Since the Revolution a new party called Hizb El-Kanab – meaning Couch Potato Party – has developed. They are people who watched the events during the last two years while sitting on their sofas at home. But this time they did not stay at home, but joined the demonstrations – their way…….
More from Egypt soon
Brigitte
After writing 99 Blogs about Egypt over the last year, I feel quite excited that the next one is number 100.
Writing it today has been on my schedule for the last week, but when watching the news I realized that writing Blog 100 coincides with Egypt fighting for its freedom once again. So I am not so sure what my Blog could be about – how can I write about Egypt’s past when there is so much history happening now?
![7b756b9f-d575-4aae-8ba2-370422dedc5b[1][1]](https://egypt-mylove.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/7b756b9f-d575-4aae-8ba2-370422dedc5b11.jpg)
Today, on June 30th, thousands of Egyptians, in a brutal temperatures are marching in the streets of Cairo and all over Egypt, fighting for their freedom by demonstrating against Mohammed Mursi’s ineffective and oppressive regime during his 12 months in office. They want him to leave allowing for new democratic elections. Tensions are high and the fear of valiant clashes between Mursi’s supporters and his opponents made the US Government warn against travelling to Egypt and authorized the departure of some of the US Embassy staff and their families.
It is night in Cairo now, but the crowd in Tahrir Square is still there
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Photo from Karim El-Gawhary
and nobody knows what the outcome will be! Seeing these pictures and listing to the news, I am, of course, worried about the friends I made while I was visiting Egypt. I hope that they are save, and I pray for Egypt to find a way – without violence – that will bring a better life to all its citizens. –
So this does not count as Blog Number 100 – I will come back soon and show you more of the positive and beautiful side of Egypt.
Brigitte
Since Ancient Egyptian times SCARABS have been a sign of Good Luck, fending off bad spirits. This believe has survived into modern times and every tourist who has come to Egypt did not leave without at least one, or like me, with two or three, or more!
Unfortunately today there are more Scarabs than tourists in Egypt, but maybe they can help to fend off bad spirits and bring Egypt the luck they so desperately need!!!
More from Egypt soon
Brigitte
Definitely LUXOR, EGYPT – after an hour flight from Cairo we arrived in Luxor. We checked into the hotel, the Winter Palace. A hotel everybody should stay once – old charm, a lot of history – Churchill, Lord Cavanaugh, and Agatha Christie, to name just a few – ‘slept here.’ During lunch Ahmed, my vivacious, very knowledgeable Egyptologist who I was travelling with, suggested to postpone our visit to Luxor Temple until around 4 pm, when it would be cooler.
When we arrived at the Temple most of the tourists had already gone back to their hotels and the sun started to fade, leaving a soft, warm breeze. Ramses II two huge statues, standing on either side of the entrance look like the gatekeepers of the castle……
While we were walking through the passage leading into the main part of the temple, Ahmed, who never misses to point out anything along the way, was unusually quiet. I now think he did not want to distract me from what was to come. When we reached a large open space, he said “I have a surprise for you – look up, to the left.”
And there, from way up, a group of Roman faces looked down on us – Romans here? I must have looked really puzzled “You didn’t expect this, did you” Ahmed asked and then
explained that these frescos on lime plaster, were painted in the late 3rd century AD during the reign of Diocletian, and that this group of men are believed to be Roman senators in front of the imperial throne.
This is a rather recent discovery and thanks to the American Research Center in Egypt, the restorations began in 2005 – first it was not clear if there was enough preserved to justify the effort and expense. But when the project was completed in 2009 the results were spectacular.
I am grateful that I came to Egypt after 2009 and could see these Roman senators, who after more than 1700 years (third century 201 – 300 AD) still let us see their faces 
showing their fear, their expectation, and their admiration for the one who is hidden from us.
More from Egypt soon
Brigitte
………..YES…………WHERE IS THE GPS ON THIS DASHBOARD?
THE DRIVER IS WONDERING TOO! BUT NOT TO WORRY- EVEN WITHOUT IT HE KNEW EXACTLY WHERE TO GO!
More from Egypt soon
Brigitte
The kindness of my friends Sue and John to let me tag along to Aswan when they were celebrating their wedding anniversary made me see a place I can’t forget. We took a train in Luxor at 10 o’clock and after two hours we arrived in Aswan. We fought our way up the stairs by pushing and shoving, like everybody around us, trying to get to the exit. Once outside, we looked for a taxi, for an escape from the heat and the still overpowering crowd.
John waved to someone and pulled Sue and me toward a waiting car. It had been ordered by our taxi driver in Luxor – a local network is a necessary safety net when in Egypt as a foreigner – something I learned the hard way during my three weeks stay. Driving away from the station, I could not wait to get to our hotel. I was sweaty, thirsty and having avoided the bathroom on the train, it was time. But instead of a hotel, our taxi drove us to a jetty on the Nile. “Where are we going?” I asked.
“Oh, the hotel is on an island, didn’t I mention it?” John asked. He had not. It was obvious to my friends, they always stay here when they come to Aswan. Our luggage was loaded onto the little boat, which announced in bright, large letters Pyramisa Isis Island Resort and Spa. It took (fortunately) only a few minutes to cross the river and reach the 28 acres of bliss in the middle of the Nile. ![DSCN3990[1]-2](https://egypt-mylove.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/dscn39901-21.jpg)
Walking into the reception hall, the ivy covering the walls from ceiling to floor took away the heat we had felt only a few moments ago.
The view from my room, a landscape not changed for hundreds of years, erased the image of the overcrowded railway station we had left only a little while ago.
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Sue and John’s invitation for a drink in their room was a jolly beginning for dinner on the terrace.
—– and after dinner, when the sun went down, I watched the night fall over the sandy hills, and only a trace of the day gone by was reflected in the slow-moving waters of the Nile.
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During breakfast on our last morning I meet an English lady, who told me proudly, “I am 84 years old and I have come to Egypt every year since I was 22, and have often stayed in this hotel – now I am making my reservation for March next year.” This was October!
It looks like I am not the only one who can’t forget!
More from Egypt soon
Brigitte
——– and you stay at the Winter Palace Hotel, this is the view from your window!
The Nile and the Valley of the Kings in the distance – picture perfect!
More from Egypt soon
Brigitte
Writing my Blog about the happier days of Egypt I must be giving the impression that I am ignoring what is happening in Egypt today.
I am not – I am deeply touched and worried by the stories and the images we see on the news. Pictures of the light going out while a family is having dinner;
—— long lines to get gas; unemployment is increasing, and more and more people are falling below the poverty line. Crime rates are up, prices are rising, and there is no solution in sight.
Since my first visit, just before the revolution in January 2011, Egypt was a happier place despite its dictator Hosni Mubarak. “Under Mubarak I had a job, and now I don’t” my friend Ahmed told me – and this is true for thousands of Egyptians today.
An article in the Business Insider, by Robert Johnson said (quote) When Egyptians took to the streets to overthrow an oppressive government in 2011, THE WORLD WAS ON OUR SIDE. – But since the two years that followed, as Arab Spring turned to Arab Winter, and Egyptians fell under the rule of the oppressive new government of Mohammed Morsi and the Muslim Brotherhood, THE WORLD LOOKED AWAY. How tragic for Egypt and how sad for the world!
Yes, I will continue to write my Blog about the happy times I have spent in Egypt, but while doing so I must confess that I am worried about my friends in Egypt – I met very nice people, and some of them have become close, good friends – I miss knowing how their daily life is? How they are coping? I wonder what is their future? What is the future of Egypt?
Insh’allah the future will bring a solution soon, one that will make us go to Egypt again.
More from Egypt soon
Brigitte
How can all these people ignore me like this? Don’t they know who I am? Don’t they know that I am and have been the symbol of Egypt for thousand of years. They call me the GREAT SPHINX OF GIZA standing on the Giza Plateau since the Old Kingdom when the Pharaoh Khafra (c.2558-2532 BC) was alive.
More from Egypt soon
Brigitte
Like a huge, slippery snake the Nile winds its way through Egypt to the Mediterranean. It is 4130 miles long; one of the longest rivers in the world. It has often been said, that EGYPT is a Gift of the Nile.
Today its water resource are shared by 11 countries in Africa. Before the Aswan High Dam was completed in 1970, the Nile overflowed its banks every year. The silt deposits made the land fertile, allowing it to grow wheat, flax, and papyrus. Still today most Egyptians life along the banks of the river or in the Nile Delta. The dam allows for new irrigation systems, increasing the amount of land to be cultivated.
There are many ways to cruise on the Nile, with big boats – small boats – yachts – cruise ships – motor boats – water taxis – feluccas – and being on any of them will make you feel like the queen or king of the Nile, but a felucca will let you glide back into the past. 
It is a narrow sailing ship made of wood and it counts on the wind and a strong man to move it up and down the Nile.
In contract to the delicate feluccas that glide calmly through the waters when there is enough wind, the Cruise Ship dominate the scene.
In half an hour I counted 48 of them passing our boat, the Sunboat IV. And when there is not enough room at the pier, they sit next to each other and passengers have to walk through them to reach land.
But when you are not on a Cruise Ship you can use water taxis and motor boats that take you anywhere you want to go , with a reassuring tuck, tuck, tuck…………….and a smiling driver.
and the sights from the boat make you wish the ride would never end.
What else is there to do on the Nile on a boat? You can dine al fresco – on the upper deck of a boat in Aswan, with a magnificent view of ancient ruins, high up on the hill.
— or stay on a houseboat – tucked away from the world in a crevice the river has created along its path –
and, as the saying goes, if you want to come one day, dip your hands in the Nile before you leave!!!
More from Egypt soon
Brigitte
Other titles - Dress for Success, The Sensual Dresser, What Turns Men On.
Visit My Other Blog – Getting Over Growing Older
Egypt My Love 