I spent four great days (3 in Cairo and 1 in Alexandria) seeing the incredible sights of both modern and ancient Egypt. This was an amazing trip. The Egyptian people were incredibly friendly; not once did I feel unsafe or even nervous, not even after people found I was an American.
Dec. 20: We arrive and take a dinner cruise on the Nile River
The dinner cruise boats are all decorated and lit up Beautifully.
Some views of the Nile at night...
Before going on the cruise I had to have a cheesy tourist photo taken with the guy in the cheesy pharaoh costume...
As most people reading this probably know, I like to learn new things wherever I go; even on vacation... The staff I am holding is the heiroglyphic symbol Ankh. Prior to 3200 BC Egypt was divided into two kingdoms; Upper and Lower Egypt. Upper Egypt was in present Ethiopia. It was called Upper Egypt because it is the source of the Nile. Lower Egypt was the Nile delta and much of present Egypt. In 3200 BC King Menes of the north conquered the souther kingdom and untied Egypt (there is debate among archealogists as to where Menes actually existed but this is the current theory so I will go with it).
Back to Ankh. This symbol represents the united kingdoms of Egypt. The staff represent the Nile flowing in the upper kingdom. The horizontal bar is where the upper and lower kingdoms meet and the loop at the top represnts the Nile delta where the Nile branches into numerous tributaries before flowing into the Medeterranian Sea.
This is the dock where the cruise ships dock. Not too shabby...
The next two photos are from the cruise ship. I liked the wall paper in one hallway. The other is one of the ceiling panels in the dining room.
The lobby of our hotel surprised me. Egypt is a Muslim country yet there were Christmas decorations everywhere (at least all the places that the tourists like us were going). So next time someone says "Why should we celebrate their holidays, they don't care about ours" ask them how many places outside the US they have actually visited during the Christmas season.
Here are some random photos from around Cairo....
This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip. We were in traffic in Cairo and I looked out the window to see 3 teenage girls sitting on a corner, drinking Pepsi, and wearing jeans. The only thing that distinguished them from girls you would see anywere in the US were the head scarves. 
And of course, some additional evidence of US influence in the Egypt...
On to the Pyramids! The guards are on camels. They are not kidding around in Egypt; all the guards carry loaded AK-47's.
A horse drawn carriage on the way to the pyramids. Love the colors.
This is the Great Pyramid of Kufu. The largest of the 3 great pyramids (there are 12 pyramids on the Giza plateau) Look at the people on the pyramid. This will give you an idea of the immense size. You can watch every show the Discovery Channel airs about the pyramids (I think I have) but until you stand by them it is almost impossible to appreciate how large they really are!
Tourists are allowed to climb to a secondary entrance that was cut centuries after the pyramid was completed. It is the dark spot in the lower center of the photo above. The original entrance is above and to the left.
One of the highlights of the entire trip was actually going inside one of the pyramids! I still can't believe I have stood inside the burial chamber of a pyramid!
Photos of the pyramids usually make it appear they are in the middle of the desert when in fact they are just on the edge of Cairo. You can see the skyline of Cairo in the background.
This is supposed to look like I am holding the pyramid. Incidently, the pyramid I am "holding" is the same one in which I took the burial chamber photos.
And finally The Sphinx. Napoleon's army camped on the Giza plateu during his campaign in Egypt. One theory on the missing nose is that Napoleon's troops shot it off with a cannon. I have a hard time beliving this since there aren't any "pockmarks" on the face that would have been made by cannon-shot that missed the nose. Either those gunners were incredibly accurate with a smooth-bore cannon loaded with inconsistent powder and shot or this is a myth. I'm going with myth myself.
The next area is Old Cairo. This area is home to the Christian or Coptic population. About 15% of Cairo is Christion. These photos are from the church where, according to legend, the holy family lived during the "flight to Egypt" they undertook to escape the Roman plan to kill all young boys and thus eliminate the future King of the Jews.
The murals in the church entrance depict the flight.
In addition to being very beautiful, the stained glass and wood work are interesting in that Christian, Jewish and Muslim symbols are all blended together. Notice the cross in the window is the Eastern Cross. The horizontal and vertical pieces are the same length. The geometrical patterns are very Islamic. None of the windows depicted a person, also very Islamic. And the wood carving contains the Star of David. How cool is that? Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson should write a song about all these symbols living together in peace and harmony, just like ebony and ivory - so why can't we? 
Now it is on to the Citadel of Salah ad-Din (Saladin to us westerners). This is a huge fort built to fight the Crusaders. It is incredible but unfortunately much of the building material came from removing the outer covering of the Pyramids.
It isn't hard to imagine archers standing behind the parapets and quickly ducking around to fire arrows at the enemy. Or to be standing in the tower aiming through the narrow windows that would be almost impossible for an enemy to fire an arrow through.
If arrows didn't work, they also had bigger weapons. This looks like a catapault but is actually a similar weapon called a trebuchet.
At the center of The Citadel is an incredible Mosque.
The courtyard is where people wash to purify themselves before entering the Mosque. Even in the courtyard you need to remove your shoes.
Once inside it is very ornate. There are 365 lights suspended from the ceiling; one for each day of the year.
This is the central dome. It is a little hard to see but take my word for it, it is cool!
And this is where the Imam stands to deliver the sermon.
Salah ad-Din chose this as the location for his citadel because it is the highest point in Cairo. There are some incredible views that show just how large Cairo is. The population is somewhere between 15-17 million depending on who you ask.
The last stop in Cairo was an outdoor bazaar called Khan al-Khalili. It is 700 years old. It is both a tourist trap and a bazaar where locals go to buy all kinds of goods. 
All your belly dancing needs can be met here.
This is a cafe called Fashawi's. It has been open every day for 200 years. We had Turkish coffee here and tried the local hookah pipes (just like everyone else)
Perfume is a big industry in Egypt. So are purfume bottles.
we wrapped up the day with a meal at the little cafe in the center of this picture.
