FEBRUARY 8 - EGYPTIAN MUSEUM OF ANTIQUITIES AND EVENING

Today, our A&K "Eqypt & The Nile" tour officially began when we gathered at 8:30 a.m. in the lobby of the Marriott Mena House Hotel and met again with our Tour Coordinator, Hossam, Resident Tour Director, Ahmed, and our traveling companions.  We were lucky when we discovered that there would only be six of us in the group (down from the maximum of 18 people for an A&K "Small Group Journey") but much luckier when we actually met them.  We were joined by Vanessa and Dora, a mother and daughter from New York City, and Alex and Ed from Washington D.C.  Dora and her late husband opened a stationery store years ago on the Upper East Side that Vanessa now manages;  Alex is an architect and Ed is a retired attorney.  

We had a "briefing" in one of the banquet rooms of the Marriott Mena House Hotel.


 

Our first destination was the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities in Cairo.  We all entered our very comfortable air-conditioned vehicle with Ahmed, our driver, Magdi, as well as security officer, Ibrahim, to start the trip to Cairo from our hotel which was in Giza ("Gateway to the Desert"), just outside the city of Cairo.  

We'd already been to Cairo to visit the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization on Sunday so we were very well aware of the traffic in Cairo.  

Spending the morning at the Egyptian Museum of Antiquities, Ahmed provided us with a wealth of information about many of the pieces in the Museum.   



One of the most special items I saw was the sculpture of a nobleman that mesmerized me.  His face was so beautiful and so real.  Ahmed had Vanessa shine her little flashlight into his eyes to see the limestone of which they were made and I would later find out after checking everyone's phones not one of the six of us actually took a photo of him.  Fortunately, Ahmed had this photo already in his phone and sent it to me after we left Egypt.  Thank you, Ahmed!  

 

A few of my favorite items in this Museum:  




The colossal statues of Amenhotep III and his Queen Tiy.  I love how she has her left hand behind his back as if to show that she's really pulling the strings.

 


Their son, Akhenaten (and father of King Tutankhamen), which statue does not explain why he was depicted in such a feminine way - wide hips and belly. 


Statue of Ramesses II as a child protected by the god, Horus.   


Head of Nefertiti used as a head model to design crowns for the Queen.  

We had a wonderful lunch at "Le Tarbouche" restaurant.  

After an afternoon of relaxing, we all met in the 139 Restaurant of the hotel for our "Welcome Dinner."  We learned at this time that Ed and Alex were celebrating their birthdays that week (if I recall one of their birthdays was on the 8th) - no matter, we all celebrated with many cakes and congratulations to both of them throughout the week!  


 

 

 



 

 

 

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