Cairo

We're here! This is our hotel. Right next to the pyramids. The rooms are nice, the hotel an old palace. When we came to the pc center, the staff were all ready to meet and greet a German diplomat (this is at 10pm). Turns out to be Angela Merkel (chancellor, I think). Lots of cars, security, k9 corps, etc.

We had a real Oregon welcome when we landed - there was a downpour. It rained for 30 minutes and has bee cold and windy since. Full moon, yes!

Some have asked for a run down on the food: For dinner we had a buffet that had all sorts of Egyption offerings - lamb stew, coucous, tabouleh, humus, turkey, beef kofta, indian bbq chicken, myriad of vegies, like green beans with red/yellow peppers, salads with lettuce/tomato/olives/egyptian cheese. Desserts included your normal tiramisu, cheesecake, etc. Didn't do dessert - the guidebook says E eat fruit for dessert, but didn't see any. We had water to drink, and bought an extra liter @ 15 Egyptian pounds, or $2.63.

Left NYC at 6:45pm on 2/2 and arrived in Egypt 2/3 at noon. 10 hr flight. Food on the plane was very good. Had dinner and breakfast. Plus mango and guave juice to drink along with sodas and water.

Met up with some of our group today, ok, just 1 other person. The rest of the group did the pre-trip in Jordan. There are 7 of them. Plus us 4 and the 1 other we met. Total=12. That's a good number. There is another group that started today too. came over on the flight with us. But they have their own OATS tour guide.