Off to Egypt for 2 weeks with a new traveling pal (the debonair dude in the Golden Gate Helicopters hat). Cairo and the Pyramids, then a river cruise from Aswan including Philae, Abu Simbel, Kom Ombo, Edfu, and Luxor. From thence we went by bus caravan across the eastern desert, accompanied by R&R and R&B, to Hurghada for a few days by the Red Sea. Back to Cairo for a night at the famous Shepheard Hotel, then we finished the trip with a couple of days in beautiful Alexandria by the Mediterranean.

Our first morning in Egypt we awoke to CNN around 6am just as Obama was declared President-elect of the United States -- what a great way to start a vacation! -- and everywhere we went in Egypt, the first thing out of anyone's mouth when we said we were American was, "Obama!" The world changed while we were gone, and we got a first-hand look at the transformation from "over there."