As with the other hotels, the Mena House is lovely. Where the others were very much European in styling, this one has a more Middle Eastern feel. They use lots of mirrors and golds to accent the lights. Our hotel is also right next to the Pyramids of Giza.
Garden at Mena House
Holy Moly are the pyramids huge! The blocks that make up the pyramids are as tall as I am but weigh around 2 tons! Can you imagine the labor that went in to making these things? We were able to go into the largest of the three, The Great Pyramid. Let me tell you, it is quite the hike. There is one very small passageway. Some of the areas I had to duck in order not to bump my head; my poor husband had to seriously duck and duck and duck some more. The passageway does not have stairs, just a ramp that has bumps to help people from sliding. This ramp travels at about a 45 degree angle all the way up to the main chamber. I was so sweaty after getting to the top. I wish I had pictures, unfortunately they take your camera before entering.
Some outer parts of the pyramid gave clues to what the pyramid would have looked like when first built. There were blocks that still had some of the limestone casing intact. This casing would have covered the entire pyramid. Its color would have been a smooth shiny white and it would have gleamed in the sunlight. Talk about needing some shades!
We also saw the Great Sphinx. There really isn't much I can say about him, other than he was really cool to see. His paws and face are still in pretty good condition, though of course parts of his face are broken off. After seeing the Sphinx we left to get something to eat. Luckily right across the road was a familiar sight. There was a Pizza Hut right across the road! All these years I thought the pyramids were in a secluded desert and they have a Pizza Hut next to them.
Some of the limestone casing intact (lower) with the main blocks (upper)
I don't have many pictures from Cairo Museum, because cameras were not allowed inside (sensing a theme here??). We saw some amazing things, however. The museum is huge! I have never seen so many artifacts for one culture in my life. There is no way to see everything in one day. We visited the royal mummies. Pretty amazing and creepy at the same time. I was waiting for one of them to turn and say "BOO!" as I was inspecting them. Many of the mummies still had hair and eye lashes! They almost all came fully equipped with teeth and toes too (ooh look at that fancy alliteration!). We saw Ramses the Great! His body was extremely well preserved. We were not able to visit his tomb in Luxor because it was not "open," but at least we saw his mummy.
King Tut's treasures were also on display at the museum. There were rooms full of treasure and I really don't understand how it all fit because his tomb was so small! Some of the shrines and box were huge. We were able to see the famous golden mask. The detailing of everything found in his tomb was amazing.
A government building post revolution
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