Krakow

After my major mistake last year in going to Krakow and NOT going to Auschwitz I booked again for this year.  To make sure I didn't mess up again this time I booked in advance a taxi driver to take us to Auschwitz/Birkenau on our first full day in Krakow.
Our taxi driver came highly recommended by Tripadvisor users and was a fountain of knowledge, explaining about the build up to the opening of the two camps and showing short film extracts on the way to Auschwitz.  I had decided to visit ourselves without a guide, so our timed visit into the Auschwitz Museum was for 4pm.  We visited Birkenau first, it is a desolate place and even though their were a lot of people visiting at the same time as us it still had an eerie feeling walking down the line of preserved huts, looking into them to see the lines of bunk bed which held 5 people at a time, 400 people to a hut. At the end of the railway there is a huge monument, which is supposed to be a representation of Birkenau which to us just looked like a collection of big black stones.  Either side of this monument are the gas chambers/crematoriums which had been blown up by the Germans just before Birkenau was liberated, these are the real monument to all those murdered, not a pile of stones.
At 3pm we left Birkenau to go to the Auschwitz Museum where we had a brief lunch in the restaurant and the queued for our 4pm entry.  Our taxi driver gave us a map of the buildings and a list of what was in each and also recommended some of what he thought were the best to visit.  The buildings cover a very small area and it was easy to find our way around. Guided tours in all languages are available all day up to just before 4pm.  Guides have groups of up to 30 people, the guide speaking into a microphone which feeds into the earphones the group were wearing.  Most of the guides were speaking quietly and were not a problem but quite a few had too loud voices which were difficult to ignore.  All of the buildings have big notice boards outside explaining the contents of them and inside everything is well signposted with lots of information on what is there.  I cannot see the point of a guide and if anyone asked about going I would not recommend a guide but I would suggest going early morning before the guided tours start as we found the guides quite intrusive.
Auschwitz Museum is just that; a museum.
Last year we visited the Schindler factory and the underground museum in the market square in Krakow these to us seem to be far better at conveying the atrocities of what happened in a personal way than anything we saw at the Auschwitz Museum.

We spent the rest of our time in Krakow in and around the market square sitting in cafes drinking hot chocolate or milkshakes and people watching.  In the evenings a meal at one of the outside restaurants followed by a stroll in the Planty, a wide park area which goes all around Krakow centre.

The most amazing thing about our holiday was that Edward didn't take any photos, I think he has fallen out of love with his camera !
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Cordoba

Cordoba

After our visit to Granada last year we decided we wanted to see more of Moorish Spain so we visited Cordoba in June. We took a bus tour around the city and you can see the photo below of the Mesquita taken from the top of the bus from the other side of the river.

                

The photos below are all of the inside of the Mesquita.  The videos hopefully will give you an idea of the size of it.  The huge organ is in the cathedral which was built in the middle of the original mosque.

                          

               

                         

                         

              

I've heard the expression "A moveable feast", but I've never seen an alter on wheels!

I cannot remember where this last one was taken, but it looks as if it could have been in Royston Vasey, judging by the nose, it looks very LOCAL! (It was definitely in Cordoba, though.)

               

Our last day we visited the Inquisition Museum, no photos as they were not allowed.  It is the most horrific place, photos, descriptions and actual torture instruments are displayed in the small dimly lit rooms. I cannot imagine how anyone could have or would want to dream up these dreadful instruments.  Although fascinating it is not a place I would recommend for those of a nervous disposition !

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Now our holidays are over for this year I am now thinking of next year and have already bought an assortment of travel guides to pour over during the next few weeks. Watch this space. 

Hi-De-Hi, Campers!
Here we are again, in Marrakech. If you're a long-time reader of this mish-mash which I refer to as my Blog, then you'll have read about our previous adventures here (including the 30 odd year delay!). But this experience is a little different.

This time, we aren't staying in a small riad; the Palais Sebban (for that's what it's called) is a large riad which is an actual hotel, with 25 rooms. It is exquisite! If you're looking for somewhere with architecture of the genuine Islamic style, look no further. From the antiquated and primitive door locking mechanisms to the intricate, hand cut, zellige tilework, via the astonishing accuracy of the repeating, hand-painted, patterns on the cornice and beamed ceiling, here we have the elements which were imported into Spain, and with astounding effect at the fabulous Al Hambra. Simply marvellous!

Our room:

 

In the 3rd and 4th pictures, you might have noticed the sliding doors inside the actual room door? The windows were also double glazed in the same fashion, in order to keep the noise in the room, from the public area just outside, to a minimum.

I (again) apologise for not having the camera on the correct setting, but you know I'm not very good with it anyway!

The last picture shows the intricacy of the paintwork on the ceiling.
Remember, if you click on a picture, you can have a better look. In our wanderings in the souks, we came across an artist who actually does this sort of stuff for a living. For the examples he had on display at his workshop, he charges 80 Euros per metre.

On seeing these pieces hanging at the entrance, I stopped and was closely inspecting them, trying to see if they were vinyls or other transfers of some kind. He saw me and came to see what I wanted. He was most disconcerted when I asked him if they actually were transfers. "No, no! By hand, by hand!!!!" At this, he dragged me into the place, just to prove that they were, indeed, done with a brush in his hand. In a minute, he'd cut a lump of wood and painted my name onto it, as a souvenir of Marrakech, a lovely young chap.

Again, our lodgings weren't situated far from the buzzing and exciting Djemaa El Fna, where everything happens! Using a small map kindly provided by the hotel, we navigated our way onto the nearest main artery of the souk, and within a few minutes were chatting with one of the traders whom we had met on our first visit. (I don't care who you are, it's always nice to know that you made enough of an impression on someone that they remember you years later!) After another few minutes we were in the "Square". It was nice to be warm, and to see clear blue sky!

Our first actual stop was the 7 Saints cafe, where we had so enjoyed tea and cakes etc on previous visits. We'd enjoyed there so much that I'd put a glowing review on TripAdvisor, as I remember. Again we were remembered by the staff, and welcomed back with open arms, metaphorically speaking, of course, but (horror of horrors!) there were no cakes! "Finished" was the answer to our query. Never mind, we shared a chicken panini instead. The outside seating area had had a thorough makeover, with a uPVC framework supporting an ingenious retracting blind system overhead, to shield diners from the sun. A new Islamic pattern profile-burner-cut fence with fancy posts and freestanding glass on top to shield us from any wind. (I say profile burner, but I'm not up to date with modern technology, so it was probably laser cut or something similar.) Anyway, although the old arrangement had been fine, this was very very good indeed, and made the place look a lot cleaner, newer and more professional, in my (not so) humble opinion.

Our first proper meal was at the tagine cafe which we'd also used previously, although I cannot remember what it's called, offhand. Here, we weren't welcomed as old friends, rather new friends! One chicken tagine and one vegetable tagine were duly ordered and consumed with great gusto. They came with bread, olives and a bottle of water, but we eventually realised that these were not included in the menu price, and were charged separately. We didn't make that mistake twice!! I imagined that it had changed hands, as we didn't recognise anyone there, and it just seemed a bit different somehow. Never mind, when we went back there again, we were welcomed, and this time with open arms, by the old man who had been there on the previous holidays, he was obviously delighted to have us back. He even went to the trouble of finding some dates to put in my tagine after I'd noticed that they weren't on the menu.

We like to think we're a bit on the adventurous side, but we're not, really! We do like familiarity, and that's why we keep on going back to the same, or similar, places. Last years jaunt to Granada was slightly adventurous, in that we hadn't been to Spain for 40 years, and even then nowhere near the Islamic bit. But that was what interested us; the Islamic architecture. We feel reasonably comfortable among Muslims who are used to interacting with foreign tourists, and (thankfully) we haven't been swayed by the ridiculous scaremongering of the British national press and TV stations into imagining that every Muslim is out to kill us!
Get off your high-horse Edward!

Back in the Djemaa El Fna (keeping well clear of the "touchy-feely" snake who charms the slithery types! See http://ourluxorflat.blogspot.co.uk/search?q=snake+charmer half way down the page.) there are still loads of black African youths peddling stuff; Apple phones, carved wood, hooky watches and perfumes, pastel drawings and paintings on small animal skins. They must get sick of being knocked back, but still they persevere; and apparently to some good effect, judging by their stylish and expensive looking clothing and footwear. (But how far are they removed from home, family and the familiar things of life?)
A new feature was a large number of families, or part families, on the streets begging with official-looking laminated signs explaining that they were Syrian refugees! It was heartbreaking to think that, maybe, these young women with children in tow were, until quite recently possibly, living reasonably comfortable lives, nearby their parents and friends, enjoying the normal things of family life. And now, here they are, reduced to begging in the streets of a foreign country. Given different circumstances, it could have easily been my daughters and grandchildren! It certainly hit me quite hard, and still does when it comes to my mind! How can we turn our backs to this suffering, even in the face of the savagery of the current wave of terrorism? It's all beyond me, I'm afraid.

Several sights strongly reminded me of our home in Egypt:

Like the expert wiring!

 And making the most of one's transport whilst ignoring safety!

I hadn't noticed the face on the pedestrian's back-pack, did you?

If they had had the forethought to do this in Alexandria, maybe that 13 storey building could have been saved, eh?

On a slightly larger scale, perhaps?

Thankfully, our hotel didn't fall over! It was astonishing, having been just about completely rebuilt not so many years ago. They had pictures on display of the condition before they started, it was almost a ruin! It's now fabulous, here's the dining area outside:

The one thing that we particularly wanted from Marrakech was a plate similar to the ones we already had, but larger and blue, to utilise in the Moroccan fountain I've been building on the Our Luxor roof terrace. Well, we found one in the shop we had previously used, the last one he had! It was snapped up for 150 Dirhams, about half the price they would have asked in the main tourist area shops.

We made our way back towards the hotel, happy bunnies! Until, a young man bumped into me as we passed on a rather busy street. You guessed it, Dear Reader, the plate was broken!!!!!!!!!!!!! After Freda raised the place and I threatened to kill everyone in sight, we eventually calmed down and found another shop where the kind gentleman sold us one, almost the same, for the same price, he saved the day. I'm still steaming about it, a month later, but we cannot live like that, can we? All we need to do now is to get it the 3000 miles or so back to the other side of Africa in one piece!

I'm sorry that it's taken me so long to write this (4 weeks!) my blogging mojo hasn't been working! Never mind, "Better late than never" as they say. (I know, I know; it does go on to say "but better never late!".) I'll finish off with some random pictures of the hotel, I hope you like them and that you get a better idea of just how nice it was.

These last two were close-by the hotel, and I think worth including.

I didn't bother asking the price, or even if this mangy looking leopard skin was for sale, I couldn't imagine it hanging in ether of my homes!

We came across several of these fancy doorways, and they brought the following line to my mind, I cannot recall if it's words from a hymn or from the Bible. "The gates of brass before Him burst and iron fetters yield!"
Tata for now, next blog will be about our visit to Cordoba, another feast of Andalusian Islamic architecture, I hope.

A storm in a cider glass?

Hello Playmates, here we are again, or should I say "at last"?

Just because I seem to neglect you all for a bit, it doesn't necessarily follow that I don't love you. Life is unpredictable and sometimes difficult, and there are lots of reasons for me not posting as often as I used to, believe me!

Did I tell you that we've had guests? Three lots, mind you. American/Lebanese, English and then French. A nice change, but I'm out of the habit of working! Getting up out of bed in the morning isn't what I really like. In fact, there's an English folk song called A Country Life, and the first line goes...."I like to rise when the sun she rises, early in the morning" and I've written my own words (not that I've sung them in public, yet!) which go...."I like to lie in bed in the morning, underneath the duvet, nice and warm". But never mind that, it was nice to see some new faces, and to know that they had enjoyed Luxor and our hospitality.

But that's not the only reason for me being tardy in posting here. I really don't have all that much to say which will be of any interest, sorry!

However............ I do check my blog "stats" every day, so that I know where you, Dear Reader, are from and how you come to find me. I was surprised (and rather tickled) when I saw that someone had come to my blog from another blog......

http://alongcameacider.blogspot.com.eg

and that the first visible picture on that blog was this:

Whereas my first picture today is this:

Or, it could well have been this:

 

All pictures of storm! On the American blog, a snow storm, and on our's a sand storm! Chalk and cheese, eh? Many of my faithful readers will recognise the location of my pics, they were taken from the terrace of the Steigenberger Nile Palace Hotel, which looks directly over their swimming pool and onto and across the Nile, which along with the West Bank seems to have disappeared again!

I'd half decided to vacuum our terrace today, but I'm really pleased that I didn't do it this morning, before the sand came! Roll on tomorrow, uuuurrgh!

Mind you, the weather, in general, is much better now that the winter is definitely behind us, no more having to snuggle under the duvet (Freda's actually taken it off the bed) or to have several layers of winter clothing on. What a relief, it's back to proper Egypt! In fact, we've had some really lovely days lately, with Freda sitting on the terrace reading, to the sound of her (as yet not quite finished) little fountain, disturbed only by the normal Luxor sounds drifting lazily up to our roof. Except for some sounds which we haven't heard for a wee while.......what do you think of this:

Yes, boys and girls, that's three goats! There are actually four, two larger black and two smaller white. They now reside on a balconey on the street which runs at right angles away from the other side of the building directly opposite to us. I'm sure that the family who live there will be only too pleased to give up the use of their balcony if it means that they can enjoy the fresh meat which the goats will eventually provide, along with the possibility of nice fresh goats milk in the meantime! It brings new meaning to the words "City Farm" eh?

We're now winding down in readiness to leave Egypt next week. I've had all the downstairs curtains down and they're washed, dried and put away, with the sunblock curtains put back up on the balconey. All the outside stuff has been taken in off the stairs, and the carpets cleaned and rolled up. There's not much left to do down there, and it won't take long to pack our little hovel away up here. Yusuf the cleaner is due to clean the stairs tomorrow, bless him. He still doesn't realise that he is washing the dirt into the cement and that they look dirtier every week, poor beggar! I've ordered (and paid for) our last meal from Mrs Adam, beef kofta with spaghetti and potatoes, for Tuesday night; it will see us through Wednesday as well. Then we're off on Thursday, insh'Allah.

So...........unless something really interesting or frightening, or whatever, happens, you'll next hear from me from good old Blighty! (That's if anything interesting ever happens there!)

Wish us a safe journey, and think of us and our Egyptian neighbours and friends now and then, won't you?

TTFN.

Gene Kelly's best work?

Sabah el kheir! An Arabic greeting, actually "Morning of goodness", I think. A common reply being Sabah el fol or "Morning of flowers". (Strange folk these Arabs.)

How about this:

I can almost sense you saying to yourself, "What's this old fool showing us now, there's nothing there of the remotest interest!"

Well, Dear Reader you'd be wrong! Again! What's there (apart from the smudge marks on the camera lens, is the absence of the West Bank! I said to Freda, "What happens to the West bank people when it disappears like this? People like West Bank Anne?" Of course I wasn't being entirely serious! We both, in tandem, blurted out "Brigadoon!"

Just imagine it..........the West Bank, and all its antiquities, only appearing for one day every hundred years? There'd be queues miles long, and they could charge a fortune, especially for "Queue-Jumper" tickets!!!!!

I thought I'd just mention in passing, we bought this brass-topped little table at a charity shop.

As you can see, it was in a rather dilapidated and filthy state. A few days ago, my semi-professional cleaning technique (*) soon made it a lot more pleasant to look at, what do you think?

(*) My semi-professional technique involved attacking it with some fine wet-n-dry! I think that might be frowned upon by the antique dealing fraternity!!!!! Never mind, though, it turned out OK.

See you later.

Hamada, will you nip out and get some bread?

OK Mother!

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Oh the shame..........the bitter shame!

I don't know if any of my esteemed Readers are poor enough to ever have had threadbare carpets? I have, and although it wasn't at all unusual or particularly indicative of anything at the time, nowadays it would be a source of general shame and embarrassment.  Anyway, I would think that it's reasonably fair to say that this horror would creep up on you, relatively unnoticed, until, quite suddenly, there it was; a patch of threadbaredness! (Is that really a new word?)

Well...........Dear Reader, as I'm sure you're aware, we have a total of 83 steps from the street to our little roof-top hovel, and we're responsible for the top 36 or so, I forget exactly how many are inside our stairway door. The rest are the responsibility of the other occupants of the building; the dentist and the surgeon. So, I either clean them myself or get someone else to do them for me. (A blog in itself!!!)

For the past year or so, we've had Joseph as a replacement for the hapless Rachad, who was as much use as man off! Joseph is employed, full-time, as a street cleaner, otherwise known as an "Amoun Man" after the name of the company which used to have the street-cleaning contract. He comes every Sunday (without fail, so far) and brushes and washes the stairs from top to the street at the bottom. He also, occasionally, runs one of the filthy floorcloths over the painted walls on the way back up the stairs, when he returns the bucket etc, leaving lovely dirty marks which NEVER come off! Bless him.

Well.........(again?).......... I have to say that I've noticed that the white mosaico (Colloquiallism, mosaico = the white cement with flecks of stone in, which is used all over Luxor on stairs and footpaths and some floors, as well. Pronounced "moz-eyeco") wasn't as white as it used to be. In fact, after inspecting it, as we had guests arriving, it was scruffy! Joseph was managing to mop it dirty instead of clean! I have showed him (time and time again!) how to do it effectively. Sweep first, then mop (hard) with the prepared solution in scalding water, of Gen-er-Al cleaner and either bleach or vinegar, and then dry immediately with the bundle of floorcloths provided. It's not rocket science!

Anyway, I knew I wouldn't be able to see to our stairs in time for the guests coming, so I was just a bit ashamed, but didn't say anything to them about it. They didn't mention it either, so it was a case of "Least said soonest mended!".

Obviously, the situation couldn't just be left as it was, and I would have to tackle the stairs sooner or later; it ended up being sooner! The trick is, when they are really stained with ingrained dust etc, is to clean them as if they were concrete, with an acid based cleaner. In other, here in Luxor words, neat vinegar, especially as it's only 1.5LE per bottle!

Here's the first flight of our stairs as you come up them:

Not all that bad, would you say?

But take a better look at that top one, and there's worse to come! Here's the next landing:

So........I started from the top; working down is easier than working upwards, or so I think. 

Marigolds on, to save my lovely soft hands, you know, along with my trusty work apron, all the floorcloths (newly washed, of course), a new litre bottle of vinegar, a one and a half litre bottle of water with a pierced top, a suitably sized scrubbing brush and a bucket of clean water. Armed for the battle, wouldn't you agree? Except for one thing.....the round tag on the vinegar bottle seal, inside the screw-on cap, snapped off, and I had to go back into the flat to find a knife to pierce the seal. Believe it or not, this happened every time, with 6 vinegar bottles, and every time, I was unprepared. I could have spit!

Never mind. I'm almost done now, I've been averaging a flight, or a landing, per day, my knees won't take any more than that, and I run out of clean cloths as well. 

Here is the bit where I almost die of shame for letting it get sooooo bad, the difference is astonishing:

Do you think that that's a good reason for never doing today what you can put off till tomorrow, Dear Reader? Oops, perhaps I've got that wrong?
 
Yes, tomorrow is another day, and I hope to get it finished before dinner time (that's lunchtime if you're POSH) as I'm back in demand as an actor in an Egyptian film production tomorrow afternoon. No idea of what I'm supposed to be, yet, but "a foreigner" will certainly be part of the job description. I hope I'm not playing a cleaner, eh?

I'll tell you more about it next time, Insh'Allah!

Lest we forget?

Here's a timely little reminder to all you budding "oldies", like me.

Can you distinguish the bruising on that finger? I've put shakily drawn lines around them with the help of one of my lap-top gizmos. Well, they're a sign that things are not what they used to be, believe me!

Let me tell you a little story...........

A wee while ago, our local Aldi store was selling pliers similar to these:

for a very reasonable price. So reasonable, that I was almost tempted to buy a pair. However, as I didn't envisage clarting (Colloquialism: clarting = messing) about with any ceramic tiles (for that is what they are for) in the foreseeable future, and any surplus money would have been better used by going into my melodeon fund, I resisted and left them on the shelf.

Woe is me, Dear Reader! Here we are back in Luxor, and I have now embarked on the latest project which is something that I foolishly agreed to do for my beloved as a Christmas gift; it involves cutting tiles, as you may have already guessed. So I should have bought the d****d pliers after all! Never mind, as I always have done, I'll get by with what I have; simple!

What I do have is a pair of cobblers pincers, which (I think) were bought here in Luxor, so will be of the usual quality of tools available here.

As can be plainly seen, they're not of quite the same build; shorter handles, less advantageous handle to jaw ratio, less ergonomic handle grips. The list goes on!

The upshot of all this is that when I came to nip off yet another piece of ceramic tile, and again gripped the handles of the pliers with much more force than would have been required with the right tool; I felt a searing pain in my finger, like something bursting or snapping, and it immediately swelled up and could no longer be bent. The job was stopped!

Lest we forget? Yes Dear Reader, lest we forget that we are getting older, and more frail, and that bits of our bodies are less able to cope with the pressures and stresses which would have been as nothing to them in former years. Let my lightly bruised but nevertheless painful finger be a warning to all you who would hope to delight your wives with a gift of your handiwork. BE B****Y CAREFUL!!!!!

Yet another foolhardy, and possibly life-threatening, pass-time of many of us older chaps is to try to relive our youth by riding about on giant-sized motorbikes. Like these, possibly?.........

They belong to the members of some Egyptian motorbike club, and apparently, they do a tour of Egypt every year or two, being welcomed with open arms, it seems. It's not everyone who gets a police escort and can then use the front of the Winter Palace as a car park! The hotel even put on their stock VIP outside show of the dancing horses and whirling Dervish etc. Not even Yours Truly gets that sort of welcome,......huh!

Mind you, the bikes were lovely, and I can see why many a man might be tempted! Suzuki Boulevardes evidently, with rear tyres which were over a foot wide! One of the riders was a childhood friend of Ahmed the caleche man, he told me that they had engines of 1800cc capacity, and were very quick! I declined his offer of a "backer"; I couldn't really see myself as a modern-day Peter Fonda, could you? (Colloquialism: backer = a ride on the pillion.)

That's all for now, as it seems that we have to go out and get the curtains back from the dry-cleaner. Bye for now.

Christmas 2016?

I thought that a few of you could be mildly interested in what we (as a small English Methodist Chapel) managed to do this year. As I've mentioned before, all of our Christmastime fundraising is for the charity "Action For Children", which, in the olden days, was called "The National Children's Homes".
Traditionally (well, for at least 100 years) we've gone out at Christmas (until just 20 years or so ago, we started at midnight on Christmas Eve) to sing Christmas Carols around the locality, at either houses or groups of houses where we had been especially invited. Mostly by members or associates of the Chapel. We now start and finish earlier, this year we met at 18.15hrs and sang till about 01.00, if I remember correctly.
Being one who just loves to sing, and especially Christian hymns and songs, I haven't missed a year since I was converted in 1967. Nowadays, we have expanded the boundaries of our "catchment" area and have resorted to using transport in the form of a mini-bus (kindly donated by Kingsley's Coaches of Washington) to whisk us around an area which we could never have achieved on foot, (while carrying the small pedal organ which used to be carried about the village).
This year, on the night, we collected £660 which included some pre-payments from people who would be in bed before we got to them. The dreaded "social media" of facebook has been beneficial, in that some of our listeners have passed on their delight to others whom we didn't previously know, and to whom we now sing! We also sing, by telephone, to a number of friends who have emigrated to foreign parts, including (I believe) Australia and America!
In addition to the Carol Singing, we also hold a "Community Carol Service" with sweet mince pies and hot and cold beverages, on the last Monday before Christmas (it also includes an hilarious 3 minute pantomime) the collection from which is added to the Carol Singing money.
This year, I plucked up the courage to try to do a bit of busking outside of our local Tesco supermarket. After enquiring with the manager and him making all the arrangements with his area superiors, it only depended on me not losing heart! After failing to step up to the mark for two days, I eventually went along (it only being 200 yards from our house) and made a terrifying start. Happily, within minutes, people were readily dropping pound coins or bits of change into my box, whilst wishing me a "Merry Christmas", and I found that I was really enjoying myself! I did 5 spells of about 30 minutes each over the next couple of days, and, to my astonishment, raised £107.58p, which was also added to the Action For Children mix. We sent them a total of over £1000, which we (and they) were delighted with.
There are some "you tubes" of the various events on You Tube, which I'm sure can be found by searching on there for the channel of my infamous brother Richard Jennings. Have fun!

Not Only, But Also!

So here we are, yet another New Year, and what have we got? Peace in our time? An end to starvation? No! There have been fairly recent explosions in Cairo again and more one-off terrorist incidents all over the place! But in Cairo, was it general Middle-Eastern terrorism, or just a violent protest by some disenchanted pressure group against El Sisi's government. Whichever; it only means that more people will jump on the bandwagon of boycotting Egypt!

It sickens me, that so many stupid people rush to condemn a whole country because of a tiny minority! I'm sick of reading folk's comments like "I can't believe that anyone is still going to such a dangerous and backward place?" without them having the slightest knowledge of Egypt's kindly, protective people, or its world-beating antiquities or the searing heat of an Egyptian summer, or the cooling, refreshing breezes of their short Autumn and Spring. (And that's before we even look at their own country's dismal efforts at keeping their population safe!)

I'm finding it increasingly difficult to face Egyptian friends (many being highly educated people with university degrees) who are trying to secure, even dish-washing, jobs in foreign countries, by paying bribes! It's heartbreaking.

But enough of that sort of thing, you don't come here to listen to me harping-on about the hardships of my friends, do you, Dear Reader? Let's get back to something a bit more cheery, eh? How about our trip to Andalusia? (Spain, you know?)

What a queer place! Streets not wide enough to drive a car along, some so steep that they become steps.

No doubt, you'll notice that these pictures show streets which are cobbled, but with pebbles instead of stone "sets". I can assure you that they are very uncomfortable to walk on for any length of time!

We found little Arab/Muslim shops in a miniature souq area right
behind a HUGE Roman Catholic Cathedral.

All very incongruous, I can tell you! I didn't know whether I was coming or going. These shops were typical of other Arab type souqs we've discovered elsewhere; lots of smallish shops selling the same sort of stock at similar prices, with just a little variation here and there.

It was also here that we came across this "Bull in a China Shop"!

I was taken aback to realise, after a second glance, that the fancy stonework around these windows was only painted on! (Don't forget that by clicking in any picture you can see them altogether and bigger!)

We were only there for a few days, so had to get acquainted with our surroundings pretty quickly, hence Freda had booked a sightseeing 'bus/train tour. As we waited where it was supposed to stop, I kept thinking "An articulated 'bus cannot possibly negotiate that "U" bend!" But, it did, Dear Reader.

And it also managed to navigate the streets which were only wide enough for a single car to squeeze down. They are obviously specially built for the purpose, and not too bad either. Each row of three seater, padded, benches has its own entrance and exit door (At this point I should point out that they would never, in a million years, pass the British "Certificate of Fitness for Public Service Vehicles" test.) and are relatively comfortable, especially as the whole journey only takes 50 minutes or so, and you can jump off (literally, as they are quite high) and back on another throughout the whole route, all day. Vision is good, especially with having a glass ceiling/roof, to view the fabulous carvings and figures set along the rooflines of various buildings.

The windows stretch all the way around the little vehicles, with only very narrow pillars for doors and window glass. We thoroughly enjoyed our tour, and it did familiarise us with the main areas of interest. Recommended!

I was interested in the everyday shops, easily recognised for what they sell by the names, thus:

                  Or so I thought, until I came across this one:

                              No, I don't believe it either!

And, it wasn't just the shops which were if interest! When did you last see a British bank with an entrance like this:

But, of course, any British bank worth its salt would have ripped out such beauty and sold it to add to their disgusting profits!!!

Of course, the actual point of the visit was to see the famous AlHambra, the fortified palace where the invading Muslim kings lived, and it's certainly worth the trip! I've never seen plasterwork or joinery so exquisitely fashioned. Some of the intricacy was staggering!

Mind you, the hotel we stayed at was also astonishingly beautiful too. Being ten minutes walk to the ticket office at the AlHambra and two minutes from where the local mini-buses and the City Tour Artic stops, it's also very handy!  

Here's the front of the hotel;

And one from the dining terrace which runs all along the outside of bar and restaurant.

That's Granada, many feet (sorry, metres!) below, I'm sure I took some more interesting pics of this fabulous view, but I cannot find them at the mo.

The interior of the hotel also had loads of very intricate platerwork, but when I inspected it closely, it became apparent that the beautiful finish on the walls was actually a large number of pre-formed panels!!! We have shops here in Luxor which make and sell pre-formed plaster decoration; corbels, ceiling roses, cornice etc. but nothing like these, I'm sorry to say.

Here are a few shots taken inside the hotel;

Sorry, but I've no idea what happened to the colour on that first pic! Suffice it to say that the hotel was beautiful, and matched all of our expectations!

Back to the Alhambra itself, some of it is in ruins, but a good deal of the place is intact. It's a big site, with walkways and narrow roads criss-crossing here and there. I was very surprised to came across a "Dempster Dinosaur" (probably not an actual Dempster, but a later copy). For those of you who have now lost their way here; the Dempster Dinosaur was an innovation in commercial vehicle bodywork! Interesting? Read on......
As far as I'm aware, this style of body was the first to be able to be hydraulically removed and replaced along with its load. This picture comes courtesy of "Classic Refuse Trucks.com"

When first introduced they were quite a sight to see! But I never imagined that I'd come across one quite like this:

Tiny, or what????

Well, Dear Reader, perhaps that's enough about Spains Andalusia in a blog about Egypt? You know me, I could go on all day, and I'm sorry that I've abandoned you and your Egyptian appetite for so long. We'll have to wait and see what Luxor can turn up in the next few days or weeks to tickle my fancy.