Travel eye-candy

[DiamanteBlu]

BTW, the beach is on the other side [behind] of the castle.

 

[San Diego Bride]

here are a few of my random favorites...

a church in prague.

 

[San Diego Bride]

the "dancing building" in prague. the curved building is supposed to represent ginger with the straight building representing fred. really it was made this way so that the higher ups in the office building behind it didn''t have their view of the river blocked. they can still see past ginger''s nipped waist.

 

[San Diego Bride]

the lourve.

 

[San Diego Bride]

self-explanatory

 

[San Diego Bride]

stockholm, sweden

 

[San Diego Bride]

beacon hill in boston

 

[San Diego Bride]

the holocaust memorial in boston. it''s truly amazing.

 

[San Diego Bride]

an apartment building in buenos aires.

 

[San Diego Bride]

a fountain in buenos aires.
(i tend to take pictures of random things as you can tell.)

 

[sap483]

Hey Skippy! FI and I went to Egypt last year for a friend''s wedding. We spend about 6 days at the beginning of our trip in Sharm El Sheikh which is a resort town on the Sinai Peninsula. I''ll attach more pictures. I''ve been lazy since I have to resize them all. There''s amazing snorkeling and diving- we were bummed that we forgot our camera attachment that makes it waterproof. Other than that we laid out on the beach, went ATV''ing in the desert and went on camel rides. There''s also lots of restaurants and nightlife- a hookah lounge on every corner too! We also went back to Sharm at the end of our trip for 2 days for the wedding. It was nice after Cairo to spend another couple of days laying out on the beach and relaxing.

We then flew to Cairo for 4 days. We went to the Egyptian Museum, the Pryamids of Giza, the Khan El Khalili market (very cool experience but so dirty, you''ll have to see pictures), the Citadel, and really walked around and explored. We also took a tour through our hotel when we got sick of taking cabs. Let me just say that I have never been in a city with more pollution. Little children sell kleenex on the streets there b/c the respiratory problems there are out of control (Sharm was not like this, it was clean and beautiful). So the cabs are not air conditioned, and so by the time you get to your destination your throat is burning. You are also thanking God that you made it there in once piece. Anyway, we decided we had enough of that by the end of our trip and hired an air conditioned BMW and a guide through the hotel to take us to some of the more obscure pyramids and ruins. I''ll attach pictures of those pyramids too. If any of you go to Cairo, I would highly recommend the Four Seasons in Giza (it''s by the Zoo). It''s a beautiful hotel, but more than that their service is outstanding. We made the mistake of not staying at the Four Seasons in Sharm and really regret it.

We were able to climb down one of those other pyramids. You climb up from the outside and go down from the middle of the pyramid. It was really scary, because the opening is 3 feet high, so you have to climb down backwards sliding your feet to the next piece of wood they have laid down. The further you go, the lighting gets worse. When you finally get to the bottom (If I remember correctly it was either 60 or 90 meters to the bottom), you duck through these little openings into some tunnels until you finally get to the middle. That''s where the king and his treasures were kept. It stunk like ammonia, we could hardly breathe.

So without further delay, here are a few more pics of our adventures in Egypt. Here''s one of the beach at our resort in Sharm. There are some cliffs, but also a lot of "regular" beach.

 

[sap483]

Here is a pic of FI and I dressed for our ATV trip. They taught us how to wrap ourselves up to protect us from the sand. We also wore sunglasses. It was difficult at night though. We had to keep the sunglasses on, but the lighting from the ATV wasn''t the best. It made for an interesting trip.

 

[sap483]

So here''s the sunset we got to see in the desert while on our ATV trip.

 

[sap483]

For those of you who like to shop there''s no lack of shopping there. There are some really ritzy indoor malls, full of high end designer boutiques. There are also streets filled with stalls of people selling their crafts and homemade goods. There''s also this, which was a mall with shops and had an area in the middle where merchants sold their goods and crafts. This was in the area of Sharm where the majority of the shops and restaurants are located. I know it''s not eye candy, but it''s interesting.

 

[sap483]

On the other end of shopping is the Khan El Khalili market. It was a fascinating experience. People would approach you left and right to try and sell you their goods. Bargaining was expected, and the sellers were very agressive in both trying to get you to come to their stall and close the sale. If you walked away, it wasn''t unusual to hear them screaming after you. The streets were littered with garbage, and it was hot and sticky. It makes me thankful that we don''t have to shop in those conditions.

 

[sap483]

This is the Red Pyramid in Dashur. This is the pyramid that FI and I climbed down. You can see the steps leading up to the entrance. This pryamid dates back prior to the pyramids in Giza. In all there are more than 180 pyramids throughout Egypt.

 

[sap483]

FI and I outside of the Red Pyramid in Dashur (on the other side of the pyramid), we were pretty icky and tired from the climb.

 

[sap483]

This is the Zoser Pyramid in North Saqqara. It''s a more primitive pyramid- before they figured out how to make one without the steps.

 

[sap483]

What trip to Egypt would be complete without at least one picture of a camel. This one happens to be a police camel at the Giza plateau. If you take a look, you can see the city in the background. That''s the amazing thing about the Pyramids of Giza- they''re in the middle of a huge city. It''s sad too, those that slaved over making this never would have imagined that there would be garbage littered around these great monuments.

 

[ringabling]

Date: 4/25/2007 10:40:30 AM
Author: ursulawrite
Oooh, the Four Seasons Maldives! Lucky you, Harriet. As for the Amanpuri, it was nice, sure, but no more than any hotel in that category and certainly not worth the inflated room rates. Perhaps I was put off by the so-so food, and the surrounding locale wasn''t all that impressive (save for the beach).

I never thought about posting links to hotels. Here are a few of the nicer ones DH and I have stayed at over the years.

Reid''s Palace, Madeira
Hotel Danieli, Venice
Excelsior, Venice Lido
St Regis, Rome
Le Meurice, Paris (and Costes, Paris)
Lanesborough, London (where I got married

)
Dromoland Castle, Ireland
Villa Vedema, Santorini
Penninsula, Bangkok

just starting to read this thread. . .

We stayed at these 2 places as well!
Danieli had a lot of character, but did you feel like you were in a fun house at a carnival sometimes? LOL! Because of the water I guess it''s moved a little and the halls and staris weren''t really straight. It was beautiful but a little surreal!

We had a divine room and experiences at the St. Regis, I LOVED that hotel!
We go back in May. . . wonder if we''ll get to staty there again?

 

[ringabling]

Date: 1/10/2008 11:02:02 AM
Author: sap483
What trip to Egypt would be complete without at least one picture of a camel. This one happens to be a police camel at the Giza plateau. If you take a look, you can see the city in the background. That''s the amazing thing about the Pyramids of Giza- they''re in the middle of a huge city. It''s sad too, those that slaved over making this never would have imagined that there would be garbage littered around these great monuments.

Fascinating!! LOVE that photo, would love to visit there!

 

[MichelleCarmen]

Here''s a travel picture. . . I have tons of photos, especially of B.C., because Canada is only a few hour drive from our house in WA, but there are so many to sort through and my 5 YO is climbing on me right now. . .lol

This is a light house photo either my DH or I took while in Tofino on Vancouver Island. It''s GORGEOUS up there but a russian roulette drive to that location as the road leading there is so narrow that when semi trucks come barrelling around the corner toward you, you basically have to close your eyes and hope for the best! Some parts of the road were crumbling down the cliffs. But, once we got there, we are thrilled and had an ocean front room that we could walk less than 10 feet and be on the beach. We also had a hot tub w/an ocean view!

That was our 9 year anniversary and it was the best trip we had been on!

 

[coatimundi_org]

MC! I recently heard about Tofino Island. I want to take my husband there! Looks gorgeous! I hear that it''s very private too

I wanna goooo!

 

[coatimundi_org]

Sap, I want to go to Egypt too! Those photos are incredible!

 

[snlee]

I love looking at everyone's pictures!

My husband and I recently came back from a eastern Caribbean cruise. I loved it there! Here's one of my favorite scenery pictures from St Thomas overlooking Megan's Bay.

 

[dendon]

Italy & Greece, I must visit!!!!!!!

 

[Skippy123]

Snlee, I am dying to go to St. Thomas and St. John, how beautiful!!

Sap, thanks for sharing, those pics are amazing and what an amazing experience!

Michelle (MC), what a beautiful picture!


Soooo many cool pics Mintve,Orbaya, Dia (I love Italy), Novia and others.

 

[mintve]

Date: 1/10/2008 4:22:54 PM
Author: snlee
I love looking at everyone''s pictures!

My husband and I recently came back from a eastern Caribbean cruise. I loved it there! Here''s one of my favorite scenery pictures from St Thomas overlooking Megan''s Bay.

I have a picture just like this from my trip to St. Thomas! We must have been at the same kodak moment spot!

 

[Skippy123]

bump for more pics

 

[Linda W]

I LOVE all of these pictures. Wish DH and I could visit all of these beautiful and gorgeous places!!!!