EGYPT TRIP part 1

1st day
Left Boston Thursday after work direct flight to Madrid
2nd day
Madrid - went to Rembrandt Exhibit at the Museo El Prado - it was a great exhibit!
Fun to stop in Madrid - it was really quite warm - the sun was out and just a nice afternoon.
We got lunch in a pub and headed back to the airport to catch our flight to Egypt.
Landed in Egypt really late - got our stamps in our passports and found out ride to our Hostel.
The guys who run the Hostel were so great - so friendly and really helpful - that night they set up a driver for the next day to take us to the Pyramids and around Cairo.
The driver was coming at 8 and so we took showers and hit the sack (after all it was after midnight).
3rd day
woke up around 7:30AM (hello it was a GO vacation)

8AM headed off with our driver Kahlead - we first headed out to Dashur; on the way we saw the Bent Pyramid.
Dashur was probably my favorite experience of the trip - we had been in Egypt for less than 12 hours and we climbed down 70meters at a 45 degree incline that was only about 4 feet tall (lets just say it was a crazy thigh workout!) When we got down to the bottom we found only one couple down in chamber - they left a few min later and then it was just Amy and I - we wanted to take a picture but of course it wasn't aloud - so we respected that - but it was so fun to be alone in the pyramid especially as the first pyramid we were at :).

Next on the agenda was Suqqra - the Step pyramids - they were very cool as well - they have recently found a new pyramid site - so that was fun to see the start of exploring a new site.
At the same site is the tomb of Mere-ruka - first real experience with hieroglyphics
Next stop on the Agenda was really on our Driver's agenda not so much ours (but they want us to spend money at their buddies/family shops along the way) so we went to a Carpet "School" (but they pay them to go to school - so more like child labor that they call school - kind of sad - didn't take any pictures though).
Next stop was the Papyrus store - and yes i bought some - i am a total sucker for these sort of things, but i am excited about it - so i have a Egyptian Calender on Papyrus - yippeee!