Snow week

It won't stop snowing! Apparently the rain coming upwards from Europe colliding with the cold weather front from Siberia is making it perfect snowing weather in Britain. Not good when I have to drive to work every morning at 7:30am when it's still dark. I haven't seen one snowplough or gritting lorry yet. The only reason the main road is clear is from the sheer amount of traffic on it! I love the snow. I just don't like driving in the dark in it.

It's sleeting again outside. The temperature is struggling to get beyond 1C. It easily hits -3 to -6C every night. I've worn trainers to work every day this week. I've slipped a bit several times but have not yet fallen over (keep fingers crossed). I've skidded twice in my car, both on the way to work on Tuesday. I've managed to keep my car tyres firmly attached to the road since then (keeping fingers crossed here too).

I think we're in for more snow at the weekend. Maybe Monday will be a snow day again.

Snow day

We had lots of snow overnight and I woke early this morning to find my car buried under 5 inches of snow. Flakes were still waving about furiously in the wind. I set up my work email and hoped that the day was cancelled. Nope. I emailed my boss saying I wasn't risking the unploughed and ungritted roads. He emailed back an hour later to say it was too dangerous and I should stay at home.

The rest of the day involved building two snowmen and a snowfrog and having snowball fights with other kids from the estate. A couple of them were truly lethal and I had snow thrown in my face and down my neck. It was fun though!

Just seen the weather forecast. A toe-tingling -4C tonight. Better get the hotwater bottles out.

What credit crunch?

In response to Mel's comment about empty shops and the such like...

It's completely different here. Every time we go to Brookfield there's at least one person wheeling out a very large flat screen. Crowds all over the place. Trollies and food cages block our way. People push past in a desperate attempt to grab the last box of mince pies (there's plenty to go round!). Clothes shops offer 20-40% off as well as the new reduction in tax.

We always look at each other and say, "What credit crunch?" People are madly spending like never before. You'd think they would actually realise that it's this kind of crazy behaviour that got us into this mess in the first place...!

The end of the novels

So, yeah I stopped the novel halfway through. Well, I was just over halfway. I got up to 26,452. But I got bored with it. And I can't expect people to enjoy reading it when I'm not enjoying writing it. Maybe I'll pick it up again at a later date.

I'm glad I had a bash at it though. It made me realise how little I actually knew about everyday life in ancient Greece. I had to keep leaving highlighted sentences all over so I could nip to another tab and Google my half-remembered factoids just to make sure I was right. It was crazy. Deffo more research needed next time!

On the plus side, Omouse has a stonking great novel. Shame I started at chpt 16 though. I had absolutely no idea what was going on...

Uhm, hello...?

So Liarbyrd and Omouse are flunking. Well, they have to be! Not a nano-blog in sight. (start whinge) I wanna read people's nanos!!! (end whinge)

And we're off!!

I went a bit crazy and did two chapters in one go. Well, I'm out all day tomorrow and won't find time to write.

I also went out today and bought myself a nice new wool coat because the pink one has seen better days. The lining broke between one arm and the back and no matter how many times I dry-clean it, it still has a grey tinge. So it's gone. And I bought a new handbag too. The purple one makes my shoulder hurt. I got a nice teal one with fancy chains and stuff. It's very retro.

One more day to go...

Ooh, so excited!!

It's Nano time!

I went for the plunge and signed up. Well, it's the 10th anniversary and all so I thought I'd give it another bash. I promise it won't be the awful chick-lit I spat out in 2004! #A-novelling we will go, a-novelling we will go, hey ho hey ho, a-novelling we will go. Oh, a-novelling...# (continues to hum) (at work) (with the new temp staring at her like she is crazy)

Puppetry of the Penis

Yep, you read right. Basically an hour of watching two naked men making 'genital origami' as they delicately put it. They then not so delicately say, "Also a chance for you to stare at our willies for 50 mins." Yeah, that's what I thought it was.

I was, understandably, initially horrified but the men's enthusiasm and unabashed exhibitionism soon won us over and we were laughing like mad by the end. I might even get the book...

Late night shopping

Anna took me to Lakeside this evening after work. It’s been mutually decided that we’ll all dress up for our grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary this weekend as they usually look nice and make an effort, so we should too. We hit all the dress shops and finally get purchases from Debenhams – a black and teal paisley dress from Jane Norman for Anna and a beige and black lace dress by Julien Macdonald for me. We are gonna look gorgeous!!

It was quite late and we needed to find a sweet shop that sold ‘rhubarb and custards’ for Chris. We go to the big sweet shop and while Anna is making her choice, I nip over to Millie’s Cookies for hot chocolate and two cookies for Reuben. I walked back and she wasn’t there! What the hell? I sat on a bench and waited. She comes rushing out of the sweet shop.
“I looked for you but you weren’t in there.”
“I was by the beans at the back.”
“Why?”
“The man yelled at me.”
Look of disbelief.
“Yeah, he was talking in some rubbish language and I asked him about the chocolate bars and he was yelling at me, “Oh you people have TIME on your hands, you’re all RUBBISH, can’t do anything” and just having a go.”
“Shit!”
“I know! I was backed up into the corner and he turned and I escaped!”
“Do you want me to have a go at him?”
“No, you’re alright.”

Slightly shocked we go to the small sweet counter just round the corner from the shop. Anna shovels the sweets into a bag and the guy weighs them.
“£6.92” he says.
“Oh,” Anna says, “can I put some back?”
“How much?”
“Well I only wanted a fiver.”
“£5?”
“£5” Anna says, holding up 4 fingers and a thumb.
“£5,” the man repeats.
“You want £5 for that?” Anna asks, a bit bewildered.
“£5” he says again, holding his hand out and opening the till.
“Okay!” Anna says, whipping out a note.
The man takes it, gives her the bag and then passes us two chocolate mint creams as well.
“Cool,” I said. “The man round the corner yelled at us. Definitely coming here again!”
The man grinned. We walked away delighted.
“Do you think he understood what we were saying?” Anna asks.
“I dunno.” Pause. “Do you reckon it’s stealing?”
“Why? I paid for them!”
“Not fully.”
“Oh well.”

No Nano

I thought I'd be smart and try to get my creative juices flowing in time for the Nano by writing a mini novella. I got to 2,000 words and had the beginnings of a very graphic sex novel. It was almost porn. If that's the best my imagination can come up with, I'm screwed. And I'm certainly not posting! So Nano is out, unless I can rewire my imagination to not write sex scenes even Mills and Boon wouldn't publish. I'm embarrassed to even admit it! My brain cells must be really dusty and dying for some action... (cough)

More new things

‘Tis the week for new things! I went for a regular ear check-up and came out with digital hearing aids. It’s different from my old analogue aid in that my old aid just amplified all noises which could be quite painful for instance if there were sirens or road works. Now the only sounds that are amplified are the ones I can’t naturally hear, so in my case, very low frequency and all high frequency. All mid-range noises are amplified very slightly. Some noises that are usually muffled are now sharper. All in all, it’s a more natural hearing experience, although very strange as I’m used to everything being really loud and muffled!

Its all becoming a bit tinny though. And I can’t hear things behind me anymore. And I can’t hear things I used to. For instance, I can’t hear my car engine anymore. But in a way its good as it doesn’t drown out the radio anymore and I don’t have to have it so loud. However, as soon as I start to sing along to the music, my aids think I’m having a conversation and the music becomes quieter, because they cut out background noise to make talking easier. Oh, I’ll get the hang of it eventually!

New licence

I received my new driving licence today. My photo is now black and white and there are a number of security features which are a nit naff – a steering wheel that changes colour, for example. But its nifty and has my new, lovely and very long name on it!

Home again

We spent the rest of our holiday doing nothing. just relaxing by the pool, sleeping in our room, and enjoying to variety of cuisine available in the hotel. Every night was a themed night, so we had French, then Mediterranean, then Egyptian, then International… It was really good and better than having the same thing every day like we did on the Orchid.

But we flew home today and upon arriving at Gatwick, found ourselves among all the people we spent time with on the cruise ship! It was like a mini reunion! Then all it took was a short taxi ride to Gatwick Worth Hotel to pick up the car, and then we drove home. As much as I loved our honeymoon, it was nice to be back in our own bed again!!

Luxor Museum

We want to see Luxor museum and so, armed with the helpful hints given to us at the beginning of our holiday, we find a taxi driver and order him to go straight to Luxor museum and go nowhere else. Our five minute taxi ride costs us $20 Egyptian - £2! He offers to take us somewhere else after our visit and we agree to meet him again at 12.30. the museum was lovely and cool and practically empty of people. It was so nice to be able to amble around and not worry about holding up the group or having to rush past things you want to see. Reuben feels a bit queasy but not as bad as I was, so he sits down for much of the visit.

To kill some time, we browse in the bookshop and are cornered by the owner. He offers me a mythology book for £20. I know its worth less and say I’m not interested. He then corners Reuben and says he takes cash, cheques, cards and we politely refuse again. But he stills persists, “Okay, £15” and we start to back up further into the shop. It was very intimidating and kinda scary. Reuben, poor thing, knocks over a pile of books on the floor as he steps back and the shopkeeper gets annoyed and says, “Fine, just go then.” We couldn’t wait and ran out as fast as we could. We stood near a tourist police guard for a bit of reassurance and the shopkeeper comes out of the shop again, brandishing the book and says to Reuben, “Fine, £10, but for her, not for you” and we snap it up! Nothing like a little haggling!!

Outside the taxi driver was waiting and said he wanted to go home and sleep. (Egyptians sleep in the middle of the day as its too hot to do anything.) We asked him to take us to MacDonalds and then he can go. Saying “I want MacDonalds” is a good way of saying that you want to see the Luxor marketplace but don’t want to be taken to every person he knows in town! Once at Maccy D’s, you can make your own way around the shops one block away and its supposed to be good. I say ‘supposed to be’ because we seem to have picked the wrong day and there isn’t a shop open anywhere! We stop in MD’s for a long cool drink and find another taxi to take us back to the hotel.

Before we step in, we notice a tourist shop open next door and go inside looking for magnets to take home. We chat to the shopkeeper who reveals that his brother has set up in North Yorkshire. “It’s a lot colder there than Egypt,” I half say to myself. “Yes,” the shopkeeper says, “its bloody freezing!” and we all burst out laughing! I finally chose a small Tutankhamen head for myself and a larger one for Anna, as she’s just moved out and might need something to decorate her flat. Next door to this place was a T-shirt shop and the guy was trying to sell us T-shirts for £20 each. We finally managed to haggle him down to £15 for three. We rock!

Back to Luxor

We go back to Luxor later today so spend the morning by the pool. We meet a French couple next to us on the sun beds and Reuben chats away in his semi-fluent French and I catch a few words along the way. The woman doesn’t know a word of English so I have a slight advantage, but not by much!

While waiting for our pink-shirted rep, Reuben and I meet an English couple from… St Albans. Seriously. 20 miles down the road from us! Small world or what? They are going to the same hotel as us and we have a short conversation about the traffic in Cairo!

Our rep finally arrives and we say goodbye to him and our security escort at the airport. Back on a lovely Egypt Air flight to Luxor and then we meet with another minibus to take us to the hotel. Our Newcastle family companions leave us for Le Soffitel and we head on to Le Meridian, which is now owned by the Steigenberger group. Le Meridian hotel gives us a balcony room that overlooks the Nile and you can just make out the highest peak of the West bank where the Valley of the Kings is. Its all very grand!

Pyramids

No matter how many times you’ve seen the pyramids on TV it is nothing compared to being right there and staring at them. To be honest I expected them to be a bit bigger… but then I expected the Sphinx to be smaller so it was a happy compromise! We walked around the pyramids, avoiding the locals trying to sell us camel rides. Anyone trying to take a photo of the camels were ordered to pay some money. I managed to sneak in a couple of shots for free! But Becky paid to stroke a camel which was what she really wanted to do so didn’t mind.

The police guard was still with us today and we have been joined by another Egyptologist, Iman. She is very amusing and chatters away about Cairo traffic. I ask if anyone actually takes driving tests in Egypt. Cairo is full of battered cars and we have not yet seen one vehicle without a bump or scratch. Iman laughs and says that even though Egyptians are supposed to take lessons, most get their licence through backhanders. Sneaky! She wouldn’t say if that was how she got her licence though!!

After spending ages walking around the pyramids and the Sphinx, we had a group photo of us all and made our way to the Citadel. It was beautiful and thankfully I was dressed appropriately in my shirt and cropped trousers. The other girls had to wear bright green robes as they wore vest tops and tiny shorts so had their shoulders, chests and upper legs exposed. Iman briefly told us how the Muslims prayed in the Citadel and the customs they observe. It led to an interesting discussion about how Muslims in other countries are usually more strict than those still in their countries of origin.

By now its 2pm and with the heat taking its toll we move to have lunch… at the Hard Rock Café. I know, I know, I’m in Egypt and we go to an American chain! Its sacrilege really… But we got there and found the buffet was not all that appetising anyway. Not so much as a burger! Wish we could have ordered off the menu! I was cheered up by the Harley in the lobby though. That made my day right there and then!

Lastly we went to the Cairo Museum. It has no air conditioning and is incredibly hot inside, almost sauna-like. There are fans dotted all over the walls and we keep trying to move so we can stand in front of them! Despite the heat it was a really cool museum and wished we could have spent more time on our own in there. We were shown all the treasures that Tutankhamen had inside his tomb and we even got to see all three of his sarcophaguses, as well as his jewellery, ankhs and all sorts of adornments. It was truly amazing. Sadly they have a lot of replicas in the museum as the originals are in other countries, mainly Britain, France and Germany. A lot was made about the Rosetta Stone in London and the head of Nefertiti in Berlin…!

By this time I feel terrible and poor Becky is very dehydrated and not well at all. We find the minibus and go back to the hotel. Trying to go by a back route we hit another driver. The minibus driver gets out, says sorry, and then drives off! Apparently this is the way things are done! It seems there are too many cars for all the narrow streets and I keep wincing every time we squeeze past yet another double-parked car!! In Cairo, rush hour is every hour. Almost like London, although you’ll find that going through Central at some times of the early hours its not so bad.

Back at the hotel we chill by the pool and just mooch around. The guy selling perfume in one of the hotel stores tries to sell me a non-alcoholic perfume made from pure lily of the valley. It is the most gorgeous smell in the world but I have no way of transporting it back.

Off to Cairo

I managed breakfast this morning and feel a bit better but not yet 100%. I still have stomach cramps and think I might have OCD because I’m washing my hands constantly like a madwoman!! If you touch Egyptian money you have to wash your hands. That means that all you have to do is shake someone’s hands and then you have to wash them, because they might have been touching money. Its just crazy! The water is so dodgy you even have to clean your teeth with bottled water. I might have got some shower water in my mouth. Easily done…!

We left the Orchid this morning and travelled to the airport with a family from Newcastle to go to Cairo for two nights. I have to say the Egypt Air flight was so much nicer than the First Choice one, and if we ever go to Egypt again we’re definitely going to book it with these people. The man behind us wouldn’t get off his mobile phone. He had two flight attendants asking him to switch off and as soon as we started landing he turned it on again and he had another telling off!! Well, that’s what I presumed it was as it involved a lot of angry Egyptian words!!

Cairo is a lot cooler than Luxor. At 35C it is heaven and I actually feel like I can breathe! We meet the rep at the airport, a gangly man looking rather sheepish in his bright Barbie pink First Choice shirt. He should have chosen the multi-coloured one – its far less garish! The rep is travelling with a police escort. The guy is very broad-shouldered and has the biggest handgun you ever saw sticking out his back pocket. Its kinda scary…!

We take the minibus to the hotel which is right on the other side of the city. The financial district is very modern looking with tall towers and brand name shops, but the rest of Cairo was quite dilapidated. As far as the eye could see there were ramshackle looking houses and you could tell that most people living in Cairo were pretty poor.

The hotel in contrast is big and shiny. We freshen up and go to the light show being held at The Pyramids. It was absolutely fantastic and Marlon Brando’s (or is it Ben Kiingsley?) voiceover was just incredible! It told the story of how the pyramids were made, why, and also talks about the lesser known smaller pyramids of the queens and children.

Outside some beggar children asked Reuben for ‘baksheesh’. He held out his hand and went ‘baksheesh’ to them, and they started dancing for him. It was quite amusing to see this kid trying to dance among the crowds of people, coaches and a cow lying in the middle of the road!

The West bank

It is a scorcher today and I do not feel good. I’m very excited to see the Valley of the Kings and we have an early start as it is very exposed so its important to see it all before the sun gets too high. However, as it is with most tour groups, there are always slow people and it makes the day drag longer than necessary. Today felt like one of those days. Its only 9am and I feel very faint with the heat.

I somehow manage to go into the tombs of Rameses the Great and Rameses IV before feeling so bad I simply have to sit down. My stomach is cramping like mad and the tablets I took earlier are not helping at all. One of the women on the boat with us offered to take me back so we go to the centre for a loo break and then to the coach. We drive on to Hatsheput’s temple and I think I’m going to collapse, even though I’m sitting down in an air-conditioned coach! I stay behind. Reuben feels bad leaving me behind and offers to stay with me, but I tell him to go on without me or I’ll feel bad for making him miss out!

It is turning out to be 47C today and even Reuben is suffering from the heat! Everyone returns from the temple and just before we set off again I throw up. So much for the scarab’s good luck! Only the thing is, the loo is so small that I have to stand outside so I can lean over the bowl so everyone can hear me and the poor couple behind me have to watch the entire thing. Great. I’m sick and incredibly embarrassed. I apologise to the couple behind me.
“As long as you’re okay?” the man says.
I weakly nod, feeling like absolute shit, and try to sleep on Reuben’s shoulder. The coach sets off for the Valley of the Queens. I just want to sleep. Some others stay back on the coach as well as its now too hot for them as well.

By the time we get back to the Orchid everyone is asking if I’m okay, that I seem to look better, and maybe I should have some hot lime juice and sleep. I go straight to my cabin and sleep all day. I get woken up for lunch but refuse to eat. I get woken up for dinner and manage two spoons of soup before feeling sick again. Man I feel soooo shitty.

The East bank

We went through the Esna Lock at 10.30am this morning. We watched the engine crew working at the front and edging forwards in the queue of traffic going through the lock. It took a good hour to start queuing and actually get through. The engine crew must be suffering! We think its hot just standing on deck but image if you were working inside with all that steam from the engines around you all the time. Its just unthinkable working conditions.
Here in Luxor you have the East and West banks. The East bank contains Luxor itself and all the temples, shops, hotels etc. The West bank is where all the farmers and alabaster shops are, as well as the Valley of the Kings, Queens and Hatsheput’s Temple.

So it’s the East bank today and we went to Karnak temple and Luxor temple this evening. Both were amazing but unfortunately I feel a bit ‘delicate’ – Egypt is notorious for causing diarrhoea, no matter how careful you are - so didn’t enjoy them as much as I normally would have.

Karnak temple had a sacred lake and scarab statue, and a walk seven times around the scarab anticlockwise brings you good luck. Hope it brings me good luck as being dehydrated through a stomach virus in a very hot country does not make a happy Clare!

Luxor temple was beautiful and has a Coptic church tucked away in the back but it wasn’t in the best of conditions. Most of the decorative paint had come away and the stone looked very worse for wear.