Louboutin & the Great Pyramids
When we left Lugano it was raining cats & dogs – and anyone who knows anything about first mentioned species (and me, Cat!) is aware that this demonstration of natures powers is not much appreciated by any of us cats!!!! So when we landed in Sharm El Sheikh around midnight and it still had a breezy 38°C, I was very happy indeed, even if ever so slightly exhausted by the time we reached our hotel which was to become home for the next week -> vacation, finally some time alone and away with Hubby ;o)
The next days were spent acclimatizing embalmed with sunscreen (protection factor 50 – after all I don’t want to firstly turn into a lobster and then a mummy!!!), sitting under an umbrella by the pool, reading ... only moving three times a day to hit the buffet meals ;o) What bliss!!!
On the third day I was soooo excited to go up to Cairo & Giza to explore one of the wonders of the world: the Cheops pyramid! Usually if you want me to get up at 5 a.m. you can put a whole symphony orchestra next to my head performing Beethoven’s 5th and I wouldn’t bat an eyelash, much less leave the comfort of my duvet behind unless you put a gun to my head. But on this particular day I literally jumped out of bed and ready to get going within no time, wearing my flamingo T-shirt, cropped jeans & grabbing my pink patent special Barbie edition Louboutins – after all one wants to look fashionable when greeting one of the world’s biggest wonders!
At the airport we were met by our tour guide who would also function as a shield against street vendors, selling Egyptian souvenirs made in China and other annoyances like camel owners offering rides on their animals for literally nothing but charging a fortune to let you get back onto solid ground again :o)
He told us a lot on the fascinating & rich history of Egypt which never stops to amaze me – or anyone else, I guess! First we went to Giza to see 9 (of the total of 109) pyramids. I find it unbelievable how something so grand was built more than 4000 years ago! How is it humanly possible to firstly deliver the 2.3 million of stones (each weighing approximately 2.5 tons!!!) needed to build just the biggest one of the pyramids from a source over 40 km away AND then assemble them in this perfect way?!
I always thought that the pyramids were a source of many hidden traps & secret tunnels that lead up to huge treasure troves, when in reality they are solid with only one entranceway facing north, leading into one single chamber at the heart of it, where only the king was to have his final resting place, after which the entrance was sealed closed again! Queens & daughters got their own much more humble little pyramids just next to the kings, made of the local stone of much lesser quality – I guess feminism had to wait for Cleopatra ;o)
We continued on to the ‘Great Sphinx’ which guards the second pyramid of pharaoh Khafra (its head is supposed to be a portrait of him) – see how already the Old Egyptians had guarding cats and knew how to treat them – their goddesses of love ;o) The sphinx has a temple attached, where the embalming process was carried out– a procedure that took 72 days (I spare you the details of that!!!). The sphinx itself is THE most magnificent sight ever!!!I wish I had a cat that big to guard me as well ;o)
Our next stop was the national museum which holds the overwhelmingly impressive collection of Tutankhamun’s tomb. It really blows you away when you see all of those treasures up close, wondering why there is not more security around! The craftsmanship of the jewellery, boxes, vases, coffins, etc. is exquisite not only considering that it was made around 1300 B.C.! I could have spent a whole week in this museum easily :o) What stroke me studying all those statues which are supposed to be portraits of pharaohs & queens is that they all have very straight noses ... so I took a closer look at the local people and discovered that a striking number of them hold the same feature – what a beautiful people! :o)
Although most likely we didn’t choose the best time of year to visit this wonderful country, considering it was around 50°C during the day, I will treasure the memories, pictures and stone cat statues I bought for a loooooooooooooong time :o)))
