December 27, 2009 Frankfurt to Cairo

I may have dozed off a little but it was interrupted by breakfast. We landed in a cold Frankfurt and disembarked for our five-hour layover. Elena and I each had a $6.00 coffee after passing through security. We wandered around the airport until we found lots of empty chairs and the TWU group. Elena lay down while I talked to Lynne, and later, Laura.
           
Our flight left right on time after a long bus ride, in a snow flurry, out to the waiting plane. We flew in a straight line over Croatia, Bosnia, Macedonia, and Greece before traversing the Mediterranean to Egypt. It was dark the whole way so we couldn’t appreciate anything below. 
           
Upon arrival we passed through customs without incident; everyone’s bags made it. An E.F. agent, Mohammed, met us and took us out to our bus where we met Hala Rahman, our guide/tour director. She pointed our points of interest as we drove into Cairo. The King Hotel is on the island in the Nile. We walked a couple of blocks through the narrow dirt street to the hotel. Dean and I shared a room on the seventh floor. The hotel is very basic but was fine. Dinner was in the hotel dining room. It was bland but edible. I met Gwyneth Mapes, the leader of the Grosmont Group.

Hala informed us that the order of our itinerary had changed once again. She gave us the new one; it was about the same as the original. She was not sure that the Abu-Simbel trip would be possible. And E.F. rep, Maryanne, stopped by and promised to work on it.
           
I was pretty beat so I turned in soon after dinner. My students were drinking beer and smoking hookah in the lounge as I left. I took a much-needed shower and fell asleep instantly.