Egypt - ancient to modern - is awesome! Final photos.

Inside the Mosque of Mohammed Ali. He ruled during the early part of 1800's and is known as the father of modern Egypt. He built this mosque to honor his son who died in 1816. It is located within The Citadel of Cairo.

The ceiling is made up of several cupolas and gives incredible acoustics inside the giant room.

From left, going clockwise, me, Reem, Ahmed, Reem's husband Tamir, and  Sheryl.

The day we visited, there was a bit of a sand storm blowing, so Reem came prepared with face masks.

Zayed and I in another part of The Citadel which houses the Egyptian military war museum - unfortunately, the inside of museum was closed for renovation. Just one more reason to return to Egypt for another visit!

Ahmed's family had us over for supper - and Just like our supper at Reem's home, this was a magnificent feast it was! His mother, Pakima, on the left, (the older sister of our niece, Reem), his father Atya, and his beautiful younger sister Osima. They made us feel very welcomed in their home.

Reem and Tamir took us to a fantastic kabab restaurant in Cairo. This is the VIP dining room. There were easily 400 people eating in various other dining rooms throughout the building. The food was excellent. Reem and Tamir are such warm, welcoming and gracious hosts. I loved visiting them.

We flew down to Luxor for three days of touring in and around the Valley of the Kings. Stayed at Mara House, which made us feel part of their family.

We never grew tired of visiting another Temple and listening to our guide Mohammed.

There are ancient sites everywhere.

Luxor is surrounded by farms, with the main crop being sugar cane.

We were told that this was a colder than normal winter in Luxor. This is the roof top dining area of a very popular restaurant. They had to hang curtains and light the braziers for warmth.

I was comfortable. Sheryl was freezing.

More Temples.

We travelled at night by calesh - horse drawn carriage. Luxor is a much smaller city with little traffic.

The majority of farm work seemed to be done by hand.

The beginning of visit to Valley of the Kings with this diorama which shows all of the known and excavated tombs of the kings.

Under the diorama shows the tombs locations under ground.

Some were very deep and a long walk down. Every inch of the walls and ceilings were decorated. Took years for the workers and artisans to dig and prepare tombs.

Beautiful artwork. Goofy asian tourists. Just like with family, you don't always get to pick who you share life with.

It took me a while to learn how to properly use the cheap selfie stick I bought at Philly airport before leaving USA.

Sometimes it caught me smiling, other times I was grimacing. And I always seemed to capture my hand in the pic.

This was once a village where the ancient workers lived.

Stopped for lunch at this nice restaurant.

Nice sunny and warm. You can see some soldiers and police behind the bushes at a security station.

Donkey carts seem to be the dominate farm vehicle.

Beautiful farm land everywhere. A cow tied up to a palm tree. 

I got excited seeing this huge flock of sheep grazing along the roadway.

Look up ahead at the "tree tunnel" -it was pretty cool to drive thru several of these. During a hot summer, I would want to spend most of my day in their shade.

I just had to stop and sample it.

Our nephew Zayed told us that the Egyptian chicken nuggets tasted much better than the ones in America. He was right!

Waste not, want not. This shepherd was making sure his sheep got any and all available grass to eat.

This is my brother-in-law Farouk, a prince among men. He is the ultimate old world gentleman. He hosted us our last week in his home in Alexandria. This is on the seawall next to the old fortress.

He took us to a great Greek seafood place where you select which fish, shrimp and squid you want. Like every meal we ate in Egypt, it was delicious and filling.

The new modern library in Alexandria.

The inside is fabulous.

Always time for more shopping, which...

...brings much happiness!

The view from Farouk's apartment on 13th floor. The Mediterranean Sea is beautiful, and so clear you can see to the bottom.

The boys waking up slowly in the morning. After eating fresh fruit, waiting on the fresh bread, falafel and hummus to be delivered.

Shots from Luxor. One of the few tractors I saw, this one pulling a long train on carts filled with sugar cane.

A tuck-tuck taxi.

We celebrated Sheryl's birthday in Luxor with a sunset cruise in a sailing a felucca on the Nile River. She had to borrow an over coat!

Next trip will be in fall or spring time, so she can enjoy warmer weather.

Flying out of Egypt was almost bitter sweet - leaving so much newly found family who were so warm and welcoming, but we needed to get back to our kids, grand kids, and the farm. Enjoying one more glass of our new favorite drink - fresh strawberry puree! It was definitely worth upgrading to business class.