Better than ciaro at first

7am - wake up and turn off alarm clock.
8am - get up and go downstairs for breakfast buffet.  I have to skip the first half of options since I can't tell what they are or even pronounce the name.  Did you know they make chicken sausage, it isn't bad.
8:45am - go up to room and decide sleeping a little more is a good option.
noon - wake up and go outside to find a taxi.

After rejecting 5 guys cause i didn't want to pay 500 egyptian pounds for a two way trip, I start walking down the sidewalk to check out some nearby stores.  One guy kept asking to drive me and almost covered an entire block, lowering the price every couple of steps.  I decided that the Vally of the Kings was the one thing i wanted to see so I had him drive me there for well under the 500 the other guys offered.  I feel good about the haggling process for the first time.  Its only about 5 miles away as the crow flies, but since we had to drive down to a bridge, it took 20 miles to get there.  We stopped at the Colossi on the way which are two giant statues of Pharaoh Amenhotep III.  There are monuments everywhere and throughout the day people were pointing out Pharaoh this and Queen that.  I can't say I care much about any of them and don't remember a single name I was told.  In fact, while going into a tomb in the Valley of the Kings, I asked the door guard/ticket collector guy to let me view it in silence after he started pointing out people.  Otherwise he would have kept talking the entire time like the guy in another tomb I visited.  There are a crap load of tombs in the Valley of Kings, only a few of which are open to the public right now.  It was very cool at the heart of the tomb, very quite.  Once I got to the burial chamber of the first tomb I visited, someone else showed up and the door guy took off to check their tickets.  It was about 40 or so yards walking at a downward slope and after the chatty cathy took off, it was incredibly silent.  It was also nice because I was able to take a few pictures.  Technically no one is allowed to take any pictures within the whole valley.  Its a stupid rule, so I broke it.


After I walked around a bit and was satisfied, I found my driver waiting outside and we stopped by an alabaster artist shop.  They still make a lot by hand and I was given a demonstration.  While I doubt it took seven days to carve the glass that I bought like they said, it was a very time consuming process.  It was all done by hand with some pretty basic tools.  I got a whiskey sipping glass, gonna have a varied collection when I get home.


I then had my driver take me to a market near my hotel where I got some gifts for family and friends.   Back at the hotel I transitioned into relax mode.  I got some nice evening pics of the Nile and enjoyed some drinks on the balcony while reading.  Finishing my blog

Greener than i expected.

So I made a quick last minute trip back to Jordan and down to Egypt this last week and it was interesting in a few ways.  I was safe in Cairo, at least safe from a mob.  Never thought driving could get worse than Kuwait, but those Egyptians must have a different view on life and priorities.

I started the day after working a regular 12 hour shift.  I quickly showered, changed and found a taxi to take me to the airport.  I landed in Cairo around 3 pm after two business class flights.  It was awesome.  Orange juice after sitting down, hot towel after takeoff.  Cheese omelet and a screwdriver for breakfast.  The stewardess was a little worried that I wanted vodka with my breakfast.  I hung out in the business class lounge for a couple of hours in Amman, Jordan.  All the tvs in the lounge sucked, but there was a decent breakfast buffet so that was nice.

Kuwaitis are morons on the road.  The only thing saving lots and lots of Egyptians is that its so crowded that they rarely have the chance to drive fast enough to do a whole lot of damage.  Drive down any major road in Kuwait for at least 30 miles and you will see at least two new wrecks a week, thats a minimum.  I drove 70 or so miles each way when I worked at Buehring and saw new wrecks every other day.

 My trip to try and see the Giza pyramids has now failed for the second time.  Well, not completely failed, but didn't work out like planned.  After the airport and finding a taxi, I had to endure the crazy drive through Cairo.  I made it to the entrance about 20 minutes after they closed.  I didn't do as much research as usual, but surprised i never read anything about a closing time.  There is a light show so I figured the pyramids would be open till after dark.   I was talked into taking the "alternate view" which entailed riding a carriage on the back roads next to the pyramids.  The guy knew someone who let me go up to the third story roof and take some ok pics of the pyramids and sphinx. I'm a sucked and got talked into watching a papyrus making demonstration that was interesting, but not why i came to Egypt.  I'm an even bigger idiot because I got talked into paying too much for a papyrus painting of a boat.  Its a cool painting, I like it but it was still a stupid decision.

Driving back to the airport was the worst part since my driver thought I wanted to go see some other monument and once I realized we weren't going straight back to the airport, he had already gone off the highway onto so smaller roads.  We had to go through this one area where 4 roads merge into one within a one mile stretch and it took us a little over an hour to get through that one mile.  It sucked.

I was able to make it to the airport in time and safely arrived in Luxor that night.  I'm in a cool hotel on the Nile.

Mmmmmmm, I enjoy food

This last week I cooked a side dish and some cookies and they turned out pretty well.  I made shoepeg corn casserole and what i'm gonna call Choco-Cherry Goodness.  The casserole is a recipe I got from my aunt Allison and the Choco-Cherry Goodness is a slightly tweaked version of the Oh So Good Choc Cherry Cookie recipe Christina gave me.   Below are some pics and the recipes if anyone wants to try them.

Shoepeg Corn Casserole
3 cans Shoepeg Corn (drained)
small block of cream cheese
small onion (diced)
2 Tb butter
1/2 c milk
1 bag shredded velveeta cheese

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Saute onions in butter, add cream cheese and milk when the onions are cooked then lower temp on stove.
pour drained corn into 9x12 in pan and add cream cheese sauce when it starts to bubble.

cover with cheese.
bake until cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling up sides.

i couldn't find velveeta cheese so i used white cheddar and sharp cheddar.






The Choco-Cherry Goodness cookies

1 pouch Betty Crocker double chocolate chunk cookie mix
1/4 c veg oil
2 Tbs water
1 egg
1/4 c finely diced almonds
lots and lots of maraschino cherries
1 cup choc chips
1/4 c whipping cream

mix pouch of cookie mix, oil, egg, water, and almonds.  quarter a dozen or so cherries and add to the batter.  While they are intended as cookies but i hate washing pans so I put them in mini-muffin cups.  About a teaspoon or so of batter per cup and then cut in half a bunch of cherries.  press the cherry halves onto the top of the batter.

Bake 8-10 minutes.
While they are baking pour whipping cream into cup with choc chips.  microwave for 20 seconds, stir and microwave another 20 seconds.

When cookies are done pipe out some chocolate onto the top.  

And in case yall are wondering what my kitchen looks like, here are some pics.

Anticlimactic

Anticlimactic - A decline viewed in disappointing contrast with a previous rise

Well, I finally paid off all of my student loans.  Can't say I feel any different but I suppose when I get my next paycheck and don't immediately give most of it to a bank I'll feel a little different.

Kayaking

I was able to spend most of one day kayaking north of Edinburgh.  We headed north up the coast to Inchcolm Island where we had lunch then slowly made our way back.  It was a really fun trip that was challenging at times as I paddled as fast as I could for a bit then relaxing as I floated peacefully.

 

 We left our kayaks on the beach as we ate lunch and wondered around the island a little bit.

 Grassy knoll where we enjoyed lunch.

The story goes that around the 12th century a king was traveling south down the coast.  A large storm showed  up and drove him to the island for shelter where a hermit monk was living.  The monk provided the king with food and shelter and took care of him during the storm and after the king left, he decided to thank the monk by building a monastery for him. 

If you are ever in Edinburgh, I highly recommend http://www.duneideannseakayaking.com/

Scotland

Scotland was great, beautiful country, good people, and great beer.

 This is the dining room for the royalty in Stirling Castle

 From the Stirling Castle, looking over the city of Stirling you can see the William Wallace Monument.

I'm standing on the frontal defense wall of the castle with the kings quarters in the background.  They are currently working on the buildings interior to replicate what it would have looked like.

 This is the front gate of the Edinburgh Castle at night

Once through the front gate, there is another gate to get past.

 View of Edinburgh below the castle.

 Looking over a standard cannon in the castle.

This was the big daddy cannon near the top of the castle.  This thing shot slugs of metal the size of a basketball.

This is the innermost part of the complex.

 

 After a train ride north, I walked through Stonehaven to Dunnottar Castle.  They had a nice harbor.

 

This is Dunnottar Castle, just outside of Stonehaven.  The English attacked this castle for eight months trying to destroy the Scottish crown jewels but the Scottish survived.

Good luck trying to sneak around.

If you tried attacking the front door, you met this wall full of windows and archers.

 There was some nice grass lawns in the castle, though i doubt they looked this good back in the day.

 Heading out.

Dublin Pics - Part 2

Here are the rest of the pics from Dublin.  My first day in Dublin I went to a few clothing stores looking for a leather jacket.  Unfortunately, they were all very expensive and when i went to try them on, even the XL's were really small.  The second day there I started off by walking south to St. Stephens Green, a nice park with a pond.  As luck would have it, I passed by a mall on the walk and saw a sweet leather jacket in a window.  After trying on a few, the owner walked by and help me find what I was looking for.  I ended up getting a jacket that I really liked and enjoyed for the rest of my Christmas vacation.

While this isn't the best pic of the jacket, its all I have apparently.

It was a really pretty park, complete with a mini duck island reserve shown on the right.

 Thankfully it was cold while I was there, gloriously cold.

I don't consider myself a good photographer by any means, but those two pictures capture the peacefulness of the park, at least to me they do.

This gazebo was really neat, I love the moss on the roof.

I think I forgot to post this on the other Dublin pics post. This is my new favorite beer, Kilkennys Irish Cream.  I had a few at dinner my first night, and a few more at lunch the next day.

Later in the day I attended a tour of the old Jameson Distillery and was picked to be a taste tester.  While I preferred the 12 year old scotch over the 5 year old Jameson, they still gave me a certificate.  I preferred the spice flavor of the scotch over the whiskey, but considering the whiskey was much younger, I was pleasantly surprised at how the whiskey was smoother.

Unfortunately my camera battery died when I got to St. Patrick's Cathedral so this is the only shot I was able to get.

Dublin Pics

For whatever reason I haven't gotten around to posting the pics of my Dublin vacation until now.  

The two days I spent in Dublin were great, what an awesome city.  It wasn't just the beer, which was really good.  It was the people, the architecture, the food and the history.  I walked around the downtown area of Dublin for two days and here are some of the pics I took.

That's my hotel in the background on the left.  Nice place with a bar and restaurant on the ground floor.   I was able to enjoy the pipe my little brother got me while walking around.

 

Cathedral Church of the Holy Trinity

Guess where I'm heading next

 

My first guinness :)

View from the 8th floor of the Guinness Brewery, the Sky Bar.