An Unforgettable Vacation in Egypt.

If you are looking for a different and memorable vacation, at an incredibly low price, I suggest you carefully read this blog. My kids have just returned from a one-week vacation in Egypt.

Riding a camel wasn’t easy, but we made it

Using the highly recommended Memphis Tours, they organized the whole trip from the US by email and paid 25% of the whole amount when they made their reservations. The rest was paid when they arrived in Cairo. The price included hotels in Cairo and Luxor with breakfast and lunch, car transportation, flight to Luxor, and visits to all the monuments. Before traveling they got their visas and recommended vaccines. My daughter and son, and their families flew to London and boarded the same British Airways flight to Cairo.

Lunch at the 9 Pyramids Restaurant. We came by camel!

At Cairo International Airport, they were met at the gate by a Memphis Tours Representative who took their passports and asked them to follow her. Bypassing the long lines, she took care of all the formalities, passport control, and customs, and led them out of the airport to their van in no time. The Rep introduced them to their driver, English-speaking guide, and bodyguard who would accompany them for the whole week. This completely reassured my daughter.

The van drove them to the Kempinski Hotel (German chain of hotels) in downtown Cairo, right on the Nile. That first night they had dinner on the terrace of the hotel and enjoyed the magnificent view of Cairo by night.

At the step pyramid of Saqqara with Emad, our tour guide, an M.S. in History and a well of information.

On Day One, they went to the Pyramids, rode camels to tour the area, visited the Sphynx, and reached the restaurant where they enjoyed a delicious lunch of grilled lamb and chicken kabab. In the afternoon they visited the step pyramid of Saqqara, and went inside one of the pyramids.

The famous Khan El Khalili Bazaar where we shop to our heart’s content.

On Day Two, they visited the Citadel, (an old fortress) and the old museum and saw the King Tut exhibit. (The new Big Museum is still not open yet). After lunch they spent time in the Khan El Khalili Bazaar and enjoyed the inexpensive shopping.

The Temple of Karnak

On Day Three, they flew to Luxor, visited the Temples of Luxor and Karnak, sailed in a felucca and enjoyed a sunset on the Nile.

Going down a tomb in the Valley of the Kings. We saw King Tut’s mummy!

On Day Four, they left the Sofitel hotel at 8 am, (the renovated old Windsor Palace where many celebrities stayed). Right after breakfast, they went to the Valley of the Kings where they visited 5 Tombs out of 63, then they drove to the Colossi of Memnon, and later to the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut. Back at the hotel, they spent their afternoon in the pool, and after dinner attended a Sound and Light show at the temple.

In front of Queen Hatshepsut Temple. Her son had her head removed from all statues and paintings and replaced with his own head!!!

On Day Five, they flew back to Cairo, and on Day Six, they visited the Old Cairo churches that dated from the second century A.C. and the Ben Ezra Synagogue, sometimes referred to as the El-Geniza Synagogue or the Synagogue of the Levantines. According to local folklore, it is located on the site where baby Moses was found.

Sound and Light at the Temple of Luxor

The six-day trip to Egypt cost them less than any cruise or local vacation. The dads were happy to have a driver, the moms enjoyed the inexpensive shopping, and the girls were delighted to have Internet in both hotels. They were able to post their pictures on Instagram from day one. They are already planning another fabulous trip for next year to discover more wonderful monuments in Egypt.    

The Gods of Dark Love

The book is based on the Legend of Isis and Osiris. This is a sensual dark romance, with explicit love scenes, but not erotic in frequency or type.)

According to the legend, the evil Egyptian god of storm, Seth, killed his brother Osiris, chopped him into fourteen pieces and flung them all over Egypt. Isis, goddess of family, reassembled thirteen of his body parts. Since she couldn’t find his supernatural male member, where his godly power was stored, she reattached a human one. Isis has always loved Osiris, the charming god of labor. While dreaming of marriage, family and a son, she helps him fight Seth. Together they struggle to survive iniquities and perils.

His trip to the Afterlife has changed Osiris. He regrets his past womanizing. Guided by oracles she utters when they make love, they search lands and seas for his missing organ so he can recover his godly attributes. Osiris has fallen in love with Isis but the sins of his past and their unexpected consequences threaten to separate them more painfully than Seth’s mayhem and curses.

SECRET KISSES

The story is set in Ohio, and includes a visit to Egypt and a cruise on the Nile River. For love and friendship, three best friends will defy families and society.

Katy Mahoney, Hoda Seif, and Sarah Kohn. Three girls from different backgrounds and religions pledged to maintain their friendship forever.

For five years, the three friends meet and exchange confidences and advice. Life is so confusing for a woman in love with a man from a different religion. Sarah is concerned about Omar’s narrow-mindedness and decides he has to change. Katy knows she’ll have a battle royal on her hands with her pious Catholic mother. And Hoda is in a worse shape. Her family’s religion forbids her to marry an infidel.

Will the three friends manage to convince their families to let them marry for love or will tradition tear the lovers apart?

This book is part of UNFORGETTABLE LOVE, Unforgettable Wonder

The Statue of Liberty

From the moment of its dedication, the Statue of Liberty has been an enigmatic monument.

The colossal statue was a gift from France and the brainchild of French sculptor Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi to symbolize America’s message of liberty to the world.

The sculptor behind the Statue of Liberty, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi, was born in 1834 in France, in the Alsace region on the border of Germany. When Auguste was nine, his mother Charlotte moved with her children to Paris and allowed them to study under some of France’s most accomplished artists, braving the city’s civil unrest for her sons’ education.

After completing his first commissioned work at age twenty, a large bronze statue of Napoleonic General Jean Rapp, Bartholdi traveled with a group of French cultural ambassadors to photograph works of antiquity in Egypt.

They encountered desert landscapes where ancient cities lay in ruins but colossal statues remained, inspiring Bartholdi to write “These granite beings, in their imperturbable majesty, seem to be still listening to the most remote antiquity. Their kindly and impassible glance seems to ignore the present and to be fixed upon an unlimited future.”

As an emerging artist, Bartholdi actively searched for commissions as well as inspiration, and he secured a meeting with Khedive Isma’il Pasha of Egypt, the ruler overseeing and funding the French construction of the Suez Canal. Bartholdi presented a figurine for a colossal lighthouse depicting an Egyptian fellaha, a female serf, entitled Egypt Carrying the Light to Asia. This design was ultimately rejected by the khedive.

In 1865, a French political intellectual and anti-slavery activist named Edouard de Laboulaye proposed that a statue representing liberty be built for the United States. This monument would honor the United States’ centennial of independence and the friendship with France.

The Statue of Liberty was built in France between 1875 and 1884. Bartholdi required the assistance of an engineer to address structural issues associated with designing such a colossal copper sculpture. Alexandre Gustave Eiffel, just prior to creating his famed Eiffel Tower, was engaged to design the massive iron pylon and secondary skeletal framework that allows the Statue’s copper skin to move independently yet stand upright.

Construction of the Statue was completed in France in July 1884. The massive sculpture stood tall above the rooftops of Paris. For its trans-Atlantic voyage aboard the frigate Isère, the Statue was reduced to 350 individual pieces and packed in 214 crates. The ship arrived in New York Harbor on June 17, 1885.

Back in America that same year architect Richard Morris Hunt was selected to design the Statue’s granite pedestal, and construction got underway. The pedestal was completed in April 1886. The statue was reassembled on Liberty Island in 1886, although the torch has been redesigned or restored several times since its installation. Finally, on October 28, 1886, President Grover Cleveland oversaw the dedication of the Statue of Liberty in front of thousands of spectators.

The sculptor behind the Statue of Liberty, Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi found his inspiration in the Land of the Pharaohs. You can take an armchair trip to Egypt, visit the Pyramids of Giza, and cruise along the Nile to Upper Egypt and the famous temples by reading SECRET KISSES.

Katy Mahoney, Hoda Seif, and Sarah Kohn. Three girls from different backgrounds and religions pledged to maintain their friendship forever.

On Graduation Day, Katy meets Hoda’s oldest brother Tarek, a dark and handsome medical graduate who can’t take his eyes off her. The graduation celebration ends with Hoda and Omar breaking off their engagement, Hoda exchanging a secret kiss wit Liam, Kathy’s cousin, and Omar befriending Sarah and renting a room in her house.

Three best friends, three secret and forbidden romances.

For five years, the three friends meet and exchange confidences and advice. Sarah is concerned about Omar’s narrow-mindedness and decides he has to change. Katy knows she’ll have a battle royal on her hands with her pious Catholic mother. And Hoda is in a worse shape. Her family’s religion forbids her to marry an infidel.

Will they choose the men they love and break with families and traditions? Difficult choice.

ON PREORDER

Kissing Plans: From best friend to lovers. But she’s engaged. What better way to get rid of the unpleasant fiancé? Finding him a girlfriend.
Family Plans: A plane crash destroyed their lives. Can it bring them together despite the painful secrets it uncovered?
Healing Plans: He adopted two minority children but lost his wife. Finally things settle for him, until the lovely surgeon he hires turns his life upside down.

It’s 1964 Again- #spring #memories #Inspiration @jacqbiggar

Spot the birdie?

Today is the first day of spring and it’s my birthday!

I thought it might be fun to take a trip down memory lane and visit the year I was born- 1964

But first:

According to Siri, I’m a Friday’s child, though you’d never catch me in bloomers, lol. How about you?

In the music world, The Beatles were racking up the top 5 on The Billboard Top 100 with I Want to Hold Your Hand leading the way.

It was a feat no musical group had ever accomplished and many thought would never occor again.

The average house in the US cost 15,000 and rent was $115 a month (imagine!)

Milk was priced at $0.93.

A gallon of gas- $0.25 compared to the $1.94 a litre we currently pay in BC

Minimum wage was $1.15 an hour while ours in 2022 is $15.55

The 1964 Mustang was a mind-boggling $2300.00 (yes, I’m drooling!)

Apparently, Dragons are the most powerful in the Chinese zodiac, gifted with courage and intelligence, but are hotheads with sharp tongues (Oops!)

There are five types of dragons depending on the year you were born. For 1964, it is the Wood Dragon- introverted (yes), less enthusiastic (maybe), and lacking good relationships (not true!)

Dragons who will be engaged in creative work, literature, etc., you will have more inspiration this year of the Tiger, and maybe one day your works will become a hit. (Yes!)

Mary Poppins by Walt Disney released August of 1964 and grossed $102,272,145

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was signed into law.

Mohammad Ali became the heavyweight boxing champion of the world.

Sidney Poiter won the Oscar for his role in Lilies of The Field

Alaska suffered a 9.2 earthquake on Good Friday, March 30th

1964 was a busy year in history!

In 2022, we have war in Ukraine, a wave of hate crimes, poverty, overdoses, a pandemic… but in the midst of it all there are stories of kindness, generosity, and family values. We can do better- I truly believe humans are worth the effort.

Today I choose life. Every morning when I wake up I can choose joy, happiness, negativity, pain… To feel the freedom that comes from being able to continue to make mistakes and choices – today I choose to feel life, not to deny my humanity but embrace it.

Kevyn Aucoin

No Requiem by @KatyWalters07 #Poetry

No Requiem Three Fisher Girls. Tynemouth (1881) Finslow Homer from the public Domain.

No Requiem

ln wind and hail,
She ground the fish scale,
A tumble of hair, blanketed,
Pale face, no sign of lace,
A dark dirty gown,
An ashen frown,
That did not deter,
Her beauty.
Tendrils of ebony hair
Escape a blanket stale,
With fish blood,
Tumbling with guts into a pail.

At the end of her day,
She will away,
To candle and mirror,
Powder and colour,
Masking.
The death of a myriad fish,
Some rich man’s dish.

ln the grey dawn of her morn,
She will again grind away,
Her youth.

1800s and early 1900s, 1000s of girls employed as fish gutters, followed the fishing fleets. The work was long and hard, the girls gutted the fish and the “guts were taken out with a very sharp gutting knife. Their fingers were wrapped in “clooties” – bandaged cloths to prevent any knife nicks – but they endured painful sore hands.

No Requiem Copyright Katy Walters
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Look for WINDOW TO LOVE

Window To Love Katy Walters

Sam peered through the window; where was Tammy? She’d promised to be with Sam in less than an hour. After a life-threatening car accident, Samantha used a wheelchair to get around and depended on her close friend Tammy.
As Sam waited, she espied a beautiful and rather large dog bound across the garden lawn to her window. The owner was nowhere in sight. Perhaps the dog was a stray?
Sam knew peered through the window once more and to her relief, saw the dog trotting happily at the side of a reasonably handsome, reasonably aged man. But to Sam’s dismay, the dog seeing her, stopped and pulled at the lead to cross the lawn. As Sam lifted the curtain slightly for a better look, the man turned and waved. Sam shot back behind the curtain. Blast. She didn’t want him knocking on her door. After all, she was home alone and injured. Not a good position to be in with a strange man, She didn’t return the wave back and dropped the curtain abruptly.
Little did Sam realize this was just the beginning of a stream of giddy and sometimes frightening adventures with this reasonably good-looking man and his handsome dog.