Casa Italia Arrival

We are officially part of the Italian Archaeological Mission of Luxor since we are working in their tomb. So, we get to stay in the Casa Italiana. It is fabulous and has a an awesome staff with a chef who is either magically great or I am too used to my own crappy food. I had reached a point, I thought where I was actually making good food. Then I came here. And tasted the culinary masterpieces of Abdul Nassar. Now I am abashed and humbled.
Aside from the food, which I could rave about for days, the house itself is cool. It is on the edge of the desert with a gorgeous view of the mountains that surround the Valley of the Kings. We can't actually see the necropolis, but we can see the buses going in and out and the mountains around here and the desert are beautiful.
And the flatware is all printed with the Casa Italia logo which is totally cool.

Arty-Farty Amsterdam Pictures

Some pictures from around Amsterdam that just look kind of cool. Kind of, I said. Note the multiple layers of meaning in the first one - the reflection of the buildings in the window is particularly effective. Bwaaaaa-Hahahahaha!

Pretty Amsterdam

Some pretty pictures of Amsterdam. I wish it were quicker to upload photos on this thing.

Amsterdam 2009

We had a 9 hour layover in Amsterdam. Mariam wanted to sleep. So AJ and I went into town. We bought tickets from some girl who wanted to offload the ones she and her boyfriend had just used. We don't know if we got ripped off or not because the train service in Amsterdam never checked our tickets. Anyway, we rode from the airport into town and walked around in the central area and I made AJ go to the Red Light district. We got our pictures made in front of all kinds of dens of sin :)
I wanted to stop at a "coffee" shop and smoke a joint, but for some reason we just didn't. We walked by several of them. We did stop for sandwiches at a tiny little cute place. It was really cold and it rained some. But Amsterdam is totally cute. I'll post the less controversial sights of Amsterdam in the next post.
I forgot to say, I saw this poster for Living Colour and was surprised that they are still around. I had to get a picture :)

My Christmas Tree, 2009

I put up my christmas tree this year right after Halloween since I won't be home for much of the real Xmas season. I had my same ceremony - drinking a bottle of wine and listening to christmas music while putting up the tree in my pajamas. I enjoy that.
Now I still have to wrap some presnuts. I failed to get presnuts for myself this year so it's kinda bleak. I hope I get a chance to buy myself a lot of stuff in Egypt and wrap it for myself.

Grandfather Mountain

I can't believe I haven't posted these pictures yet!!!! I must be really busy with school this semester, huh? Here are Scooter, Al, and EJ, the first time I met any of them. And these Scottish Heritage celebraters are what make these festivals fun. I'll post some pictures of ME and Miss Naincy next. This was in July and it was freaking COLD at night up on the mountain. And it was cold during the daytime. And it was dreary and rainy- lot's of 'atmosphere'. We plan to make it an annual event!

Alexandria - my hotel room

I stayed 2 nights in Alexandria. In this hotel and I can't remember the name. It had breakfast included and shared bathrooms, but my room had the sweetest little balcony and a fucking gorgeous view of the bay where the lighthouse used to stand. There was a constant breeze in my room. Unfortunately I got food poisoning. I don't know from what. It could have been anything. The breakfast, the sweets, the huge lunch, or the glass of water I forgot and drank at the coffee shop because I was used to drinking tap water in Cairo and forgot you can't anywhere else.
So I sat on my little balcony and ate sweets that I bought at a pastry shop in town and then I started feeling woozy. I made it to one of the shared bathrooms and then didn't know which way to face. It was really bad. I threw up all over my pants and the floor and I couldn't stand up and I thought I was going to die. There. By myself. In Alexandria Egypt. In a strange hotel. In a shared bathroom. And I thought, "what a funny way to die."
Obviously I survived. But it was scary for a bit.
This picture with the plant in the window is the actual bathroom that I was sick in. And this picture of the food, MIGHT be the culprit, although I am more inclined to blame the water.