Last October, I had to travel through the Rust Belt for work.  It was a wonderful trip - the weather was gorgeous & the Fall foliage was unbelievable.  It's really a great part of the country that I probably never would've visited of my own accord.

Our trip ended in Detroit.  I've been to some tough towns in my time but Detroit is unlike any place I've ever been.  You can tell - at one point - Detroit was THE place to be.  The American Dream was alive & well with the little ornate houses & grand boulevards.  Now, there are neighborhoods that are just completely taken over by weeds - not single houses, complete neighborhoods.  I've never seen anything like it.  It's a fascinating place for sure.

Overall, I had a great time in Detroit feather bowling & of course, visiting Hitsville U.S.A..  The best part of my Detroit trip had to be the sendoff at the gas station.

We stopped for gas near one of the colleges. I went inside the station to give the attendant my credit card for the pump & I came out to this:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150408294605306

Apparently, a large tumbleweed had blown over the gas station fence and landed right behind our rental van. I didn't realize Steve was taking a video of me rolling it for scale.  The best part was, as I was rolling it, one of the station attendants came running over to me, "Ma'am, ma'am, I will take care of that!" (I look like a ma'am?). He proceeded to throw it back over the fence. 

I am thinking maybe the tumbleweed knew we were going back to Boston and saw this as his chance to get out. I hope he escapes some day.

I started my new year off with a literal BANG in the form of being rear ended on 128 in Burlington on January 2nd.

It's all good though - I am feeling much better but I thought you'd appreciate the Brady Bunch foam collar. 

Hope your 2012 started with a BANG too! A bang of a different kind, of course!

If you are my Facebook friend, you know that I was enrolled in a Wine Program at Boston University this past semester with my pal, BGR.  This class was so stinking hard - I can't even explain.  I got all As & Bs at Boston College & UCLA but I barely passed this class with a 67% final grade.  But, hey, passing is passing!

Grades aside, the one thing I really wanted to take out of it was to learn how to taste better.  I have exceptionally strong senses of smell and taste.  It was a real thrill to be using only these 2 senses to ascertain the geography, chemistry, biology, and history to some degree of a drink.  However, the biggest learning I had threw me for a loop:

I had no idea how much bad wine I have been drinking my entire life.  

Seriously.  You mean wine is not supposed to be harsh or taste like a bike tire?.  It is mindblowing.

A lot of people have been asking me for recommendations for the holidays.  I don't have much to offer but I can share the following names with you if you're looking for tasty wines that won't give you a headache:

Sparkling
Roederer Estate Brut Sparkling - big bubbles, good price point (almost like proper Champagne but for half the price)

Green & White Label Prosecco from Trader Joe's - $6 fizzy that tastes like starfruit & pears

White
Charles Smith Kung Fu Girl Riesling - good for sparring with your relatives and drinking with turkey or other poultry

La Craie Vouvray - light & fruity (and it's a screwtop so it stays fresh if you only want one glass!)

Red
Angove Cabernet Sauvignon - it's grown adjacent to eucalyptus fields so it has wonderful, fresh aromas

Robert Foley Vineyards Charbono - this is one of BGR's favorites and goes well with steak

J. Lohr Wildflower Valdiguie - tastes like strawberries (swoon!!!!!), serve slightly chilled

Dessert
Taylor Fladgate 10 Year Old Tawny Port - tastes almost like milk chocolate and caramel, great for mountain cheeses and honey pastries like baklava

RL Buller Fine Tokay - tastes like maple syrup

We didn't do any roses which is a bit of a bummer. They're really good with seafood and Southeast Asian cuisine. 

I hope you have a wonderful & peaceful  holiday filled with good eating and quality adult beverages that don't give you a headache!

This past Friday was Veterans' Day.  This time of year,  I always have an extra big think about what living in the United States means.  I am not a fan of war but I am always very grateful to the men & women who give up their lives to ensure that I always have a safe place in which to wake up every morning.  Never mind just being safe - I have the freedom to get on public airwaves and interwebs and say whatever I want without any sort of repercussion.  This country rules.  End of story.

One thing about military service that has been weighing on my mind as of late is the whole concept of the military brat.  When I was growing up in the 70s and 80s, during the Cold War, I knew a lot of kids who came to my school for a year only.   Then, they would have to move elsewhere depending upon where their parents were assigned.  It was very common to know kids who lived in Germany, Japan, or Hawaii.  I don't think that they move families around so much anymore - probably because it is wartime - amongst other reasons. Or maybe they do?  I really don't know.  It a different political time now. 

From time to time, I think back to a military wife I met on a plane when I was 16.  It was April 1990 and I was on a school trip to Paris.  On the connecting return flight from Brussels to Boston, I was seated next to a really young woman, who looked to be around my age.  Although, she was traveling with 2 boys, an infant and a toddler, so she had to be slightly older. 

I remember 3 vivid things about her:
1. She was SO nice and smiley
2. We had the same permed hair
3. Her husband was stationed in Germany but she was divorcing him. She was flying home with her kids to live with her parents. 

When she told me she was divorcing, "OH MY GOSH! I am so sorry. That sounds so hard.".  She was ok with it and seemed to be happy (and probably relieved) to be going home.  My mind was racing a million miles an hour - how did she cope when the relationship went sour?  She was living a foreign country with 2 little, little kids, probably alone most of time on a military base.  It's not like she was living in a major, European city with an expense account so she could go get a babysitter & party it up in a beer hall.  How did she deal with all of that and come out still so kind and peppy on the other end? In hindsight, I can't imagine coping with something like that as 38 year old, never mind being 22.   To think, now, her boys must be graduating from college!  I really hope she found somebody who made her happy.  She was a really strong woman. 

I wish I still knew her because, quite frankly, she was awesome.  And, I know that is she is just one of the many AWESOME military moms, wives, and partners out there who take things in stride; do what they do; and do it well.

My hat's off to all of you.  Thank you for holding down the homestead and supporting those who sacrifice for my freedom.

My original intention was to do a blog post for each day in Egypt but time has gotten away from me. Over the past 3 months, I've been travelling a lot. Now, it's time to put Egypt "in the can" so I can share some of my other ridiculous adventures with you.

In a nutshell - if I could tell you one thing about Egypt, it would be this: Go now if you have the opportunity. Where else can you witness both major modern history and ancient history? Nowhere but Egypt. The people are extremely friendly. It's very safe despite the long standing law of having police travel with all foreign tour groups. The food is good (eat at Farfela & drink 7Up) and the culture is buzzing (Cairo Jazz Club!).

To be fair - there are a couple of downsides - it's very poor, which is a direct reflection of the prior government. As many people make their income from tourism, you will be hassled constantly to buy things. If you are a woman, you definitely need to cover up or you will be stared at (not in a rude way but in a more curious/novelty way). Really, that's it though. Compared to what you will see & experience, these things are small.

Here's a small photo album. I have more pictures on my Facebook page as well if you need a bigger a fix.

But, seriously - GO if you have the opportunity...or better yet - make the opportunity to go. 

Kelzar is the Banksy of Egypt

Giving water to a parched kitty in the Temple of Horus

Ramses at the entrance to his temple

Visiting an elementary school

Iconic Sphinx & Pyramid - yes, there is a Pizza Hut & KFC across the street, right behind my back

Demonstration in Tahrir Square as seen from my hotel balcony

Colored drawings in a temple - all the temples start looking the same after a while.  Helpful Travel Hint - when going into a museum or other place, take a picture of your entrance ticket stub before you start taking other pictures so you know what you photographed

French Jazz at the Cairo Jazz Club

I safely arrived in Cairo & spent the night at Le Passage. I have to say - it's pretty nice for an airport hotel. I passed the time enjoying a 7Up by the pool and hitting the Egyptian pastry buffet HARD - baklava, all those phyllo dough-syrup-nut pastries. YEAH!! Those are the only kind of sweet things in which I like nuts. Also, the 7Ups are quite good - the lemons are more like key limes and the soda is not as sweet as here.

The next morning, we had a leisurely breakfast and headed off to the Egyptian Museum. The outskirts of Cairo are a mix of desert and sparse, banged out cement buildings missing their upper floors. My cousin passed away in Afghanistan 2 years ago after 2 tours of duty in the Middle East. I don't know how he felt when he got off the plane for the first time in Iraq. I just kept wondering if this is what it looked like and how nervous he must've been. Randomly, I had a dream about him last night...

We drove from the outskirts into Heliopolis while learning some Arabic and hearing some modern political commentary. There was a 3-D mural of the "history" of Egypt. Somebody chipped Mubarek's face off just like they did in ancient times when rulers changed. I was cheered to know that all the "banged out" buildings were not banged out because of anything suspicious. People only finish what they need of a house so they don't have to pay taxes. It looks kind of desperate but it's more a sign of being financially savvy.

If you think traffic in Boston is horrible all I can say is, "you don't even know...". Cairo is like Thunderdome. No traffic lights. Very few Traffic Officers directing cars - I think I saw 3 the entire time I was there - and one of them was sitting under a palm tree in the shade. After an hour, we arrived at the Egyptian Museum.

Upon driving through the gate at the Egyptian Museum, which is in Tahrir Square, I noticed 2 things -  feral cats & the sooty, destroyed hulk of a government building.  Earlier in the year, there was a lot of "activity".  The news was going on about how the museum had been looted.  Really, the looting was confined to the gift shop. Nobody was smart enough OR they were too smart to go in and loot the actual museum.  The government building adjacent to it was set on fire.  They've not gone in to fix any of it.  All the cars that were parked in the lot are still there.  They're just burned out shells.  It's such a weird thing.  I found myself just staring at the charred mess trying to make sense of it.  People worked there.  Things got done (for better or for worse).  Now, it's this weird burned out shell.  I can only imagine what was going through people's minds at the time. They were angry for sure.

Unrelated to the revolution in January, everywhere has security. Any place there are tourists, there are metal detectors and X-ray machines. All tour groups travel with a police officer. It was the government's response to some terrorist action in the '90s. I suppose it could be disconcerting but it was so ubiquitous that it didn't seem to mean anything.

The Egyptian Museum is a gorgeous atr deco building which probably had it's last refurb in 1935.  No AC, only fans.  That just lent to the vibe though. 

Back in the 70s, the MFA had an exhibit on King Tut that I really wanted to see but I was 5 and had no money. Needless to say, I was quite psyched to see all the mummies. I finally got see the mummies after 30 years of waiting. They surpassed my expectation. The whole science of mummification is amazing, especially given the tools available at the time. They all had hair which is nuts to see. It was awesome in every sense of the word.

After the museum, we had an Egyptian lunch - kebabs, bread with lots of dips, pastries, & coffee with cardamom. Totally my kind of meal - I will post pictures. After lunch, we headed to the airport for our flight to Aswan. When we touched down in Aswan at 10pm, it was 48 degrees celcius...After this past winter, I was totally into it!

Day 3 in the can! Tomorrow - Philae, Old Cataract Hotel, first experience at the Market...