Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal

Bedstemor's 85th Birthday ( 13 - 20 Nov 2004 )

Dansk oversættelse

Ancient Egyptian stories and legends have long made their mark through movies such as "Cleopatra", "The Mummy" and wowed us women with Omar Sharif's performance in "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Doctor Zhivago" and more recently in cartoons such as "The Prince of Egypt". There is a certain mystic about middle east portrayed to us from a very young age when we hear bedtime tales like "Ali Baba the 40 Thieves" or "Sinbad the Sailor" - most of us have a dream of seeing the pyramids.

I was very lucky to have the opportunity 20 years ago to come to Egypt with my parents and at 10 years old, there's only so much a child can remember. But this year, the Pallesen Family once again get together for the Matriach's 85th birthday. It is tradition for the family to come together and travel to an exotic country - in the past Tunisia, Morocco, Gambia and for Grandmother's last wish, to see the pyramids of Egypt, that her husband saw 45 years earlier.

The Matriach's three children, six grandchildren (Nikolai could not make it), four greatgrandchildren and respective spouses all came together for a week in magical Egypt. It is autumn with warm days and cool nights - a contrast to the approaching winter in Denmark.

Saturday 13 November 2004
Departure for Egypt

Our family had to leave Falster at 2:30am to catch a 6:30 flight, 4½hr later we arrived at Cairo Airport. I have dim memories of a very warm airport in complete chaos, with people pushing to get their luggage through, shouting over a mad din. Instead we found a rather clean and uncrowded airport. We were met by the AB Travel Agency representative, taken to a Hotel Pyramisa, left in a closed piano bar Pallesen familie venter på værelser

and promptly forgotten until one of us had the bright idea to ask for our keys.

Our family shared a two-bedroom hotel room with a large living area. Our first afternoon was spent walking around the streets of Cairo trying to find a place for the family to have dinner. Our hotel was located across the river from downtown Cairo, so there was not a lot to see, combined with the fact that many shops were closed during the day over Ramadan, the Islamic period of fasting from dawn to dusk. Sunday heralded the last day of Ramadan, so many were preparing for the final feast.

In the end, the whole family had dinner in the hotel's "Oriental" restaurant of Egyptian style. We figured we would get some decent Egyptian food but were disappointed to find most of our food luke-warm. The rice was very dry, little meat on the lamb and rather bland food. To our surprise, after our comment about this, we were presented with a complimentary platter of fruits native to Egypt such as fresh dates and guava. To our amusement, no matter what kind of Egyptian wine we ordered, they all tasted the same. There was plenty of Egyptian beer and of course the danes lived up to their drinking prowess and Bedstemor ("grandmother") treated us all dinner.

Sunday 14. november 2004

On the first night we didn't sleep very well - sleeping in a different bed combined with quranic prayers coming from a nearby mosque didn't exactly leave us with a peaceful sleep. However we were all up early to get together in Bedstemor's room for a "surprise" get-together - to sing the danish birthday song amongst a flutter of red white flags, and present her with a small gift. This family "surprises" the birthdayee and all sing in unison this rather cute birthday song.

The Citadel Muhammad Ali Mosque

Udsigten fra Citadellet

Our first destination was the Citadel. It is the city's fortress that once housed the royal family and although most of the complex is open to visitors, the military still have a foothold and some areas are out of bounds. It takes a half day to explore all areas of the Citadel but we didn't have the opportunity to do so, and instead spent most of our time in the Muhammad Ali Mosque.

<== There is a magnificent view of the city from the Western Terraces - magnificent had most of Cairo not been filled with the same shade of mud-bricked buildings. What was most notable about Cairo was its lack of colour or rather its ability to blend into the desert.

Mohammed Ali Mosque

Our guide Adam/Mohammed provided little insight to the function or history of the Citadel, and instead sat the group in one corner of the Muhammad Ali Mosque like a bunch of school children, and gave a lecture on Islamic laws and behaviour.

When René ventured to ask more about the Citadel, he was scolded for interrupting and told to listen. We never got the opportunity to find the number 7 Napoleon's troops had painted above one doorway to avoid using the unfamiliar Arabic names or the twin half-round towers because our guide simply didn't know where they were.

Ind i Mohammed Ali Mosque

During this time, I had the opportunity to wander off and walk the beautiful alabaster-lined arcades of the mosque. the soaring central prayer hall was a glimmer of hundreds of lights hanging in concentric circles. Arabic inscriptions in gold were painted on the ceiling. Women had to be suitably attired and could not wear sleeveless tops or short skirts or shorts. In one corner lay the sarcophagus of Muhammad Ali - the builder of the mosque and an albanian mercenary who was the founder of the dynasty that ruled till the revolution in 1952.

Cairo Egyptian Museum

I have memories of wandering around this museum, peering into smudged glass cases, staring into the shrivelled faces of some once well-known pharaoh like Ramses II and wondering if the ancient Egyptians were giants in their large coffins.
20 years later, it was almost impossible to push through the crowds of tourists - only useful because their guides provided more information than ours. With only two hours, there was no way that we could view the whole museum or see the royal mummies.
The museum was celebrating its centenary and there was a special exhibition dedicated to TutAnkhAmun - the most famous archaeological find. With travel guide in hand, we oohed and ahhed over the gold treasures found in his tomb - a gold throne featuring the famous scene of TutAnkhAmun's queen anointing him, chests made out of ebony ivory, cheetah-skinned hunting shields, bows, arrows, alabaster canopic jars holding King Tut's mummified organs, gold sarcophagus - if Howard Carter had found such treasures for a little known boy-king, imagine what the tomb of a pharaoh like Ramses II would have been like? King Tut's inner coffin of solid gold and the famous mask of gold that everyone wants to see and is portrayed in many egyptian images.
The museum has become another money-making expedition for the Egyptians with an exhorbitant price to view the royal mummies. We had to content ourselves with the animal mummies - cats, dogs, birds, goats, Nile perch (yes, fish as well!) and most amazing was a 7-metre crocodile mummy.
The exhibitions were arranged by themes on the upper floor and chronological on the lower floor, going clockwise from the Old Kingdom, to the Middle and finally to the New and later kingdoms. There were rooms full of giant sarcophagi that would've weighed a tonne each, a room full of miniatures showing the egyptians' daily lives, a room full of ancient papyrus long faded and rooms full of bits and pieces from ruins, statues, palace floors - a place where one needs a days to spend with a decent travel guide.

Khan Al-Khalili

På gaderne af Ægypts største bazar, Khan Al Khalili

After a stop at an egyptian perfumery and some lunch, we headed to Khan Al-Khalili - the oldest bazaar in Egypt that has lasted since the 1300s. Ancient buyers visited the khan for goods brought in on merchant caravans. No longer do we find slaves, silk, jewels or diamonds, but wooden guitars, brightly patched pouffe covers, clothes, t-shirts, crappy papyrus paintings, bongs/water pipes, bright bolts of cloth, the aroma of spices is very much present and stalls are heaped with bright red, gold and blue powders and sacks of seeds pods. Coppersmiths hammer out platters, tureens, coffeepots and enormous crescent-shaped tops for minarets. It is a ritual of the bazaar to expect to bargain - locals or foreign visitors - usually a 10th of the offer price - if you have paid a third, you have paid too much. We had only an hour to spare but many of the shops were closed for a siesta after lunch. Ulla I pointed to bags of multicoloured spices. He wanted £50 (AUD$10, 50DK.Kr) and after I said "da ketir awi" (it costs too much) and walked away, the shopkeeper doggedly followed us for a kilometre reducing the price from £40 to £30, £25, £20 and after we shouted £10 in jest, he offered £15, £10 and finally £5 before finally giving up on us. After much haggling, we managed to bargain for two ornate glass perfume bottles for £20 (AUD$2.50; 20DK.Kr)

Bedstemor's Birthday Feast

Bedstemors fest

Irene Ole had organised a private room for Bedstemor's birthday party. A single long table in a room of egyptian style. Small silver pots lined in two rows in the middle of the table kept the food warm.

We feasted on cumin-flavoured fried fish, chicken fillets egyptian-style, cinammon-flavoured ravioli, rice, mashed potatoes and beef steaks in pepper sauce, sang and toasted with bottles of egyptian wine and beer to Bedstemor.

Whilst the children played in one corner, there was much chatter througout the table and the evening finished off with chocolate and fruit cakes topped with "Happy Pirthday" (note, it's not an error) and we laughed in amusement in a plethora of egyptian sweets - baklawa, semolina tarts, rose-water flavoured tarts, and tarts that tasted like liquid honey... Ulla almost wanted to take the rest of the desserts with her (except for the rose-water flavoured ones - it was funny to watch her expression - rosewater almost smells like cosmetics). The waiters were extremely attentive, coming by every two minutes to serve us.

Best of all, Bedstemor turned 2 years old, as she blew out each candle on the cakes. As the danes would say, "det var meget hyggeligt!" (it was cozy)

Monday 15. november 2004 (7:30am start)

From the brown buildings and streets of Cairo, we travelled 24km southeast of the city to Saqqara, changing from a uniform brown to lush green fields of large cabbages and hundreds of date palms. It was like an oasis, a gentle mist gave a surreal sense of the fertile plains of ancient Egypt. Women in full-length black abeeyas squatted in the fields, the odd man walking around - such a contrast to the intense crowds of central Cairo.

Saqqara's Step Pyramid

Founded as a necropolis (burial city) for the Old Kingdom and is one of the richest archaeological sites in Egypt.

The Step Pyramid is less that ½ the height of the largest pyramids at Giza, but this monument served as a predecessor of the smooth pyramids. Previously tombs were made of mud brick, rectangular slablike structure covering a burial pit. But the architect Imhotep had the bright idea to construct in stone and Zosers trinpyramide i Sakkara

build the slablike structure 5 times one on top of the other, creating the first pyramid.

We entered through the Great South Court - the size of a soccer field, down a corridor of 40 pillars inspired by bundles of tied reeds. Whilst Adam was making another one of his speeches, I was tempted by a turbaned egyptian in a dress who took me to the top where I managed to get one shot of the magnificent pillars up top, before being scolded by Adam and being asked for baksheesh (tip). I was gratefully rescued by a couple of Italians when the egyptian would not let me go without a baksheesh. However, once I surfaced from the building, I was blinded by white sands and the immense pyramid sitting solitary amongst a few ruined stones, with a much smaller triangular heap of stones in the background. Although the morning had been cool, the sun soon warmed us up as we wandered round to the north.

Memphis

Once the capital of ancient Egypt, it remains unexcavated due to villages built on top of it and a high water table as a result of the Aswan Dam. There is a small garden with small finds - bits and pieces but the most exciting thing to see is a colossus of Ramses II lying on his back as the lower legs are missing. The colossus would've been 5 stories high had it been standing. Nearby lies the largest alabaster statue ever found - 80 tons of sphinx - imagine what treasures that could've been found if Memphis could've been excavated, especially as this ancient city lay halfway between Upper and Lower Egypt.

Our final stop before lunch was a papyrus museum - another place of commission for Adam. Bedstemor purchased a papyrus of egyptian alphabets. Some of the paintings cost a massive £3,500 (AUD$900, 3,500DK.Kr). For lunch, we had a splendid egyptian meal in the middle of nowhere that served excellent mezza (egyptian tapas) of baba ghanoush (roasted eggplant dip), tzatziki (cucumber dip), hummus (chickpea dip), fuul (beans) served with freshly made pita bread, warm vine-leaf rolls, lamb kofta and freshly roasted chicken in thyme. It was feast fit for a king and the most egyptian meal we had on the whole trip.

De store fantastiske pyramider i Giza. Her ses vi den største pyramid - Cheops/Khufus pyramid

Pyramids of Giza

From air the desert pyramids were right on the edge of the city, 16km from Cairo.

I remember vaguely, as a child, hunched over, walking up a surprisingly warm shaft lit by a single light bulbs and emerging into a very chilly dark room that held a single stone sarcophagus, the room empty except for occasional square holes in the wall where food was left for the afterlife.

I had entered the Queen's chamber in the largest pyramid and 20 years later, only the first 300 can enter these pyramids - for an exhorbitant fee.

The largest of the three, Cheops' pyramid was the largest, standing at 146metres at one point, took 920 metres to walk around it and contained 2.3 million blocks! Each block was at least one metre high, so you can imagine how massive these pyramids were.

Den anden største pyramid - Chephrens pyramid

Den anden største pyramid - Chephrens pyramid

The 2nd largest, Khefren's (Cheop's son) pyramid still had some of the smooth shiny limestone casing that once used to cover all these pyramids.==>

The massive solar boat that once carried the pharaoh's body from Memphis to Giza and the three smaller Queens' pyramids stood at one corner of the massive Cheop pyramid. We didn't have the opportunity this time to enter the tombs, but I feel priveleged that I did and that I still have some memories of the event.

The Sphinx

Sfinxen

The pyramids loomed in the background as it sat silently on the hot sand under the glaring sunlight for 4,000 years. Napoleon's troops once used it for target practice, so its nose and pharaohs beard and long fallen off and lies in a British museum. The Greeks called it "the Sphinx" as it was based on a mystical creature with the head of a man and body of a lion, which would stop any traveller along the way with a riddle - if the riddle wasn't answered, it became the sphinx's dinner. Throngs of crowds surrounded the sphinx and we could only enter in single file. Over time, it seemed that tourists could view it from further and further away. 45 years ago, Bedstefar's (grandfather) could touch the Sphinx and even climb to the top of the pyramid; 20 years ago, it was simply surrounded by a small wire fence but I could stand close up to it; now it lay in a very large pit where visitors could only view it up close if they zoomed in on their cameras. 4 millenia later, it still manages to awe all of us.

Tuesday 16. november 2004 (2:30am start)

Yes, you did read that right - we were all waiting in the lobby at 2:30AM. Last night, Bedstemor's grandchildren treated the family to a Spanish-Egyptian Italian dinner, which was followed by a Familien i en

cacophany of tambourines, oboes and drums played for an Egyptian engagement couple in the lobby.

This morning we were flying to Aswan, to board a 3-day cruise up the Nile, sailing up to Luxor. When we arrived, we were taken for a short felucca ride along the Nile with a fantastic view of the Tomb of Nobles. When we returned we were given our rooms onboard a four-storey cruise ship that had an indoor games room, a pool and sundeck at the top. Even from our rooms right at the bottom, we had a magnificent view of a small white mosque-like structure on top of huge sandy mountains dotted with small caves.

In the evening we had the opportunity to visit a small souq (local bazaar) selling t-shirts, papyrus paintings, mounds of saffron and dry scented lotus flowers, brown, red, yellow indigo mounds of fragrant spices - all of which some of us bargained for - the most expensive £25 papyrus painting (AUD$5, 25DK.Kr) to cheapest £15 embroidered t-shirts with hieroglyphics (AUD$3, 15DK.Kr). To top the evening off, we took a £5 horse carriage ride back to the ship.

Wednesday 17. november 2004 (7:30am start)

It seemed some of the family had succumbed to a tummy bug. The rest of us steered clear of unwashed fruit, fresh salads, raw vegetables and drinks made with local water. However, this didn't stop us from going out to see a few sights.

The Unfinished Obelisk

Had this obelisk been completed, it would've been the largest and heaviest ever made standing at 142 metres. It sat in a granite quarry, perfectly complete on three sides but abandoned when a flaw was found in the stone. It is almost impossible to imagine how the ancient egyptians could've moved even a single rock made from this quarry as it stood a great many miles from any of the monuments ever made. Unfortunately for Egypt, most of its obelisks have been spirited to other countries - to Italy, Britain, France and even Argentina by foreign archaeologists in the last centuries. Most of us didn't have the chance to view the complete obelisk before Adam rang a bell that he carried (to annoy us I suppose)

Den ufuldendte Obelisk De meste familier kom ikke så langt til her

High Dam

For centuries the Nile controlled the Egyptians' lives - either flooding or insufficient water levels were disastrous for the people who relied on this huge water source for their livelihood. When the Aswan Dam was built, some of the villages in the south lost their water supply.

30 years ago, a new High Dam was built which resulted in the man-made Lake Nasser to the south being created ==>

This meant many people had to be moved as villages were buried, as well as some of the ancient egyptian monuments such as the Temple of Philae.

At its highest point, the High Dam stands at 111m high, 3.8km long and 980m wide at the base.

Three times the number of stones used for Cheops' Pyramid was used.

Videoing isn't allowed as it is a high-security military area - should there be an attack on this Dam, then much of Egypt would be submerged under water and would be a disaster for the country.

Given only 10min, Adam "rang" us back to the bus.

Temple of Philae

Vi sejler til Philae templet

After Aswan Dam, the Temple of Philae was submerged for six months a year and tourists had to view it through the murky waters of Lake Philae. When the High Dam was built, it threatened to submerge the Temple permanently, so was moved stone by stone to a new island similarly landscaped. Philae is special in that it's only accessible by boat and the sunset forms a spectactular backdrop. A temple dedicated to Isis (goddess of women, sex purity), it was one of the last outposes for paganism and due to the popularity of Isis, was also used by the early Christians. The Temple walls and many pillars were filled from top to bottom with hieroglyphs and images of Isis - many defaced by the early Christians who considered ancient Egypt's gods to be "pagan". I had a fantastic afternoon walking in and out of all the nook and crannies - visiting the Birth House, Nilometer, the "Pharaoh's Bedstead" and much to the amusement of the family, I was the last to emerge.

Kom Ombo

The ship set sail from Aswan at 3:45pm after an afternoon spent sunbaking and drinking beer (typically danish to make the most of sunshine and beer). We were sailing 48km north of Aswan to Kom Ombo - the site of an ancient city devoted to the worship of a crocodile god, Sobek. The ancient city is long gone and crocodiles existing on nearby sandbanks have been hunted to extinction.

At sunset, we visited the Temple of Kom Ombo, dedicated to both Sobek the Crocodile god and Horus, the falcon-headed sky god Isis' son. Although we didn't have the opportunity to explore this 2 crocodil mumie på Kom Ombo temple

temple, it was both spectacular and eerie at sunset, with large light illuminating it. There existed a pit filled with water, with a platform halfway down, where crocodiles were lured in from the Nile with human flesh, and the largest crocodile was caught and mummified as a tribute to Sobek. At the Chapel of Hathor (Horus' wife), an American shouted "Geez, I thought I was supposed to see crocodile statues!" *laugh* It contained two of the mummified crocodiles found at the Temple.

We returned to a small cocktail party before dinner, provided by the ship to introduce all the staff responsible for making our trip enjoyable.

Thursday 18. november 2004 (7am start)

We sailed overnight past Kom Ombo to Edfu, a small regional center for the sugarcane trade, visited the Temple of Horus and sailed on to the Lock-crossing at Esna.

Temple of Horus

Den smukke Horus temple i Edfu

This is the most complete of its kind, a Greco-Roman temple that conforms exactly to ancient egyptian principles of architecture ie visit Edfu to see what almost every other temple in Egypt would've looked like in its original form. We were awed by the massive walls of the pylons at the entrance, distince reliefs showing mirror images of Horus and the pharaoh grasping the hair of his enemies. It was built by Cleopatra's father around 50yr BC. Standing in the forecourt of this well-preserved temple we can see mud-brick houses lined up at the top of the compound walls because this temple was once buried right up to the ceiling with a village built on top of it. Many of the temple relifes capture the cataclysmic battle of Horus with his brother Seth. We entered a small Nilometer - a dark, dank tunnel that smelled of pee and was once used to measure the level of the Nile. Again I was the last to emerge (a couple of minutes late only) to the loud applause of everyone (and a huge glare from Adam).

Returning to the ship in time for the 9am sail, we set off for Esna, 48km south of Luxor. Whilst the family tanned on the sundeck, I sat in the sun at the front of the boat, enjoying sense of peace and tranquility. It was truly beautiful to sit on a boat not too big or small, to watch the changing scenery on both sides, passed fields of giant palms and lush green fields, a smoking metal, the ship moving at a leisurely 16km/hr and passing some incredibe mountains of sand and cliffs. Ole joined me for a chat - he Irene are moving to Greenland on Tuesday. Later in the morning, I joined René and Ulla by the pool, gossiping about Bedstefar and family resemblances, watching Vinnie's kids and Sebastian splash about the pool, Lonnie, Sarah Birit stripped down to the minimum to get a bit of colour.

We reached Esna and used the few hours to get off the ship and stretch our legs after a morning of lazing around the pool. I was itching to walk around Esna, away from tourists and see how the locals lived. René and I headed for the quieter streets avoiding the busy streets around a souq. We were followed by a few children clad in long grey or white robes, who guided and annoyed us. Most of the narrow streets were unpaved, some very muddy and smelling of manure. Skinny, skeletal donkeys balanced again flat wagons, many shy girls waving from the darkness of their doorways or 2nd-level windows, whilst little boys came out to say hello and mill around us. Most houses were simple of mud bricks, with tiny wooden shuttered windows to keep the intense summer heat out. Some had extremely ornate wooden doors, reminiscent of colonial days. Occasional peek in doorways revealed empty mud-lined rooms as most people lived in the upper floors. Eventually René shouted imshee! (go away) as the kids got noisier, more aggressive, pulling on our arms and throwing pebbles at us. When I stumbled over a whimpering black and white disease-ridden puppy in brown paper, it was kicked aside - making me almost reach out for it if René hadn't stopped me.it was wise not to even make contact witht the children, who were dust-covered and clad in the long egyptian grey robes. It was such a relief when they finally left us even though we knew they were hiding in in alleyways watching us wind through the streets. There were goldsmiths glittering with ornate rings, earrings and necklaces; tailors still sewing by hand on the steps of their shop; coffee houses filled with solitary men smoking their water-pipes - their eyes following us down the street. We had spent so much time just sitting around that it was good to get away.

Crossing of the Lock

We set sail at 3pm and many ships like ours got together near two bridges just north of Esna. For one hour of the day, a bridge opened up for the ships and cars were ferried across the Nile instead. In the meanwhile, the ship had organised a special Egyptian "Oriental" dinner where guests could dress up in egyptian attire. It was a traditional egyptian feast of flat bread, baba ghanoush, warm stuffed zucchini and capsicum, warm cabbage rolls, chickpeas, lentils, fish, and traditional dish of okra, and a dressed up rice-stuffed whole lamb with a foil-covered head, small skinny eggplants for ears sitting upright on a silver platter. To finish it off was a plethora of egyptian dessert - semolina tarts, almond-milk agar (jelly) and the tartlets that tasted of liquid honey. Between 10-11pm we all gathered together for the lock-crossing.
Canal lock-crossing involves ships moving from a one water-level to another, usually where a dam is involved. Two cruise ships moved into a channel that is closed off and the water in the channel gradually reduced - in our case approx 10 metres. Once we reached the new water-level on the other side of the lock, the door in front of the ship opened and we sailed out. The lock-crossing took approx one hour, although all the waiting took a few hours. It was well-worth staying up even though we had an early start the next day. What was most amazing was the way the ship travelled with such expertise through such a narrow channel with barely enough space on each side.

Friday 19 November 2004 (7am start)

Overnight we had sailed from Esna to Luxor arriving at approx 2am - the last port for us. We were awoken by efficient wake-up calls and we could hear phones ringing in all the rooms going on early tours. We had a long day ahead, cramming four different sights.

Valley of the Kings

Builders of the great pyramids realised that hidden entrances and false shafts were not going to protect their dead pharaohs or the riches buried with them from tomb-robbers, so from the 18th dynasty, the ancient egyptians started digging underground. Rolling hills and valleys of sand, rubble and solid limestone - it is amazing to think that the ancient egyptians managed to bury something like possibly over 300 pharaohs of which only 62 have been found (last was TutAnkhAmun).

The mountain under which many of the tombs were found has a pyramid-shaped peak.

Our tickets allowed us to visit three tombs only and only a handful were opened on the day with long queues at each.

We visited the tombs of Ramseses III, IX and V/VI - all of them relatively small tombs, some partly excavated, others quite madly damaged by humidity from all the tourists and from oily fingers.

There was a variety of hieroglyphs and images, of the pharaohs, how they treated their subjects, even the ceilings were beautifully adorned with dark blue skies, thousands of stars and the sky goddess Nut, stretched above. Tomb of Ramses III was like a picture book of "Better Homes Gardens" with images of hundreds of pots, furniture and food preparation. In the tomb of Ramses V/VI was a large shattered giant pharaoh-shaped sarcophagus eerily illuminated by silver light - Ramses VI unusually sharing a tomb with his predecessor brother. It is truly amazing that such images have lasted thousands of years, hidden away in dark low-humidity tombs that are quickly disintegrating since they have been excavated.

Colossi of Memnon

Colossi af Memnon

Just past the Valley of the Kings, we stopped to view the Colossi of Memnon - twin 18-metre figures of Amenhotep III that once stood in front of what was believed to be Egypt's greatest temples, even larger than the existing Temple of Karnak. Each carved from single pieces of stone, once famous for bell-like tone emitted each sunrise. The Greeks believed these sounds were made by the immortal Memnon greeting his mother. After an Roman emperor made restorations in 170AD, the sounds ceased.

To our amusement, Adam made another one of his commission-based stops at an alabaster factory. He couldn't understand why we broke into laughter. Instead of boycotting the trip, we all went rushing in for free cups of coffee. René led a race with Sebastian and Vinnie's boys sliding across the smooth alabaster marble floor. At the other end was Ulla being approached with a small £10,000 alabaster hippo, to which she jokingly said yes and the shop-assistant went away to put it aside.

Temple of Hatshepsut

Dronning Hatshepsuts terrassetempel

Lying next to the Valley of the Kings is this temple of the only female pharaoh who ever ruled in Egypt. Due to a botched job by an Egyptian-Polish archaeological team, the ruined temple was recreated to resemble a bus depot, with much of the original artwork covered over or destroyed. The sucessor to Hatshepsut's brother/husband was stepson Tuthmose III who had to wait 20 year to get his throne, hence when she died, she was not mummified and her temple destroyed as punishment. The temple was at the site of a Coptic monastery and fantastic limestone cliffs. There may not be much of the temple to look at but the view, from up close, far away or even from the sky is definitely worth the trip.

Then we had lunch and a brief rest. I was surprised to find that a humorous member of housekeeping had set up towels, blanket lettuce leaves to resember a man and his snake. I thought René had played a joke on me until I found out something similar other family members' rooms!

134 kæmpe-søjler af Karnak temple - verdens største tempelkompleks

Temples of Karnak Luxor

Karnak was known as "Ipet-Isut" - The Most Perfect of Places.

Much of it is in ruins but is possibly the largest temple complex ever built anywhere and created over 1,500 years by successive generations of pharaohs.

It was the residence of pharaohs, place of worship, wealthy treasury, centre of administration and employed thousands.

Karnak is most famous for its giant columns - 134, each 15m high, centre 12 columns were 21 metres tall. It takes six adults to stretch their arms out around a column's girth.

Between the columns there once stood statues of pharaohs and the whole effect would've been intimidating, as though passing through a hall of giant gods.

<== Ramses II was responsible for a lot of the restoration of the temple and his signature is etched deeply in certain area so no other pharaoh could take credit.

Den højste obelisk i Ægypt - Hatshepsuts Oberlisk i Karnak tempel

Den højste obelisk i Ægypt - Hatshepsuts Oberlisk i Karnak tempel

Past the giant columns stood the tallest obelisk existing in Egypt at almost 30m high. Although made out of one piece of granite, the Obelisk of Hatshepsut looks like it's made of two different stones as the lower half was covered up for many years by Tuthmosis III in his resentment towards his stepmother's usurpment of the throne. There once existed 17 obelisks but these now lie in various parts of the world.

The further we walked into the temple, the older the temple and the more ruined it became so when we reached the other side, it was a mass of ruins.

The most beautiful aspect of the temple to me were the images of a queen embracing her pharaoh.

It was considered taboo for such displays of close affection that for many years it was covered up with a gold plate.

Near the Sacred Lake - a body of water used for priests' ablutions - stood a giant scarab beetle. Adam told us to walk around it seven time and our wishes would be granted. It would've been very comical to see a large group of people all walking around this large beetle.

After 1½hr, it was time to move on... to another commission-based stop - a cotton t-shirt shop with template-printed t-shirts costing five times more than what I bought them for.

Finally our last tour - the Temple of Luxor==>

There was once an Avenue of Sphinxes that joined the Temple of Karnak to the Temple of Luxor for 2.5km.

In pharaonic times, Luxor Temple sat at the heart of the ancient capital of Thebes and was well-preserved because it was once buried under the village of Luxor and even had a 13th-century mosque built amongst its walls - which the villagers demanded it remain during excavations of the site.

It is a temple that doesn't seem to be flooded with tourists and at the diminishing lights of sunset, the temple casts an eerie but beautiful shadow through the city.

After the tour, the rest of the family returned to the ship whilst our little family decided to walk through the city - a short walk along the Nile. Like the walk around Esna, we were interested in walking through the streets, taking photos and seeing how people lived - old men smoking bongs, tailors mending clothes, a man cleaning cups in small coffeeshop, an open butcher with carcasses hanging by the roadside, little kids all vying for a shot on a photo, women clad from head to toe in black, children happily waving from all corners - these people were smiled more and seemed friendlier - and none asking for baksheesh (tip), and a sharp contrast to the streets of Esna. We stopped for a drink on the rooftop of a hotel and watched another fantastic sunset over Luxor.

En ægyptisk kvinde bærer noget på hendes hoved

en Sko mager Tømmer En slagter

After our last dinner, we were entertained by a young boring bellydancer and what I've been waiting to see... a Whirling Dervish - a display of Sufi dancing.

Sufism a semi-mystical branch of Islam with an unorthodox approach to prayer ie dancing to attain a trancelike union with God.

Urged on by the pulse of drums, strings and pipes, the dancer spun in a blur of multicoloured skirts - reds, yellows blue until he looked like a spinning top.

Photo Courtesy of Tour Egypt Photos

Saturday 20 November 2004 (4:45am start)

Most of the family enjoyed the cruise and the sights they saw. They were not very happy with the organisation of the tour, with ridiculous early-morning starts, packed days on some and almost nothing on others. Most of all, many of the family were unhappy with Adam - we vented on our questionnaires and Ulla gave the AB Travel Agent representative an earful, about how rude Adam had been, how unintelligible his heavily-accented danish had been, he picked on some of us, glared at the children for chattering at the back of the bus, he avoided questions and scolded anyone who interrupted him with a question. Worst of all were all these unneccesary "commission-based" trips that cut into our sightseeing time. He was the typical Egyptian that could've made our trip much more enjoyable.

From an early flight to Cairo, a mad-scramble for our baggage, a three-hour wait in the coffeeshop of a nearby hotel to a 4½hr flight back to København, it was 5pm by the time we all retrieved our luggage and bade our final farewells to each member of the family. Despite a 4:45am start, it took us a whole day to return home.

There is a certain amount of sadness that it may be last time the family is united as Bedstemor is getting on in her years. René has been on approx ten reunions, organised by Bedstemor's children but paid for the grandparents - as a legacy to the family. I have been lucky and privileged to be invited to one of these family gatherings - four generations in all. It allowed me to visit another exotic part of the world and to get to know this very special Matriach.

BEDSTEMOR på Karnak tempel

§ The End §

Created: 8 Dec 2004Last Updated: 16-Jan-2005

Bedstemor's 85 års fødselsdag ( 13 - 20 Nov 2004 )

Det gamle Ægyptens historier og legender har længe markeret sig gennem film som "Kleopatra", "Mumien" og begejstret os kvinder med Omar Sharifs optræden i "Lawrence of Arabia" og "Doctor Zhivago og senere i tegnefilm som "The Prince of Egypt". Der er en vis mystik omkring mellemøsten skildret for os i en meget ung alder, når vi hørte godnathistorier som "Ali Baba og de 40 røvere" eller "Sinbad Søfareren" - de fleste af os har en drøm om at se pyramiderne.

Jeg var meget heldig at få muligheden for 20 år siden sammen med mine forældre at komme til Ægypten, men som 10 årig er der ikke så meget et barn kan huske. Men dette år samles Familien Pallesen igen engang for "Matriarkens" 85 års fødselsdag. Det er tradition for familien at samles og rejse til et eksotisk land - tidligere har det været Tunesien, Marokko, Tyrkiet og Gambia - og nu for Bedstemors ønske om at se Ægyptens pyramider, som hendes mand så for 50 år siden.

Bedstemors tre børn, seks børnebørn (Nikolai kunne ikke komme med), fire oldebørn og respektive ægtefæller, alle tog sammen til det magiske Ægypten. Det er efterår med varme dage og kølige nætter - en kontrast til den kommende vinter i Danmark.

Lørdag 13. November 2004
Afrejse til Ægypten

Vores familie måtte af sted kl. 3.30 for at nå flyet kl. 6.55; 4½ time senere ankom vi til Cairo lufthavn. Jeg har en svag hukommelse om en meget varm lufthavn med komplet kaos, med mennesker, der skubber for at få deres kufferter igennem, råbende gennem en masse larm. Nu fandt vi en næsten ren og ikke tætpakket lufthavn.Vi mødte AP-Travels repræsentant, som tog os til Hotel Pyramissa, hvor vi tilsyneladende blev glemt i Pianobaren, til en af os fik den lyse ide, at bede om vores værelsesnøgler. Pallesen familie venter på værelser

Vores familie deltes om en toværelses suite med et stort fællesrum. Vores første eftermiddag blev brugt til en spadseretur rundt i kvarteret for evt. at finde et sted for familien at spise. Vores hotel lå på den anden side af floden i forhold til centrum, så der var ikke meget at se på sammen med, at mange butikker var lukket p.g.a. Ramadanen, den Islamiske fasteperiode fra daggry til solnedgang. Søndag var sidste dag i Ramadanen, så mange var i gang med at forberede den sidste faste.

Sluttelig spiste familien til aften i hotellets "Orientel" restaurant i Ægyptisk stil. Vi regnede med at få ordentlig Ægyptisk mad, men blev skuffede over at få lunkent mad. Risen var meget tør, lammekødet var meget småt og maden var en blandet fornøjelse. Til vores overraskelse, efter vores kommentarer, fik vi serveret ekstra tallerkner med lokal Ægyptisk frugt så som friske dadler og duava. Til vores morskab smagte alle Ægyptiske vine ens, uanset mærke. Der var masser af Ægyptisk øl og selvfølgelig levede danskerne op til deres drikkeevner og Bedstemor gav maden til alle.

Søndag 14. november 2004

Første nat sov vi ikke så godt - at sove i en fremmed seng kombineret med koranbøn fra en nærliggende moske gav os ikke ligefrem en fredfyldt søvn. Imidlertid var vi alle tidlig oppe for at mødes i Bedstemors værelse for at overraske hende med danske fødselsdagssange til flimmer med danske flag og små gaver. Denne familie overrasker fødselaren og alle synger unisont denne meget søde fødselsdagssang.

Citadellet Muhammad Ali Moskeen

Udsigten fra Citadellet

Vores første besøg gjaldt Citadellet. Det er byens fort og husede engang den kongelige familie og skønt det meste af komplekset er åben for besøgende, besidder militæret stadig en del, som er lukket område. Det tager en halv dag at komme gennem hele Citadellet, hvilket vi ikke havde mulighed for. I stedet tilbragte vi vores tid i Muhammed Ali moskeen.

<== Der er en fantastisk panorama over byen fra den Vestlige terrasse - fantastisk at Cairo ikke et bygget af ens mudderfarvede stenbygninger. Det mest bemærkelsesværdige ved Cairo er imidlertid mangelen på farver og farverne stemmer overens med ørkenens farver.

Mohammed Ali Mosque

Vores guide Adam/Mohammed gav os en ringe indsigt i funktionen eller historien af Citadellet, og i stedet pladserede gruppen i hjørnet i hjørnet af Muhammed Ali moskeen som en gruppe skolebørn, og gav en lektion om Islamisk lov og sædvane.

Da René vovede sig til at spørge om mere om Citadellet, blev han skældt ud for at afbryde og fik besked på at lytte. Vi fik aldrig muligheden for at finde 7-tallet Napoleons tropper hade malet over port for at undgå de uvante arabiske navne, eller det halvrunde tårn, da vores guide simpelthen ikke vidste, hvor de var.

Ind i Mohammed Ali Mosque

I den tid havde jeg muligheden for at spadsere lidt for mig selv og gå i moskeens skønne alabaster arkader. Den himmelhvælvede centrale bederum var et glimmer af hundrede af lys, der hang i koncentriske cirkler. På loftet var der arabiske inskriptioner i guld. Kvinder skulle være anstændig klædt og kunne ikke bære ærmeløse trøjer eller korte shorts eller skørter. I et hjørne af rummet lå sarkofaget med Muhhamed Ali - grundlægger af moskeen og Albanisk handelsmand, grundlægger af dynastiet, som herskede til revolutionen i 1952.

Cairo Ægyptisk Museet

Jeg huske turen rundt i dette museum, hvor jeg kiggede ind i smudsige glas montre og stirrede på de rynkede ansigter af nogle engang kendte faroer som Ramses II og undrede mig over, om disse gamle Ægyptere var giganter i deres store kister.
20 år senere var det næsten umuligt at skubbe sig gennem mængderne af turister - kun nyttigt fordi deres guider gav flere informationer end vores. Med kun to timer var det umulig at se hele museet og slet ikke de kongelige mumier.
Museet fejrede sit hundred år med en speciel udstilling omkring TutAnkhAmun - det mest berømte fund. Med rejseguiden i hånden "aaaede" og "åååede" vi over guldskattene fundet i hans grav - en guldtrone med den berømte scene med TutAnkhAmons dronning, der tilbeder ham, kister af ibenholt og elfenben, jagtskjolde beklædt med gepardskin, buer og pile, alabaster krukker med kong Tuts mummificerede organer, guld sarkofager - da Howard Carter havde fundet sådanne skatte for en lille kendt drenge-konge, forestil jer, hvad Ramses II´s grav har indeholdt. Kong Tuts inderste kiste af rent guld og og den berømte maske af guld, som alle gerne vil se, er trykt i mange Ægyptiske billedmaterialer.
Museet er blevet en ny pengemaskine for Ægypterne med yderligere en entre for at se de kongelige mumier. Vi måtte være tilfreds med at se dyremumierne - katte, hunde, fugle, geder, Nile Perch (ja, også fisk!) og mest fantastisk var en 7 meter krokodillemumie.
Udstillingerne var på øverste etage opsat efter emne og på underste etage i kronologisk orden uret rundt fra det Gamle Kongerige, til det midterste og sluttende med de Nye og Sidste Kongedømmer. Der var værelser fyldt med kæmpe sarkofager (kister), som hver ville veje en tons, et værelse fyldt med miniaturer, der viste daglig liv i Ægypten, et værelse fuld af falmede gamle papyrusskrifter og værelser fulde af brokker og stykker fra ruiner, statuer, palads gulve - et sted, man kan tilbringe dage med en ordentlig rejse guide.

Khan Al-Khalili

På gaderne af Ægypts største bazar, Khan Al Khalili

Efter et stop på en Ægyptisk parfumefabrik og en frokostpause, kom vi til Khan Al-Khalili, det ældste basar i Ægypten, som går tilbage til 1300-tallet. Gamle tiders købere besøgte Khanen for at kigge på varerne bragt dertil af handelskaravanerne. Vi finder ikke længere slaver, silke, juveler eller diamanter, men træ guitarer, skønne klude tæpper, klæder, t-shirts, papyrustryk, vandpiber, bunker af tøj, aromaen af krydderier breder sig og boder med stakke af rødt, guld og blå pulver og sække med frø og bønner. Kobbersmede udhamrer fade, terriner, kaffekander og enorme halvmåneformede toppe til minareter. Det er et ritual i basarer at tinge om priserne, lokale såvel som gæster - almindeligvis til en tiendedel af den budte pris - har du betalt en tredjedel, har du betalt for meget. Vi havde kun en time til vores rådighed, men mange af boderne var lukkede for siesta og for ramadanen. Ulla og jeg pegede på nogle sække af mangefarvede krydderier. Han ville have 50£ (50 kr.), men efter jeg sagde "da ketir awi" (det koster for meget) og gik, fulgte sælgeren efter os en kilometer mens han reducerede prisen fra 40£ til 30£, 25£, 20£, og efter vi i spøg råbte 10£, tilbød han 15£, 10£ og endelig 5£ før han opgav os. Efter megen tingen lykkedes det os få to udsmykkede parfumeglas flasker for 20£ (20 kr.).

Bedstemor's fødselsdagfest

Bedstemors fest

Irene og Ole havde sørget for et privat værelse til Bedstemors fødselsdagsfest. Et enkelt langt bord i et værelse i Ægyptisk stil. Sølv fade i to rækker midt på bordet med ild under holdt maden varm.

Vi fik kommen-panneret stegt fisk, kyllinge filleter på Ægyptisk stil, kanel-krydret ravioli, ris, kartoffelmos og steg i pebbersauce, "sang" og brød med Ægyptisk vin og øl til Bedstemor.

Mens børnene legede i et hjørne, var der meget snak bordet rundt, og aftenen sluttede med chokolade og frugt kage pyntet med "Happy Pirthday" (det er ikke en fejl) og vi morede os over os over overfloden af Ægyptiske kager - bagværk, semulje tærte, rosenvands krydrede tærter og tærter, der smagte af flydende honning… Ulla ville gerne have resten af desserten med sig (undtagen den rosenvands krydrede - det var morsomt at se hendes udtryk - rosenvand dufter næsten som parfume). Tjenerne var hele tiden meget opmærksomme, passerede hver andet minut for at opvarte os.

Det bedste var, at Bedstemor blev som to årig, da hun skulle puste lysene på kagerne ud. Som danskerne ville sige, "det var meget hyggeligt!"

Mandag 15. november 2004 (start 7:30)

Fra de grå bygninger og gader I Cairo kørte vi 24 km mod sydøst til Saqqara, skiftende fra ensartet brun til frodige grøne marker med grøntsager og hundrede af dadelpalmer. Det var som en oase, hvor et fint slør gav en uvir Perfect Moments Photography | A Rene Pallesen Journal

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4. June 2011 01:26
by Rene Pallesen
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Vivid Sydney 2011

4. June 2011 01:26 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Again this year I went into the city to have a look at Vivid Sydney. This is a festival of light and music in the city around Circular Quay, The Rocks and the Opera House.

On the first few days of the festival it was raining a bit, but one evening when there was a clear night I went into the city leaving Kim and Aiden at home.

I managed to get a couple of good photos I think although I spent way too much time on photos of the opera house and therefore ran out of time.

This was the third year of the festival and I found this years festival much more creative than the previous years.

Anyway, here are some of the more interesting photos from the evening.

1. June 2011 10:36
by Rene Pallesen
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Another trip to Centenial Park

1. June 2011 10:36 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This weekend we made another trip to Centennial Park to go for a walk, have lunch & coffee and take some photos. Is it becoming a regular event so expect some more post in the future.

This Sunday the park was car free, meaning that everyone had to park outside the gates rather then drive into the park. It meant that there was a lot less people in the park which made it even more enjoyable. The trees as beautiful with their golden yellow and red leaves.

It is currently Autumn in Sydney and lately the weather had been fairly miserable and even this Sunday when we went to the park it looked a bit dark and gloomy at first. Fortunately the grass and leaves were fairly dry so I could do our 11 Month photos of Aiden. At first he didn't like the leaves at all, but after a few minutes he warmed up to the idea and started having fun playing with them (and eating them).

He is very funny at the moment, he is starting to crawl a lot faster and would try and get to the camera so I had to keep crawling backwards to keep the distance between us.

1. June 2011 10:17
by Rene Pallesen
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ABBA Cruise

1. June 2011 10:17 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Friday night Kim, Dylan and I joined a number of Kims friends on the Abba cruise on the Sydney Harbour.

Dylan had completed a writing assignment we gave him a couple of weeks earlier (to write a 500 word essay about our easter holiday) and as a reward we took him along on the cruise.

The boat was a fairly small boat (almost house boat sized) and probably fitted around 80 people onboard. The Abba band was pretty good. The singing wasn't brilliant, but still very good entertainment and they managed to get the boat rocking. We even managed to get Dylan up dancing (even though we didn't give him much choice).

^{(oh...this photo is intentionally blurred...I tried to create a cool effect by zooming while I took the photo with a rear-curtain sync).}

It was a beautiful calm night, so it was nice to once in a while go up on deck to enjoy the view of the city line. Vivid Sydney had just started so Circular Quay, The opera house and The Rocks was all lit up. I will be heading in there one of the next few nights to take some more photos (I tried to take a couple of photos from the boat but Abba was rocking it too much ;-) ).

I hope Nikon will soon announce the D800...my old D50 was really strugling this evening with the low light conditions and I didn't bring a Tripod along.

17. May 2011 10:01
by Rene Pallesen
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James Blunt Concert

17. May 2011 10:01 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Last night Kim and I went to the James Blunt concert in the State Theatre in Sydney. Kim (and to some degree myself) is a big fan of James Blunt so when we heard that he was coming to Sydney we had to get tickets.

The concert was brilliant and it had a lot of energy to it. He played both some of his old songs as well as some of his new ones.

The stage was set up with all these LED panels so that they could project videos, images, colours and patterns onto them to change the mood depending on the songs played.

16. May 2011 10:27
by Rene Pallesen
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Centennial Park (again)

16. May 2011 10:27 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

On the weekend we again went to Centennial Park to go for a walk enjoying a gorgeous Autumn day.

Aiden was a bit tired and wasn't really in the mood to have his picture taken.

This time we brough Dylan along for him to get some exercise (watching too much TV otherwise):

11. May 2011 03:53
by Rene Pallesen
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Autumn 2011

11. May 2011 03:53 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

It is getting cooler here in Sydney...the last 2-3 days have been freezing with temperatures at 16 degree during the day (cooler at night). We have turned on the heater in Aidens room as he kicks off his blanket.

One advantage is that there are some beautiful leaves in Centennial Park...

Autumn Leaves

5. May 2011 09:43
by Rene Pallesen
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Aiden's Mothers day present

5. May 2011 09:43 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Monday Aiden went to the day care centre (we send him to daycare once a week for him to learn to interact with other kids and more structured play) and the teacher there helped him create a painted "Mum" sign as a Mothers day gift (It is Mothers day on Sunday).

Kim was very proud and asked me to take a photo of it for her to post on facebook. My response was "Sure, I'll go and grap the compact camera"...to which she responded that she wanted a good picture using good lighting so I should go and get my big camera.

So I went ahead and took the following photo of the mum sign using some of Aidens toys as a backdrop.

...but Kim said that she can't use it because it is too good and isn't realistic enough...back to the pocket camera ;-) !

26. April 2011 04:02
by Rene Pallesen
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Easter at Lake Conjola

26. April 2011 04:02 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This Easter holiday the family rented a house at Lake Conjola 220 Km south of Sydney (past Jervis Bay). We drove down there Friday morning (about 3 hours) with all our clothes, food etc.It was a four bedroom house for 8 adults and 5 kids, so always something happening somewhere in the house. Aiden was a bit shell shocked on the first day until he got used to the surroundings etc. We had brought our travel cot (a tent) for him to sleep in, in our bedroom and this made it a bit easier for us to put him to sleep.

Every morning the boys went out fishing in Chong's tinny (aussie word for boat). I went along on the first and last day (the other days I valued my morning sleep) and on the first day I caught a 25cm bream...one of the two legal catches during the week. Chong caught a fairly large flathead on one of the other days.

The beach was about a 15 minute walk away from the house walking through the caravan park (On the first morning there was a coffee van parked there and much to Kims dissapointment it was gone all the following days). It it fairly cool this time of the year so none of us went swimming, but it was fun to run around and take some photos. Aiden is getting used to go to the beach and is now quite comfortable sitting looking at things (He has now finally started commando crawling after 10.5 months).

And at the beach we also had some fun with some 'silly' time.

In the evenings we were playing blackjack...always interesting as we play for money and some days you can be really lucky and others really unlucky. We also played charade where each team should guess movie titles by only showing gestures...which to a large part ought to be X-rated (or as least KC's turns should be).

One of the days I did a bit of creative photography. I showed KC how she could make window blinds look like a nice sunset even though it was grey and overcast outside.

The place had a pool table and this inspired me to the following photo of Kim playing pool.

And I played with the kids colour pencils.

I also did one night photograph on the only clear night we had. I should have spent more time out there, but it was late and I though I'd have a couple of nights ahead where it would be possible.

This year we had agreed that each of us would cook one meal. My meal was Saturday lunch time and I was doing pasta and I has pre-cooked it from Sydney the day before so it was nice and easy. Kim was doing an Indian curry in the evening.

When we ended our stay Kims dad said that this is the best food he's ever had on our holidays together.

17. April 2011 11:27
by Rene Pallesen
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Tall Ships cruise onboard 'Svanen'

17. April 2011 11:27 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

This weekend we went with the Heng's onboard one of the last Tall Ships of Sydney harbour called 'Svanen. The day before it had been pouring with rain but we were lucky that the day we had booked was dry and sunny most of the day.

'Svanen' was built in 1922 in Denmark in Fredrikssund of danish oak frames, where she traded as a grain carrier between Denmark and Greenland for the tuborg beer company until 1969. She and James Craig are now the last tall ships in Sydney (The Bounty was sold to china some years ago).

She ain't a big ship, but large enough to carry about 90 passengers.

The interior of the ship is almost in its original state. It is still possible to see all the hand chiseled timer in the cabins.

The ship itself is pretty much still operated as it was back then (although she now has a motor...not sure if she would have had that originally).

And all the rope work is still the way it should be as well.

The cruise lasted a couple of hours and during the trip we were served lunch, beer and wine. This was one of the special deals that Kim had found us so it ended up being a great day.

15. April 2011 11:04
by Rene Pallesen
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Fox Studio Easter show 2011

15. April 2011 11:04 by Rene Pallesen | 0 Comments

Every year there is an Ester show at Fox Studios...it is not as big as the show out at Homebush, but it is a lot closer to where we live and entry is free.

Last year and again this year we brough Dylan there as it is difficult for his mum to go there. We normally allow him to get 1 ride or one game at the show, but because we this year brough Aiden along he got three rides as we though we'd check how Aiden would reach to the rides.

The first ride that Dylan chose was a Camel ride (Although they are not actually camels, but Dromedary's).

Afterwards he was complaining about how smelly they are.

In the mean time Aiden was watching the action (It was a pretty cool day and he had been sick the week before so he was dressed in his bunny outfit).

We tried to get Dylan to look scary with some of the local performers, but I think this is the best he could do.

After this I took Aiden and Dylan on the Ferris wheel and the Merry go round.

These are Waaaaayyyy to scary for Kim, so she was waiting down on the ground taking photos.

*Egypt - Pallesen Family Holiday 2004*

~ Travel Journal ~ Read about our journey with links to an amazing photo gallery


*~ Photo Gallery ~*

What We are All in Egypt for


The Sphinx ~ Half Man Half Lion ~	Saqqara's Step Pyramid	Valley of the Kings

Pyramids of Giza	Kheop's Pyramid ~ the Largest Pyramid ~	Khefren's Pyramid

Aswan Dam	Memphis ~ Capital of Ancient Egypt ~	The Unfinished Obelisk


Temples


Karnak ~ 120-metre Columns ~	Hatshepsut in a Cliff	Horus ~ Greek "Egyptian" Temple ~

Philae - the Island Temple	Kom Ombo Crocodile Mummies	Luxor


The People Way of Life


Streets of Luxor	Khan Al-Khalili ~ an Egyptian Bazaar ~	Horses


The Pallesen Family


Bedstemor's Fest	Egyptian "Italian" Dinner	Coffee-shop

On the Roof-top		In Cairo


The Nile


On the Boat	Felucca on the Nile	Tomb of Nobles

	Egyptian Sunset


Things to Buy


Papyrus	Perfumery	Alabaster


Other Places We Saw


The Citadel in Cairo		Lunch on the Nile

Home

Sydney Hobart Yacht Race 2012

Christmas Day 2012

Christmas Eve 2012

Maroubra Beach December 2012

Kids Dad with Grandchildren 2012

Christmas Family Photo 2012

Matraville Christmas Lights 2012

Barrenjoey Lighthouse 2012

Merry Christmas 2012

Lucas 3 months

Egypt - Pallesen Family Holiday 2004

Bedstemor's 85th Birthday ( 13 - 20 Nov 2004 )

Bedstemor's 85 års fødselsdag ( 13 - 20 Nov 2004 )

Home

Vivid Sydney 2011

Another trip to Centenial Park

ABBA Cruise

James Blunt Concert

Centennial Park (again)

Autumn 2011

Aiden's Mothers day present

Easter at Lake Conjola

Tall Ships cruise onboard 'Svanen'

Fox Studio Easter show 2011

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