Upgrade

Memphis Tours welcomed Thom and I to Cairo with an upgrade to the Four Seasons.  Not a bad way to deal with jet lag.  Thom can see the Pyramids in the distance.  Not that he cares when tanning is an option.

Ibis flocked above the zoo across the street.

Although our Lonely Planet guidebook--highly recommended!--called the Sound and Light Show at the Pyramids "dated," we went anyway and discovered the real reason behind our hotel upgrade during the high season:  many tourists had cancelled their visits to Egypt after a terrorist attack the day before in the Sinai Peninsula, more than 100 miles away.

Would you believe the Great Sphinx narrates the show, providing a general historical overview?  I slept through most of the cheesy narrative.

Afterward, an "authentic" Egyptian restaurant nearby served rice shaped like pyramid. Novelty food doesn't tickle my tastebuds.

Later in the trip, when we returned Cairo, we requested a room on the other side of the Four Seasons. It overlooked the Nile and the pool.

Thom practically had the pool to himself even though it was the beginning of high season.