South Africa - Day 3

Day 3 - Cairo, Egypt - October 14, 2017

Our next flight was between New York City and Cairo, Egypt.  We had a long 12-hour layover in Cairo, so we made the most of it by hiring a guide for a tour.

Our guide picked us up in a van with a driver and we went straight to the pyramids.

It was really amazing how close to the city the pyramids were.  I've always pictures them in my mind to be somewhere outside the city.  Instead, they are simply on the edge of town, and I guess that makes sense as people have been living in this area for thousands of years.

Lyla was really getting into the pyramid pose.

It looks just like a rock wall behind us, but I swear it is actually one of the pyramids!

These cute girls wanted to take a picture with our girls.

This guy was apparently also interested in a photo with the girls.  Maybe I was supposed to tip him...?

Family photo at the pyramid.

This area has been redone based on what they believe it used to look like.

You can see the back of the sphinx's head with the city right behind.  It was a pretty smoggy day, but we feel at home in the smog.

Obligatory pinching pyramid pics.

Our guide was really excited about all of these pictures.  He wouldn't let anybody else take them, because he was the expert...

Next up was a camel ride back to the pyramids.

The best part of the camel ride was trying to keep your balance while the camels stand up.

Our little helper leading the camels was just watching a video on his phone the whole time.  Kids are pretty much the same across the globe.

The sphinx is still missing his nose.  They put on some sort of light show at the base of the pyramids at night.

Hid and go seek in the temple.

The Great Sphinx of Giza.

Lunch.

Next on the itinerary was a river cruise on the Nile River.

This was right around sunset, so it was really pretty.  The Nile is huge, and without it Egypt wouldn't really have existed.

Steering the boat.

Sunset.

Lyla Jane.

Kate Amelia.

Ada Elizabeth.

Alison Ann.

With our Egyptologist guide Abraham.

After the river cruise we grabbed a traditional Egyptian meal of falafel and other Middle Eastern options.

Our last stop was at the market.  We didn't buy anything, more of just browsing and wandering.  This was interesting though, because our guide also secretly hired a bodyguard to shadow us and basically keep people away from us.  I have felt safe nearly everywhere that we have traveled.  This was the first time when I kind of questioned whether we were safe or not. But we were grateful for the extra steps that our guide took for us.

After the market, we hopped back in the van and made our way back to the airport.  Next stop, Johannesburg, South Africa!

South Africa - Day 2

Day 2 - New York City & JFK-CAI - October 13, 2017

Another bonus day in NYC.

This was one of the last times that the girls have shared a bed between the three of them.  Nowadays I try really hard to book rooms that can at least sleep 5.

We were super excited to visit the Museum of Modern Art.  Imagine our delight when one of the first exhibits was a pink hoodie.  Who would have guessed?

The real reason that we were excited was the opportunity to view, admire and appreciate Van Gogh's The Starry Night.

We all just loved it.

Henri Roussaeu's The Dream.

Henri Matisse's Dance.

Monet's Water lilies.

Jackson Pollock's One, Number 31, 1950.

Andy Warhol's Gold Marilyn Monroe.

I got shotgun in the taxi.  We were all pretty nauseous by the time we finally made it to the airport for our flight to Cairo.

Tomorrow, we explore Cairo, Egypt!

South Africa - Day 1

Day 1 - New York City Day 1 - October 12, 2019

Now that we had been home for 5 weeks, it was time to head out on our next adventure.

The deal that I found to South Africa was from NYC, so we had to purchase separate flights to New York.  We didn't want to miss our flight to Africa, so we left a couple of days early in order to make sure that we could work around any delays.

We flew on a red-eye flight, which meant that we were out exploring rather early.  First stop was ground zero.

We had not visited the memorial as a family.  This is a special, sacred place.

Happy birthday Marie Pappalardo.

What is kosher in photos like these? Do you smile, or try to stay neutral (I obviously tried the latter).

We had tickets to the museum.  This was the first time for all of us.  It was beautiful.

I was in Voronezh, Russia on 9/11. It was early evening and we were trying to book a banya (Russian bath-house) for a baptism.  They had a TV on mute with the news playing, but we just thought it was a new movie or something. It wasn't until later that night that information started trickling in.  The biggest impact on me personally was that we stopped wearing nametags for about 6 weeks.  We were afraid of any repercussions or people looking for Americans to harass. It was a somber time, especially because we were mourning on our own, separated from the news and patriotism of most other Americans.

I do like the new freedom tower building.  Downtown NYC needed a statement building in place of the WTC towers.

Somebody can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe this is Angelica Schuyler's grave.

Then we found Alexander Hamilton's grave at Trinity Church.

Next, the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street.

Federal Hall, where George Washington was sworn in as President and the Bill of Rights were written.

We let the girls play at the Imagination Playground on Front Street while I bought tickets to a Broadway show.

We were all getting pretty worn out from our red-eye flight, so we made our way to midtown to check into our hotel.

Our first decent view of the Empire State Building.

Cat naps.  Much needed.

Times Square at night.

We had bought day-of tickets to Anastasia. We really liked it. It was a bit different than the movie.

Back to Times Square, for some obligatory night-time photos.

While some of us ate NYC pizza for dinner, Lyla snacked on CTC as we made our way back to our hotel for the night.

Tomorrow we spend the morning in NYC before heading to the airport for the next leg of our trip!