Articles Archive for December 2009

Frustrated in Egypt

(The editor will note that this was started over three weeks ago but he will probably not tell you that we only have one laptop and “Angela’s post” had to wait for “Henry’s post” to catch up and finish his bit on Egypt. Please note though that Angela does sincerely appreciate Henry’s help with blogging.) We flew in to Cairo from Istanbul over two weeks ago and spent the first evening feeling really unfamiliar with our surroundings but excited and anxious to get oriented...

Read More

Egypt: a disgrace

Never before have I visited somewhere and ended up developing a hatred for that place by the time I left. We had originally planned for a 14-16 day stay, covering up and down the Nile as well as west to the desert and the oases. Instead, we left after 8 days. It was unfortunate because Egypt has such an amazing, almost unfathomable history, and it takes time to learn, feel, and absorb it all. There are many things not to like about Egypt, in particular, Cairo – the extreme air pollution...

Read More

Re-do of Istanbul

Though I loved our first five days’ adventures in Istanbul, I couldn’t help but walk away with the feeling that it was a densely woven machinery of tourism operating at maximum capacity. The admissions to sights and attractions were expensive and often had hidden “supplementary fees” for especially popular parts. Yet there were little or no signs of explanation of anything. Everywhere in the city, we felt that we were walking around with “TOURIST” name labels on our foreheads...

Read More

Delicious! Shish kebab wrap in Turkey

On Gina’s request, I am writing about this amazing wrap that Angela and I had in Istanbul. Overall, our gastronomic pursuit in Turkey yielded only a C+ or B- grade, but this wrap was one of the highlights. We found this vendor on a backstreet just behind a major tourist attraction. Angela wasn’t interested when I asked if she wanted one, that is until she saw it. The perfectly grilled kebab chicken was wrapped with lot of lettuce and tomatoes, and then topped with a touch of chili powder. Delicious!

Read More