Sharing Egypt

I have been to Egypt quite often, all things considered. After all, it is my job to know the country, and I spend considerable time each day answering questions of one nature or another.

My wife and stepson have never been to Egypt. However, to my credit, I might mention that I was only married to Joanie a little over a year ago, so they have not had much of a chance, until now.

In May, they will be going with me for the first time, and I am very much looking forward to the trip. And just to spice things up a little, they have actually never been out of the United States, so the whole thing will be quite and experience.

Egypt truly is a country to be enjoyed with loved ones. I remember just my last visit, while actually attending a business dinner on the Nile Maxim, one of the grand restaurant boats, thinking how romantic it would be if Joanie were with me instead of Nazmy Amin, our ETA contact. No offense Nazmy. Its just that the setting kept reminding me of my wife, as I felt she would have enjoyed it.

There are so many romantic settings in Egypt. Sitting in the bar of the Mena House sipping a cool drink with the Great Pyramid filling up the window by the table. Cruising down the Nile past ancient sites, and the exotic modern day culture. Even sitting on the terrace of the Longchamps hotel, overlooking the gardens of Zamalek. I can hardly wait.

I can remember my first trip to Egypt, meeting the people, and their unexpected friendliness and welcoming nature so different than what many westerners are led to believe.

They, the people of Egypt, were who I fell in love with, not the monuments and antiquities, not the desert or the fertile, green Nile valley. Egyptians are citizens of the world like no other people on earth, because the world comes to their doorsteps. Be they Americans or Russians, Chinese or Hungarians, Brazilians or South Africans, they all come by the thousands and for hundreds if not thousands of years, they have been welcomed by the world's most gracious hosts.

This is the experience I most wish to bring to my family. The Egyptian people are some of the most friendly people as a whole that I have ever encountered, and their attitude towards visitors is what defines an "Egyptian experience" more then the antiquities or the exotic culture.