've been wearing all summer and fall



They wanted to jump into a gondola



This Venetian artist wasn't fond of the influence of American culture



Hayden really fancied P-dog's clothing

Venice from the deck of St. Mark's Basilica



Imprisoned in the dungeons.  Unfortunately we couldn't lock the door behind them



That's Amore!  One big happy family

View of the Tuscan countryside from Brolio Castle



Looking down on the Piazza del Campo in Siena (from the belltower)

Looking up at said belltower

Siena from the top of the museum, looking back towards previously mentioned belltower.  You've probably guessed by now that it is an oft-photographed landmark



"I said to line up and look like you're soaking up the magnificent view from Montepulciano!" 



That's better.  Good dutiful kids!



Halle the mighty

At the top of the leaning tower, on the leaning side.  Notice Sydney is close to the wall.



Not happy about this!

Young lad attempting to scale the castle wall.  Fortunately he was brought down by a fusillade of chestnuts from the castle's defenders

Castle at Brolio.  Incredibly cool place.



Representative of 99% of photos that don't make it to the blog.  "You want me to sit there next to HER!"  Brolio Castle in the distance. 



Ponte Vecchio in Florence.  500 year old bridge that the Nazis left in place after their withdrawal in 1944



Florence's Cathedral and Duomo (Dome)



Sydney climbing the 469 steps stairs inside the Duomo. 500 years old engineering marvel. double walled dome with stairs in the middle



Top of the cathedral dome.  Where is Sydney?



The modern David lacks the six-pack abs, wavy locks and the deadly sling but he carries a backpack full of Ipads, pringles, toblerone, water and tourist guides, not to mention shopping bags of fresh socks and leggings. He also has 6 large functional pockets in his khakis. Call it a toss up. Lady in the backgound is obviously in awe.

The modern David lacks the six-pack abs, wavy locks and the deadly sling but he carries a backpack full of Ipads, pringles, toblerone, water and tourist guides, not to mention shopping bags of fresh socks and leggings. He also has 6 large functional pockets in his khakis. Call it a toss up. Lady in the backgound is obviously in awe.