Our first trip to the Pyramids of Giza

Just before the Light and Sound Show. 

Thanks Dad!!!!

And it's barely 7:30 am!!!!

The One We've Been Waiting For

Think this little girl was happy to see the Sphinx?

This whole voyage itinerary is amazing, but our arrival in Egypt is SUPER exciting for a number of reasons.  First, Wade's never been to Cairo.  Sure, neither have I or Emma, but there are tons of places around the world the two of us haven't been and not so many for Wade.  Second, Emma's had a soft spot for Egypt since she was eighteen months old and called it "Gyptie".  Third, seeing the pyramids has been a dream of mine since looking at photos in Coach Jordan's Geography class. So, while I have access to high speed internet I thought I'd upload a few photos from our AMAZING time in Giza.

Photos

Outside the Barcelona Aquarium.

Ahhhhhh, Athens

Did I say I was going to write about Italy? Well, perhaps at some point I will, but for now you’re getting Greece while it’s fresh on my mind.


For Emma, the whole summer is about this port. Sure, she’s excited to see the pyramids in a couple of weeks, and reuniting with Emma Z. was atop her list as well, but this kid LOVES all things Greek. She is fascinated by Greek history. She pours over Greek mythology books. She devours Greek food. Thus, she was giddy as we approached the port of Piraeus. On our first day in Greece we were on an SAS trip that took us to the Acropolis and the New Acropolis museum. Though we’ve been to the Acropolis twice before, Summer ’08 and Spring ’09, it was still an awe inspiring experience. Emma also managed to garner two “firsts” while we were there: her first solo negotiation with a vendor and her first turn on a Seagueway. She really wanted a parasol, but they were asking 5 Euro for them, so her parents said, “no.” Daddy did give her 2 Euro and told her she could get whatever she wanted with the 2 Euro. She waltzed over to one of the parasol salesmen and offered him 2 Euro. He shook his head and said, “minimum 3 Euro.” She shook her head and said, “2 Euro only.” This scenario repeated itself a few times before the man took her two Euro and gave her the parasol. She was quite proud of herself. And riding a Seagueway is something neither of her parents has done, so again she was more than a little pleased.

The New Acropolis Museum was scheduled for completion before the 2004 games, but, as is true for many construction projects in Italy and Greece, ruins were uncovered that halted the process several times. Thus, it was not yet open on our last trip to Athens and we were all excited to visit this state of the art facility. Being in the museum really brought home a lecture we heard the day before when Dr. Nancy Burkoff spoke in Global Studies about Cultural Patrimony. On the third floor of the museum were the reliefs from the Parthenon. Three different types of displays were housed there. First were original pieces. Next, there were blank spots for pieces that had been destroyed or looted and not rediscovered. Finally, there were copies of the originals, labeled (BM). The originals are located in the British Museum. We’ve seen many of them on previous trips to London. Spectacular. Cultural Internationalists have argued for hundreds of years that the British Museum could preserve them far better than any Greek facility and so the items looted by Lord Elgin should remain housed in the UK. Perhaps now that Athens has such an amazing facility it’s time the British Museum returned them to their home?

Time passes so very quickly!

Halifax – Barcelona – Civitavecchia – Naples. Have we really already been to all those ports? I did some writing between Canada and Spain as we had eight days at sea. Then, we arrived in Barcelona and had only one sailing day between Spain and Italy. No time for blogging. Now, here I sit on July 5th, the day we sail from Italy to Croatia, trying to recall all we’ve done. Don’t panic, I’m not about to present a play-by-play of the past two weeks, but I will share some highlights and reflections. First, let me say the Canadians may be the most pedestrian friendly folks in the world. If we had one toe on the road, cars, buses, all moving vehicles would stop. Halifax has a terrific maritime museum, and I would return to the city simply to eat another Beaver Tail.


Spain was a new country for Emma and Barcelona a city Wade and I hadn’t visited together since taking our last high school group abroad in 2000. We enjoyed having Emma Z and her family on the city orientation tour with us and when we visited La Sagrada Familia, the famous Gaudi cathedral, the two Emmas were making plans to visit again together after its completion. They agreed that though it is slated to be finished in 2026 or 2027 they’d wait until 2028 to avoid the crowds! Another fun moment in Barcelona came when we joined a group of SAS friends at Sports Bar on La Rambla to watch the US vs Ghana World Cup match. Wearing her US flag pinned to her red American Girl shirt, Emma made her daddy proud as she cheered on her team through 30 minutes of overtime play. She was not pleased with the outcome of the game, but was given some high fives and “good games” as we walked back to the ship after the loss. Sunday morning found us at the International Church of Barcelona where we enjoyed a contemporary worship service, heard a fantastic speaker, and met someone with Perry connections during the greeting time.

No classes were held on the one sailing day between Spain and Italy. Instead on “Italy day” a variety of faculty members and interport students and lecturers offered sessions on history, art, culture, etc. The kids’ program was treated with a trip to the 7th deck where they joined some of the kitchen staff and made their own pizzas! I had one slice of Emma’s and must admit she’s quite the pizza chef.

I’ll close now and try to get some Italy reflections posted before we begin our time in Croatia.