Abu Simbel Egypt

We flew out of Aswan for a quick trip to Abu Simbel. Abu Simbel is where Ramses II had giant statues of himself carved into the mountains. We walked around and inside his temple. Ramses II lived to be 90 years old and had almost 200 children.

Aswan Egypt

Aswan is so much fun! We went on a fully bedded Felucca boat up and down the Nile. A Felucca is a traditional sail boat used on the Nile. Ours was covered in mattresses. We lounged around all day and I felt like a Pharoah. We also went to swim in the Nile and played with crocodiles. While we were there, we climbed up a huge sand dune. We also saw a Nubian house and museum.

Cairo Egypt

Sorry I haven't posted in a week. The internet access hasn't been to good in Egypt for us.
Cairo is awesome. It is very different. The city is full of dirt, and dust, and rubble -- but is still nice. There are 20 million people that live in Cairo. That is twice as many as in New York. People in America would probably not want to live here.

We have a great tour guide that we are using for this part of the trip. His name is Sam and he is from Egypt. We are also with two other families. Fin (10) is from Australia and Reese (7) and Radika (8) are from America, but living in Jordan.

We went to see the pyramids, the sphinx and rode through the desert on a camel. The Pyramids are huge and the sphinx is puny compared to the pyramids. Camel riding is very fun. They have very big take offs and landings, but other than that - they are really quite nice. I can't wait to see more.

Rome Part 2

I have had a fantastic time in Rome. We went to the Pantheon and saw the oculus. Then we went to the park and walked around. Once we found a open space we decided to play frisbee. It was so warm outside, I did not need a jacket. I have had a ton of fun in Rome and I can not wait to see and do more things in Egypt!

Rome Part 1

Rome Is fantastic! We went to Palatine Hill and played in some old roman ruins. We also went to the Vatican. It is its own country, but you happily do not need your passport. We went all the way to the top of St. Peter's Basillica. We also saw the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel which took Michelangelo four years to paint. After that we went inside the Colosseum and saw the underground passages. Near that is the Circus Maximus. We ran all the way around it. I have had a ton of fun in Rome and I can not wait to come back because we threw a coin in the Trevi Fountain.

Florence

Sorry I have not blogged in a few days. I have been sick, but feel better now. We stayed in Florence at the Hotel David. Florence was the center of the Renaissance and there was art everywhere. We walked up to the top of a gigantic belltower. It was 414 steps high. We saw the statue of David and it was huge. We also saw the statue of Neptue and the Duomo. The Duomo is a church in the center of Florence. It was very big and beautiful. When we were leaving for the train to Rome, we decided to walk up a giant hill. Once we all got to the top, their was a stupendous view.

Venice and Carnevale

I had the best time in Venice! We went to Murano and bought Murano glass. When we got back to Venice, we got caught in Carnevale in St. Mark's square. There were many flying lions there symbolizing Venice. Carnevale is kind of like Mardi Gras, but normal people put on costumes and other people take their pictures with them. Kids dress up, put on masks, spray silly string, and sprinkle confetti on the ground. There were raptors like in a parade, except they were by themselves. Then when we were all worn out, we got gelato and headed back to our hotel.