Happy and a safe Easter to all.

Well it is Easter time again. I hope that wherever you are that you have a good time. Tomorrow evening Bluey and I are going with Rolf, his partner Elka and Gesa, a long-time friend of Blueys to the Easter fires. Basically it is a bonfire…well a HUGE bonfire where people from surrounding areas gather to sit around the fire…wait a minute. I will take photos of it and post about it later, that way you can get a better idea of it. So whoever you are, wherever you are, whoever you are (or are not) with I wish you all the very best of the Easter season. Take care and all the best.

Tuesday 20 January-The Sphinx & the Pyramids

Tuesday 20 January This is a big entry. Better get comfortable.
Today we got up really early. 6 am. We even beat the sun in getting up. Why you may ask?(If you read the title of this entry, you may already know this answer) Because today we went to the pyramids & the Sphinx at Giza. They say there is a limit of 150 people in the morning and 150 people in the afternoon who can buy tickets to enter the big pyramid, so we went early to make sure we got tickets. Fortunately we got a taxi right near our hotel that took us there. We were dropped off at the southern entrance. However, tickets to get into the pyramids are sold at the other entrance (naturally). We arrived at about 7.30 am only to be told they open at 8 am (no one told the “Lonely Planet” guidebook… or us). Bluey and I thought “Bugger it, we’ll walk around to the other entrance!” So off we set, following the fence and up small alleys. A local told us that way was shut, but it had to come out somewhere, so after walking down streets & alleys and through piles of rubbish we asked someone “How far to the entrance?” He had to get help to understand what we asked him. “One kilometer.” was the answer. We went a bit further before turning back. Bluey said “One kilometer is never one kilometer!” So back we went, with a dog barking at us. He wasn’t happy and seemed to mean business…. We got inside the compound, walked past the Sphinx before yet another camel owner asked “You want camel ride? Very cheap! You take my picture so you look at it and come back when you want camel ride, ok !!! Very cheap!!”
This is a common saying and along with “Where you from? AUSTRALIA. Good country… you are welcome. Melbourne or Sydney…!” “Hello my friend…” all followed with “… you want a camel ride…” “you want papyrus book mark?” “you want plastic pyramids?” “ you want SHITTY-looking things to stick on your head?” I also almost forgot when people give you what they want to sell “This is a gift…” just before they take a photo for you and ask for money, I really loved a shirt I saw saying “Go away I already have enough FRIENDS”.
We secured our ticket for entrance into the great pyramid the Pyramid of Cheops before walking to the entrance of the crawl-space. That was fascinating to go through the crawl-space. We had to bend over to get most of the way. Bluey even though she’s got a bit of a fear of close spaces was fine with it. (I think I am not afraid of small spaces… it’s probably just lifts.-Bluey) To see how the stones were fitted together in the pyramids was amazing. We came back out and filmed a little before being barraged by camel handlers again. I really have no idea how many are called Sammy who own camels called “Mickey Mouse” or Mohammed owning “Charlie Brown”. We met a number of both! Then a bloke asked to see tickets before showing us around a bit before we told him we don’t pay much and then he found other victims.
We roamed a little and were up on a pile of stones where I thought we were safe from camel drivers circling beneath us (not quite, but they were close to it). A camel owner came up to us !!! He took a photo for us before luring us down to his camel. We said “We will not pay you!” He told me to get on the camel for photo. “ We won’t pay for it !!!” “You not pay, you not pay!” He took our photo, I got down and SURPRISE “You pay me £ 50!” Tension, aggression, argument on both sides. I said “WE TOLD YOU WE WILL NOT PAY, you said “YOU NOT PAY”. We will go to the tourist police, Here is £ 1 GOODBYE” I was PISSED!
We went into the Queens pyramids and walked to some tomb and then we went to the second pyramid (the Chephren pyramid) but didn’t go in. We just rested, sitting on stony section, laying in the pebbles and dust near the base of the pyramid. We ate our mandarins & bananas after our relaxation was interrupted by a … f@c*&% camel owner. He said £20 an hour for a ride & he graciously told us as we ate “No rush, eat and take your time Mr. Harry.” As we lay there attempting to relax, the (place expressive swearword of your choosing here) called out “When you are finished with your rest we can go for a ride. If anyone comes up, I tell them let Mr Harry rest.” I swear he was doing it to piss “Mr Harry” the tourist off. Camel owners… I hate em! Next time I will call myself Indiana Jones. We ended up going on a ride with him. The ride was good and we saw all the pyramids from a different viewpoint with the luxury of a camel ride. However, when we went to pay £65 (a fair price) he started wanting £300. Yeah right. We argued for a bit before I asked “Are you a man of your word?” sensing he had some honour about him. He said “yes”. “You told us when we asked a price that you charge £20 an hour. We agreed on it and that was YOUR word!” He didn’t seem to like that, but he realised we were right. As Bluey said “ If you want to charge so much, say it and do not say £20 an hour and go back on your word!!” Freaking camel owners !!!!!!!!!!!! I hate em!
From there we walked to the Sphinx. We got some good photos of it before eating a biscuit each. There were kids there selling papyrus book marks & postcards. One young fella told Bluey “Give me one!”. Bluey said “Two bookmarks for one cookie!” Deal. Then a bloke aged about his twenties came up wanting one. We said “No” when he asked why not, that the others got some we told him because they were just very young kids and that he was an adult. He went away. The kids came back. The first one asked for another one and Bluey swapped him one for two bookmarks & another kid for a postcard. Then we put them back while the kids wanted more. We told them we still need them ourselves for later and the first said “All these for all the biscuits!” offering about 40 papyrus bookmarks. Maybe we should have swapped with him. There were all so cute.
Then we went off to the Chephren pyramid to see about going into that crawlspace but had to go right back to the entrance to get the ticket, but we figured the Cheops pyramid would have been the main one and it was an additional cost. So we walked around and took a few more photos. We also saw in some ruins out the back near a pyramid a mother dog with three pups. They were adorable. The mum was black with three different coloured puppies, one tan, a brown & the other dark grey. The darkest was a bit fluffy. Bluey went down to them, but the pups ran & hid. The mum came to Bluey when she called it like she calls Scrubbs. Nice dog. Then it was 4 pm. Shuting time, so we got a taxi to down town and discovered where Pizza hut is. We came home, rested and then back to Pizza Hut where I ordered a Meat lovers (large) & Bluey a Margherita (large). It was a big day, it is 12.07 am, so I’m going to sleep now. Good night!

Wow. Well done! You made it through to the end. I told you it was a long entry, didn't I!

Monday, 19th January - Coptic Cairo

Today we slept in a bit before heading off to Coptic Cairo. We took a taxi via Khan Al-Khalili (the complete opposite direction to where we were heading) but still paid the agreed amount. We went into the first Saint George Convent Church where the residential nun can put you in chains supposedly used in the torture of Saint George himself…ooooooooooookkkkkkkkkkk then!!! 8-o
Then we went into the Church of Saint Sergius, where they reccon Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus hid from Herod when they were told to go to Egypt.
Next was the Ben Ezra Synagogue where I set off a metal detector, but the security person didn’t care and let me through anyway (go figure)! We then walked past the Church of Saint Barbara and found a rubbish pile where there were cats and a heap of tombs. We were almost locked into a side area that we ventured into. Thirty seconds later and the bloke would have had it locked and been away.
The second church dedicated to Saint George was a Greek Orthodox Monastery and Church of Saint George. We checked out the church before checking out the graves around there as well.
From there we went and got something to eat. When we first arrived in the Coptic area and looked around the eating areas, we were given a business card from the owner of a place we were going to check out later telling him we would be back. He seemed a bit surprised when we did return. Bluey ate a chicken burger and I had a kofta (long meatballs with a garlicy sauce, pita bread and fries).
On our way to see the oldest mosque in Egypt (Mosque of Amr Ibn Al-As) we bought a book a bit like mine, but I reccon mine’s better. We didn’t go into the Mosque as there was a divided section for men and women and we didn’t want to be seperated.
From there we went and looked at the Roman Towers and noticed there are bats living in the Church of Saint George. Then we tried the Hanging Church, only to find the bugger was shut! There was also a fire truck near the church that the people were trying to get started. I hope they were not in a hurry.
We then crossed the Nile to check out the Nile-o-meter only to find that IT was shut TOO! So then we crossed back over the Nile and walked and walked…and walked to the Cairo Tower before heading to KFC for dinner.
On the way back to the hotel we met someone else who wanted to give us their business card. “No need to buy, no need to buy!!” Yeah, right!!! We agreed anyway and were lead back TO THE SAME FRICKIN’ PLACE AS LAST NIGHT!!!!! This time we were not lead upstairs, but to the ground level. One of the guys from last night asked us AGAIN “Do you have any coins?” ... “No!” “Do you have coins, do you have chocolate?”....”...sigh, (thinking "give me strenght, give me patience")...No, we gave them to you LAST NIGHT!!” They were also trying to sell us stuff. AAAARRRRGGGHHH: We also waited about five minutes in awkward silence for our friggin tea. It is Egyptian hospitality that when you invite someone in to offer them tea. However, making someone wait in an uncomfortable situation for over five minutes is not hospitality in my books. We ended up saying that we needed to meet up with a friend and left them. I do not know why, but at the moment I have a hard time seeing “essential oils” sellers in a good light.
The bloke around the corner seemed like a good bloke. We may get some souvienirs from him.

Sunday 18 January.

11.03pm Today we went to the Egyptian museum. HUGE, interesting and tiring. Of course you can’t go there without checking out the mummies. Fascinating to be there looking at the remains of men (women) who ruled Egypt thousands of years ago. And of course to stand staring at the golden mask of King Tutankhamun after seeing it in photos, tv and hearing about it in school is just awesome. The chambers he was buried in, his jewellery, the tables in the tomb, his chariots… we saw them. As good as the museum is, it was heavenly to get back to our room and REST !!! After we felt our bodies had recovered enough we were off in search of food. We tried to find a restaurant (I hate the word… can NEVER spell it) last night, but didn’t find it, so looked tonight. Someone gave us directions, but not before showing hospitality and giving us both a cup of tea in his perfume shop in a back street and us trying a number of oils. We ended up buying oil for me and him giving some oil to Bluey. He also asked about Bluey “How old is he? 15?” WHAT THE!!! He also asked “How many camels for her?” Poor Bluey is NOT a tea fan. We found the restaurant. I ate stuffed pigeon and Bluey ate beef. Dunno for sure if it was Beef… tasted different.

Saturday 17th January 2009

6.33pm. What a day! Buggered from getting to sleep late, waking not so late with echoes of a tom-cat somewhere in the 7 levels of stairs under us. We were talking to a local of the Kahn Al Khalili district who showed us the local markets over the road from tourist markets.
Sensory overload. Some beautifully made jewellery boxes (may buy one), a papyrus artist (bought 2 works from him) the he took us to someone selling perfumes (bought “Lotus blossom” for Bluey. Then he took us to another place for Bluey to buy a scarf so we could go into a Mosque. We saw so much behind the scenes with “Ahum” or “Umm” (pronounced “umm”… dunno!) But before we got to the K.A.K. we looked around the area of our hotel and discovered a street with shops almost exclusively for…. SHOES! Fetish or what???
everyone) is demanding your attention. “Here, here…” ”special price…” ”Where you from, I make offer for you?” We did make it to Fishawis coffeeshop. It’s been open over 200 years. Guess you could say that is saying something for it! However, even sipping a peppermint tea while Bluey drank “strawberry juice” (cut up strawberries in a sweet, syrupy, watery drink) you are STILL bombarded with people trying to sell “Rolex” watches, scarves, lighter-flame proof wallets, silver bracelets, henna tattoos, more bracelets and polish shoes (shame we wore joggers hahaha). We went back to the local markets again to find a traditional book-binder. Sadly Bluey didn’t find something she liked, but I did. I now have a cardboard/leather notebook with blank, gold-edged pages, a gold “H.D.” embossed on the spine and “Harrys Notes” 1.5 cm parallel with the spine. COOOL or WHAT! I just need to buy a better handwriting skill. Bluey says “you just need to try to focus a little”.
9.56 pm. Just came back from dinner. I had an egg burger & Bluey a cheeseburger and a bag of potato chips for 8.50 E£ or 1.21 €. Cheap, not bad and cheap. We will go there often. Today we ordered “1 cheese pizza & 1 cheese pancake”. There was S.F.A. cheese on it & the cheese there was, was feta with olives & paprika. Bluey was not impressed.

Nooooo I bloody well wasn’t impressed. I ordered a frigging cheese pizza… which in my humble opinion implies that there is cheese on the bloody pizza. First of all it wasn’t really pizza, but some kind of pastry thing that only fulfilled the pizza criteria of being round… and then there was veggies (paprika, olives & other yucky stuff on it) and even though I closely checked I only found specks of cheese if you can even say that on it! Bloody bullshit I reckon… they can sell that, but not under the false impression giving name of a you-beaut cheese pizza.

16 th January 2009

10:56am. Near Göttingen. Hills and a little snow on the ground. Bastards. I’m still coughing and not feeling 100% and Bluey’s feeling crook too. Bugger of a time to get crook, just as we are off to Egypt! Ah well!

6:56pm. In München airport. We heard a call over the loudspeakers “Would Sheik (unrememberable & unpronouncable for me) please return to your unattended luggage!!” Was that comforting! ^^..not particularly.
I also had to take my boots off at the luggage check because they beeped for whatever reason, while going through.
Before take-off we had a machine spray thick, coffee colored and then blue colored thickish stuff over the wings of our plane to help against frost and ice. Bluey had never had that happen on any of her flights before.

2:53am (17/1)
Laying on a bed in Cairo. It’s about 17°, but seems warmer. Driver was waiting at airport for us and two small groups also coming to the “Arabesque”.

You can buy freaking ovens & fridges at the airport…just what you need!!!- Bluey

(True…”Damn, I forgot the big oven. I’ll just pop in and grab one on the way through!” At least it was after the point where you have to declare items. “No, no fridges or ovens on the plane with me” :-D )

I also forgot to mention that I was a victim of my first Egyptian scam at the airport where someone looking official wanted to see my luggage ticket to confirm what I got was mine and then carried one of my bags for me before I could say not to and then wanted money. Through passport control for less than 5 minutes and already a victim…lol!

I'm still here

No...I am not dead...I am still alive. I have just been a slack-arse and not put any posts in. Sorry to the masses of dedicated people who looked faithfully, hoping for another exciting entry. I hope the four of you are not too disappointed.
I know I started with the London trip, but I will start (and follow through with) our trip to Egypt along with lots of lovely photos.
Once again I apologise for my prolonged silence here and will endevour to make entries regularly...(hopefully)

Test, raspberries and whips

Weeeeeeeelllll nooooowwww. It appears that there has been quiet a lot of time passed since my last entry. What has happened since then…HEAPS. First and foremost, Bluey has passed her hydrobiology exam (and I am sooooo proud of her) She is currently studying for her Zoology exam and stressing out of her pretty little head. Poor Bluey L…but she’ll be fine because she’s a smart cookie!
A number of months back, we went with Oda, one of Blueys cousins and her boyfriend to one of Blueys uncle & aunts place for the weekend. I have to say it was great. We went picking raspberries on a farm there and then headed off to go swimming in the sea there before coming home in the late afternoon to enjoy a Barbie with fresh raspberries with vanilla ice cream accompanied with whipped cream made with freshly scraped vanilla & sugar. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM…DEVINE. A wonderful weekend…it was great and really needed and appreciated.
Yet another thing is Erik and I splurged and bought ourselves Indiana Jones style bullwhips and they’re rippers. We have been giving them a good tryout and Bluey has been giving them a bit of a crack as well, but she has been spending most of her time with her head in books learning. We have been trying new tricks from the internet by a bloke called Adam Winrich. He’s good.
This week Erik also had his 22nd birthday. Bluey made him an Indy hat cake using Eriks hat as a model. Oda helped for a while before having to head off and I helped just a bit when I came home from work.
Bluey has also been busy for a while with her Kung Fu show team training as her school is having it’s 10th year anniversary tomorrow. Poor little darling. Between studying and Kung Fu she has hardly had time to do much lately…apart from stressing out about learning that is^^.
That’s enough for now. Sorry I have been consistently inconsistent with my posts, but if you know me, then that is no surprise. Photos to follow…too tired at the moment.

Baby snakes, bite and biting

G’day there once again.
Well, a lot has happened since I last made an entry here. Firstly (and probably most exciting for us) we have had our first clutch of baby snakes hatch. They are eleven corn-snake babies and they are just adourable…like little coloured worms, only better. I mean just look at the pictures and see for yourself.
Another thing is that my darling dear, Bluey helped me clean the mice (well she actually did most of it while I was at work) and feed the snakes. She was to put a ball python into a feeding cage while I cleaned the last mouse cage when she came to me with her cute “poor-little-me” look and said “you have to feed the ball pythons!”. I wondered what she was talking about till I saw just above her right wrist a trickle of blood and red dots of the teeth punctures. I laughed, hugged her and said “Awwww…poor darlin”. She laughed a little and said “it bloody well HURT!!!” This was Blueys first real snake bite and I was proud of her. She was actually bitten by our small sand boa, but that didn’t count. We took photos to commemorate the occasion.
The next thing of note is that I bit my dentists finger, but it was not my fault. I was there to have my left wisdom tooth removed because it was growing at an angle and cutting into my cheek. He had numbed the area, put a wad of cotton in the area and told me to close my mouth, so I did, however there was something firm, but rubbery between my teeth! “NOT on my finger please!” I mean, seriously…dentists of ALL people should know that you never ask someone to close their mouth without removing your fingers from the danger zone.” Bluey said that there was a look of utter shock and disbelief on the dentist face and then on his assistant and finally on me when he told me I was biting him. Ah well…it wasn’t long before my tooth was safely sitting on the silver tray in front of me. I also have to go back in winter for the removal of my lower wisdom teeth, due to the fact that they are growing along the jaw instead of outwards. GREAT…they will cut the gums and have to cut/rip/grind/chainsaw/smash/hammer/yank violentally the offending ivories. Apparentally it really, REALLY hurts a little after that operation. Can’t say I’m looking forwards to it.
I reccon that is enough for now, so…see ya later.

Our anniversary

Yesterday was our third anniversary. I can not believe how fast time has gone by since we were married. It seems like just the beginning of last year that Bluey and I swapped vowes and placed our wedding rings on each others fingers for the first time. Time flies by faster than you realise, but I do realise that I have been really blessed to have found someone that is somewhat crazy while she can still remain sensible, who is smart without being a smarty-pants to compensate for my short-comings. She is a voice of reason and logic when I need it, my stability when feel shaken or annoyed, my advisor, my critic and my praiser. Blueys ideas, gentle corrections and logical reasonings are not always what I would like to hear at the time, but without her guidance and help I do not know what sort of problems and situations I would find myself in. I love her dearly for her unconditional love and that she is so biased and blind to love me in that way. It is not because of the unconditional love Bluey shows that I love her… I love her because …well…no words can define it apart from….simply because she is my soul-mate and I will love her dearly forever!
I had the day off work so we could spend the whole day together. Our original plan was to go to the swimming theme park again, however since the weather was rainy and miserable we decided to head for the city for a while, catch a movie and then enjoy a nice meal together before grabbing a cocktail on the way home. The movie we saw was Hancock. Our dinner was a delicious meat, salad, fried potato chips and a baked potato platter for two (which never fails to satisfy us). We are both always pleasantly full when we are done. YUMMMMMM.!! After a short train ride, Bluey drank a Sea Breeze while I drank a Long Island Iced Tea for a change from my Mai Tai. It was nice, but I reckon Mai Tai is better. Linda, you will remember the Mai Tais’ from over here ^^. Nice hey!
Well, that’s about it apart from the fact that we have been asked to throw a short notice BBQ and party for tomorrow night before a friend heads off to a island for a uni project, so it will be interesting to see how many turn up when being told just two days in advance.
Take care and all the best.

So good to go swimming again

After such a hot day yesterday I suggested to Bluey that we go to a local swimming fun park, so we organised with Erik & Maria to go today. We were a little concerned as the weather forecasts were for storms, but mostly for the evening. This morning was clear and hot…perfect conditions for swimming, so off we went. They had opened a new section since we were there last. Complete with a wave pool and a number of slides. All was great. There was one that I was the first of our group to try. It was fast and quick. It shot you down fast and then you started to go back upwards. Reading this it doesn’t sound much, but not knowing what to expect and experiencing the speed and sudden direction change, with the water splashing into your face was a bit of a surprise to me. I didn’t see their faces or know their thoughts, but I heard from Bluey that they did not have so much reassurance of the ride when they heard a “HOLY SHII..” of my shocked voice emanated from the tunnel in front of where they stood! However, we all survived and enjoyed it.
Fortunately, about 7 minutes before we had to leave, a parcel that we have been eagerly awaiting, containing our bags from England finally arrived. These are the bags that we searched all over in London for, so if you read about us searching for them in our London entries, we didn’t find them, but these are the ones. They are the exact same bags used in the Indiana Jones movies. Erik and I have also ordered one bullwhip for each of us from a bloke. I have read a few testimonials of his whips on a forum of people who are quiet critical of a few things and all spoke well of his craftsmanship. They will be 10 feet long and we have to wait for about two months for the bloke to make them as he has retired from whip making and now does them in his spare time. We can not wait till they get here. I haven’t handled a whip for ages and Erik is keen to learn.

I hope all is well with everyone and continues to be till we meet again, or you read my next entry. All the best from Harry.

Tuesday, 3rd of June

9:10am. Refreshed. Had good sleep. Bluey didn’t sleep so well. Today we are going to the Natural History Museum. Will write about todays activities after we have done them. Mc Donalds for breaky.
The National Museum of Natural History is HUUUUUGE and impressive!!! I was disorientated often. For lunch we walked to a supermarket and bought a baguette and cheese and a drink before returning to the museum. Just when we thought we had seen it all, Bluey realised we had missed the gem and mineral section, but we were really, really; REALLY buggered, so we decided to walk along one wall to the vault section to see the really spectacular and expensive objects and then back up the guts of the room to the exit. By the time we were finished seeing everything, our feet were aching and we were buggered…and I mean REALLY buggered.
11:20pm. So good to lay on the bed.
After the museum we were off to Kings Cross Station on the search for platform 9 and 3/4 of Harry Potter fame. Once we had the photo taken of us running through the wall we went to Covent Garden to check out what else there was for another day, we found a pizza hut with an all-you-can-eat lunch time deal and also the Australian themed, Walkabout bar/café. Chinatown was next. We went to a all-you-can-eat, bought postcards and then came “home.”

Monday 2nd of June

8am. In Lubeck airport feeling somewhat tired. I only slept 4 hours.

10:55am (London time). On the train from the airport to Liverpool street and then to Paddington. Scenery here is very much like Germany. Weather is very English...overcast and bleak.

10:15pm. Buggered, buggered, buggered. Today we dropped off our luggage at our hotel then headed out to Picadilly Circus. We bought an Australian jersey, a pair of socks and a rugby ball for Bluey. We were also victims of daylight robbery...in Picadilly Circus, just opposite the statue there, a real BIIIATCH charged us six (6) friggin pounds for two soft serves with a small Flake chocolate stabbed into them. Keep this in mind if you ever travel there!

It was off to Chinatown next. I found the Chinese restaurant that was mentioned in the song "Werewolves of London"-the Lee Hu Fook. We are definately going back there.

Harrods was next. It is bloody HUUUUUUGE (and expensive). In the toilets I could (and did) use moisturizer on my hands and had the choice of about six or seven different, very expensive aftershaves. I have to admit I was surprised that the toilets there with beautiful marbled floor and stylish ammenties were all dirty. I informed the gentleman cleaning the washing area and wiping down the aftershaves about this. He responded by telling me that he had just come onto his shift and that the people before were really lazy because they had been working there for ages. He did seem genuinally annoyed that they left him the work, but...this was the Harrods, one of the most well renowned and expensive stores and I was surprised at the state of the toilets there.

Then there was the toy section of Harrods. It was great!

Back to the sports shop at Picadilly Circus and then we were REALLY getting buggered! When we had recovered enough, we dragged ourselves to Paddington Station to buy some more drinks. On the way from the station to our hotel, we went to a chinese restaurant, sat down and placed our order...only to be told we had to order twenty pounds or more...WHAT THE - - - -??? So it was Mc Donalds.

We watched a bird-watching show with Bill Oddie that was really boring. Then we showered and planned what else to do the following day.

10:50pm. So tired. Gotta clean my teeth and sleep. Sleep will be soooooooo good!

P.S. we walked 197 stairs at one station.