Smith's Away

A leisurely  breaky and farewell  to Jo as she headed to work. We will see her again when we head to Barcelona  on Sunday. Jude visited some more op shops while I cozied up and read. Off to Windsor and much easier this time as no involved roundabouts to deal with as lots of left turns. Got back easily and felt very proud of ourselves. Unpacked again and took Barney the dog for a walk to meet Harry on his way home from work. Lovely dinner with lots of chatting as the excitement  and preparations build for Poppys 18th birthday  tomorrow. 

Jo left for work and Jude and I got ready to check out her little town. Jo's terrace house is within walking distance of the town so we set off down a lane. Jude had been here 3 years ago so was familiar  with the place. A lovely little English village with old and new buildings and of course such history.  We visited Jo's work place, speaking  space and met many of her clients, autistic adults. We then headed into town for lunch at Teacups. Up narrow stairs, which is a feature of many places. A visit to the tourist place gave us a map to visit Romsey attractions. The beautiful  Abbey, war memorial, mill and big River Test. Back into town, Jude and I split up to go to our interests, Jude to op shops, me to others. Home via Waitrose for some food supplies then a cuppa. We took Jo to dinner at a lovely English pub, a great way to end our day in Romsey.

Lovely sleep in, breaky and off to where Kim volunteers.  It's a place set up by The Queens father after the second world war when many aging people had lost relatives in the war and needed a place to meet and socialize.  So a bus goes around and collects older persons from their homes in Windsor and brings them to this little place for warmth, activities and food. Jude and I brought them cuppas and bickies and chatted with them. Most were in their 90s and loved a chat. Then we helped serve a hot lunch. Kim then drove us to the Windsor farm for lunch served by Harry. It's a great place and so much to see. We discovered there that our sterling we had was old and we needed to take it to a bank to change!!! Jude and I then got ready to drive to Romsey to stay with Jo. Off we went in Kim's car and followed the nat sac. Roundabouts caused a few headaches, esp one we went around 3 times but eventually  got on the M3 and got to Romsey. Jo was so excited to see us and her home i...

Up sooo early for our 6.40am flight but a good nights sleep, shuttle to departures and thorough bag checks and then waiting. Air Belgium  flight into London and Kim waiting to welcome us and drive us back to her beautiful  home at the Windsor  gate house. Sunny day so a walk to the shops then a walk with the dog down the long walk and back for more cuppas and dinner. Delightful  here and Jude and I even have our own separate  rooms. Very weary so an early night. The gatehouse.

Ahhhhhh a sleep in. Late breaky with the friends we have made. A delightful  group that I'm very happy to give my email address to. Even a couple of phone numbers. We sat around chatting for most of the day. Out of our rooms by midday. Some headed to the Red sea, the rest heading home and us to the Meridian.  Bus took us through mad Cairo traffic again. We said farewell  to our new friends and walked 5 mins to the hotel. Very swish. Gorgeous  room and facilities. Walked around a bit and a light dinner. I've  just had a beautiful  shower and up early tomorrow  to fly out to London. Egypt  has been wonderful.  People have been so friendly and helpful. Always felt comfy and it is great having a travel  companion  in Jude!!

Not as early today but up with bags outside room and down for breaky. Then off in the bus to see Pompeys pillar and the catacombs. Before that we went to the old palace that was the summer house on the Mediterranean of the former royal family...King Farook,  and surrounding  gardens. Alexandria was delightful on the seaside. Then off on our 3 hour drive back to Cairo. Stopped for lunch then on the road again. Back to our hotel at last and Jude and I have a different  room to last time and slightly bigger. Off to a perfumery which was very entertaining and informative  but I didn't  buy anything. Then onto the big market. People and goods everywhere  and lots of bargaining.  Exhausting.  Pancakes on the bus and back through  the terrible Cairo traffic to our hotel again. A very fond farewell to our fantastic  tour guide Anjab, a cuppa and now in our room. We will see most people at breaky tomorrow  to say goodbye and then head home o...

What a surprise...up early, packed, cases out and breaky. We left our lovely river cruise boat and headed to the airport via the famous Aswan dam and Lake Nasser. Huge expanses of water that provide  electricity and water in times of drought. However not the very fertile silt of the Nile. That's piling up behind the walls and the need to work out how to get it out or eventually it will silt up the dams. Flew to Cairo then onto a bus. 3 hour drive but lots of rain and little wash outside that slowed up down. Finally arrived at our hotel and very nice especially  the wifi after a full week without!!! Out for dinner with the group to a fish market. Lovely  food and lots of fun with the group. On the way home we saw where the  lighthouses  of Alexandria  once stood, on an island in the Mediterranean sea.

A very early start as it was a 3 hour drive to Abu Sembal from our final port of call at Aswan. So our trip down the Nile included Luxor, Kom Ombo and then Aswan. We traveled through desert near the Sudan border to reach the temple of Abu Sembal that was relocated to higher ground when the Aswan dam was built and flooded the place where this amazing temple built by Ramese 2 to himself and his wife Neferatari. It took 4 years of work 24/7 to achieve and UNESCO funded it. Again hot but a lovely breeze off the dam water and what a sight. Back on the bus and 3 hours back again and off to the Temple of Isis. A woman queen who was a god that always supported her husband and son and was a god of healing. Her temple was on an island and we went across by little boats. Before getting there we visited  the granite quarry where the obelisk were made and rolled down to the Nile. Hatshepsut a paroah queen built the biggest one but it cracked before comp...